Intersentential Processes in Reading Comprehension

Abstract

Mature readers were given cloze tests on two paragraphs of varying difficulty presented in three formats: regular, the paragraph as the author wrote it (with cloze deletions); scrambled, the same paragraph and deletions, but the sentences were presented in scrambled order; and isolated, in which each sentence was read in isolation. No significant differences between the regular and scrambled formats were found. Isolated performance was significantly lower than regular, but by only 10 to 1570. Performance in the isolated format indicated acceptable comprehension. The results served as a basis for examining the importance and function of intersentential processes in comprehension. Conclusions about cloze as a measure of reading comprehension were also offered.