Are Good Texts Always Better? Interactions of Text Coherence, Background Knowledge, and Levels of Understanding in Learning From Text

McNamara, Danielle S.; Kintsch, Eileen; Songer, Nancy Butler; Kintsch, Walter

doi:10.1207/s1532690xci1401_1

Cited by 1,069 publications

(948 citation statements)

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“…That is, summarizing a text at a delay after text study activates the situation model of the text, which is a good predictor of test performance (McNamara et al, 1996). The findings of studies on the effect of summarization mimic those of the keyword studies , including the present ones.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

“…The situation model is a mental representation of the text containing the connections among the ideas of a text and a person's prior knowledge (see Kintsch, 1998, for more on this and other representations presented in the construction-integration model of text comprehension). As the situation model is a strong predictor of comprehension test performance (McNamara, Kintsch, Songer, & Kintsch, 1996;, metacomprehension accuracy improved in the delayed keyword group (for an empirical test of the situation model hypothesis compared to an accessibility explanation, see Anderson & Thiede, 2008). As described in models of self-regulated learning (Dunlosky & Hertzog, 1997;Metcalfe, 2002), the more accurate metacomprehension of the delayed keyword group led to better regulated restudy, and ultimately, to better performance on the test.…”

Section: Linking Metacomprehension Accuracy and Regulation Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Generating keywords improves metacomprehension and self-regulation in elementary and middle school children

Bruin

Thiede

Camp

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

149

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

Section: Linking Metacomprehension Accuracy and Regulation Of Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Generating keywords improves metacomprehension and self-regulation in elementary and middle school children

Bruin

Thiede

Camp

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

149

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“…En distintos experimentos se ha alterado la estructura textual para hacer más evidentes las explicaciones (McNamara, Kintsch, Songer & Kintsch, 1996) o para refutar las concepciones erróneas que pueden tener los lectores sobre un tema (Hynd & Guzzetti, 1998). Otros trabajos han promovido el uso de analogías relacionadas con información familiar.…”

Section: Comprensión De Textos Expositivos Y Conocimiento Previounclassified

“…De hecho, el conocimiento sobre el tópico podría dar cuenta del buen desempeño de los niños de 2º grado en las respuestas a preguntas literales e inferenciales en el caso de textos que desarrollan un tema conocido, como E1. Por el contrario, cuando el texto no proporciona pistas para activar el conocimiento (McNamara et al, 1996), los niños parecen encontrar más dificultades para establecer relaciones pertinentes entre el conocimiento que tienen (o deberían tener) y el que les proporciona el texto, como se infiere del bajo desempeño en la pregunta 3 del texto E4, donde la inferencia explicativa requería la activación de conocimiento previo sobre los murciélagos, pues el texto da pocos indicios ("ven muy poco").…”

Section: Discusión Y Conclusionesunclassified

“…Asimismo, se observó una interrelación entre la estructura y otros factores textuales (Coté et al, 1998;McNamara, 2001;McNamara et al, 1996). En efecto, el papel fundamental que juega el vocabulario en la comprensión se manifestaría en textos que presentan una estructura descriptiva simple, como E2, donde parece incidir en el desempeño en la pregunta inferencial 5, que requería explicitar el procedimiento que realiza el pez a partir de la activación del significado de ventosa.…”

Section: Discusión Y Conclusionesunclassified

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Dificultades en la Comprensión de Textos Expositivos en Niños de los Primeros Grados de la Escuela Primaria

2015

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Se exploran las dificultades de comprensión de textos expositivos en una muestra no probabilística por conveniencia de niños (N = 317) hablantes de español de 2º (7,77 años en promedio), 3º (9,01 años) y 4º (10,03 años) grado de 2 escuelas primarias de Córdoba, Argentina (154 mujeres y 163 varones). El objetivo fue identificar dificultades para comprender textos, atendiendo a los procesos cognitivos implicados y a los factores textuales. Se seleccionaron 5 textos con diferentes características (estructura y familiaridad del vocabulario) y se realizaron preguntas literales e inferenciales. Los niños debían leer los textos y responder de forma oral. Los resultados se analizaron cuantitativa (ANOVA y prueba t de Student) y cualitativamente (análisis por categorías). Se encontraron diferencias en preguntas literales, inferenciales y totales. Los alumnos de 4° grado obtuvieron puntajes más altos que los de 2° y 3°. No obstante, en general, se identificaron problemas en preguntas inferenciales que requerían explicar causas o consecuencias y relacionar información textual con conocimiento previo. Aunque en las literales el desempeño fue mejor, se observaron dificultades para recuperar conceptos explicitados en el texto. Palabras clave: comprensión, texto expositivo, información literal, información inferencialThis article explores the difficulties for understanding expository texts in a non-probability convenience sample of Spanish-speaking primary school children (N = 317) attending grades 2 (aged 7.77 on average), 3 (9.01), and 4 (10.03) at 2 primary schools in Córdoba, Argentina (154 females and 163 males). Its aim was to identify difficulties for understanding texts, considering the cognitive processes and the textual factors involved. Five texts with different characteristics (structure and vocabulary familiarity) were selected, about which literal and inferential questions were asked. Students were required to read each text and answer the questionnaire orally. The results were analyzed quantitatively (ANOVA and Student's t test) and qualitatively (categorical analysis). Differences were observed among groups in literal and inferential questions as well as in total scores. Grade 4 students scored higher than those in grades 2 and 3. Nevertheless, in general, difficulties related with inferential processes were observed, specifically with inferential questions requiring students to explain causes or consequences and link textual information with prior knowledge. Even though students performed better in literal questions, they had difficulties extracting textually explicit concepts.

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Text Comprehension and Discourse Processing

Butcher¹,

Kintsch²

2003

Handbook of Psychology

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How do you comprehend language? What factors will influence your immediate understanding of what you hear or read? Will you remember the information in two weeks? Will you be able to use the information for another purpose? This chapter concerns all of these questions—more specifically it reviews what we know about comprehension, what we hope to know in the future, how we can improve or support comprehension, and how psychologists have attempted to model comprehension processes. Research has partially unraveled the complexity of comprehension processes; comprehension performance ultimately is determined by multiple factors internal and external to the individual. Internal variables range from the well‐studied influence of memory (especially short‐ and long‐term working memory) on comprehension to the more uncertain impact of a comprehender's goals and emotions. External variables also are diverse, ranging from the format or content of a printed text to contributions of other participants in conversation. Research on these factors has uncovered a variety of ways to support and improve comprehension; some aspects of comprehension even have been modeled with success. Although this chapter discusses the considerable knowledge that comprehension research has generated, it also discusses future challenges to developing a complete model of comprehension.

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Are Good Texts Always Better? Interactions of Text Coherence, Background Knowledge, and Levels of Understanding in Learning From Text

Cited by 1,069 publications

References 21 publications

Generating keywords improves metacomprehension and self-regulation in elementary and middle school children

Generating keywords improves metacomprehension and self-regulation in elementary and middle school children

Dificultades en la Comprensión de Textos Expositivos en Niños de los Primeros Grados de la Escuela Primaria

Text Comprehension and Discourse Processing

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