The Relationship of Reading Comprehension to Critical Thinking Skills, Cognitive Ability, and Vocabulary for a Sample of Underachieving College Freshmen

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of reading comprehension for underachieving college freshmen to their critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and cognitive ability. Three tests administered to 165 students enrolled in a remedial reading course at a large midwestern university were: (a) Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z (CCTT), (b) Developing Cognitive Abilities Test (DCAT), and (c) Iowa Silent Reading Test (ISRT). Each test took only one class period and was administered by the same examiner. A multiple regression analysis was employed in which the subscale scores of (a) literal comprehension, (b) reasoning in reading, (c) evaluation and appreciation of written materials, along with scores on (d) reading comprehension, and (e) critical reading comprehension obtained from the ISRT served as criterion variables. Seven critical thinking skills measured by the subscales from the CCTT; vocabulary measured by the ISRT; verbal, quantitative, and spatial cognitive abilities measured by the DCAT; and the five verbal cognitive abilities broken down into knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, and synthesis served as independent variables. The vocabulary subtest of the ISRT and all three subscales of the DCAT were important predictors of the various dimensions of reading comprehension ability.