Prerequisite relations among inference tasks for good and poor readers.

Abstract

The purpose of the present investigation was to identify the prerequisite relations among five types of text-based inference question tasks for good and poor sixth-grade readers. Latent class modeling procedures were used in exploratory and confirmatory analyses of the prerequisite relations among tasks. All task types were found to provide separate manifestations of the same underlying attribute for both good and poor readers. Particular inference tasks appeared to be better than others in assessing this underlying trait (in terms of the rate of individual misclassification with respect to trait acquisition). Implications are drawn for expanded understanding of the interrelations among types of text-based inference and for preferred assessment strategies for inference traits in reading comprehension.

Logical Inference Skills in Adult Reading Comprehension: Effects of Age and Formal Education

“…Reasoning studies use inference tasks to explore and characterize human reasoning. In contrast, reading researchers see inference-making as a means to an end: improved comprehension (Davey & Macready, 1985;Hansen, 1981;Hansen & Pearson, 1983;Warren, Nicholas, & Trabasso, 1979). Another contrast concerns the distinction between inferences that are probable and those that are logically necessary.…”

Factors Affecting the Difficulty of Reading Comprehension Items for Successful and Unsuccessful Readers

“…Generally, these question taxonomies differentiate among items requiring simple recognition of passage information and those involving higher level inferencing and problem solving. It is frequently found that items requiring these higher level cognitive skills turn out to be more difficult to answer, although a clear description of the underlying relations among these skills remains elusive (see Davey & Macready, 1985).…”

The development and validation of an institutional reading placement test

“…A similar finding was found by Davey and Macready (1985) and Singer (1988). Considerable research in the field of language testing has shown that testing methods can affect test scores and, thus, the general performance of the tests under consideration (Alderson, 1980;Allan, 1992;Bachman, 1985;Shohamy, 1984).…”