Effects Of Text Structure Research Articles

The effects of text structure on students’ use of comprehension strategies and cognitive outcomes during science text processing

This study investigated the effect of refutation text structure on reading processes and learning. Undergraduate biology students (n = 116) who had high or moderate misconceptions were randomly assigned to read either a non-refutation text, a simple refutation text, or an elaborated refutation text that addressed commonly held misconceptions about genetic biology. Participants’ were prompted to think-aloud and type their thoughts as they read the text. Typed verbal responses were coded for the use of paraphrasing, bridging inferences, and elaborations. The results showed that the simple and elaborated refutation texts promoted the use of bridging inferences, and the elaborated refutation text promoted the use of elaborations compared to the non-refutation text. Neither text type nor misconception status had a significant effect on post learning outcomes. These results suggest that refutations with illustrative examples can increase the use of cognitive processes that support comprehension.

Effects of text structure, reading goals and epistemic beliefs on conceptual change

We investigated the online and offline effects of learner and instructional characteristics on conceptual change of a robust misconception in science. Fifty‐nine undergraduate university students with misconceptions about evolution were identified as espousing evaluativist or non‐evaluativist epistemic beliefs in science. Participants were randomly assigned to receive a traditional or refutational text that discussed a misconception in evolution and a general comprehension or elaborative interrogation reading goal. Participants' cognitive and metacognitive processes while reading were measured using a think‐aloud protocol. Postreading, participants' correct and incorrect conceptual knowledge were separately assessed with a transference essay. Results showed that text structure and reading goals affected cognitive conflict, coherence‐building and elaborative processing while reading and promoted correct conceptual knowledge included in essays but failed to affect the inclusion of misconceptions. Further, participants with evaluativist epistemic beliefs engaged in fewer comprehension monitoring processes and were more likely to adapt their coherence‐building processes according to reading goals than their non‐evaluativist counterparts, but epistemic belief groups did not differ in the content of the posttest essay. Theoretical and educational implications of these findings are discussed.

Effects of Text Structure on the Iranian Students’ Reading Comprehension Performance

It is a common practice in reading for academic purposes, to use expository text structure as reading materials. Scholars usually use different text structures such as; compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution and a collection of descriptions to convey the message to their readers. Studies have found out that learners performed differently after they have read different text structures. The researcher investigated 2 groups of Iranian students’ performance after reading two types of text structures which are compare/contrast and cause/effect. These groups of students were 33 intermediate and 33 advanced levels who participated in study. The results of the study via t-test analysis indicated that both groups performed differently after reading the different text structures. Findings of this study could provide significant insights for both teachers and students to understand how different reading texts can be organised in terms of difficulty.

Learning about persons: the effects of text structure and executive capacity on conceptual change

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the supportive effects of conceptual change texts documented in science education (1) can also be demonstrated in the domain of social cognition and (2) are moderated by the structure of the text and the learner’s central executive capacity. In two experiments, participants were presented with a series of short texts, each describing a target person in a stereotypical manner. The description was consistent with the stereotype in one half of the text, and the initially activated stereotype was refuted by stereotype-incongruent target information in the other half. In some of the inconsistent texts, the inconsistency was explained by additional information, or the readers were not given support for resolving the inconsistency. The results indicated an interaction of type of text and central executive capacity. Higher central executive capacity fostered conceptual change but only when the texts explained the inconsistency.

Effects of low intensity noise from aircraft or from neighbourhood on cognitive learning and electrophysiological stress responses

The effects of low intensity noise on cognitive learning and autonomous physiological processes are of high practical relevance but are rarely addressed in empirical investigations. This study investigated the impact of neighbourhood noise (of 45 dB[A], n=20) and of noise coming from passing aircraft (of 48 dB[A] peak amplitude presented once per minute; n=19) during computer based learning of different texts (with three types of text structure, i.e. linear text, hierarchic hypertext, and network hypertext) in relation to a control group (35 dB[A], n=20). Using a between subjects design, reproduction scores, heart rate, and spontaneous skin conductance fluctuations were compared. Results showed impairments of reproduction in both noise conditions. Additionally, whereas in the control group and the neighbourhood noise group scores were better for network hypertext structure than for hierarchic hypertext, no effect of text structure on reproduction appeared in the aircraft noise group. Compared to the control group, for most of the learning period the number of spontaneous skin conductance fluctuations was higher for the aircraft noise group. For the neighbourhood noise group, fluctuations were higher during pre- and post task periods when noise stimulation was still present. Additionally, during the last 5 min of the 15 min learning period, an increased heart rate was found in the aircraft noise group. Data indicate remarkable cognitive and physiological effects of low intensity background noise. Some aspects of reproduction were impaired in the two noise groups. Cognitive learning, as indicated by reproduction scores, was changed structurally in the aircraft noise group and was accompanied by higher sympathetic activity. An additional cardiovascular load appeared for aircraft noise when combined with time pressure as indicated by heart rate for the announced last 5 min of the learning period during aircraft noise with a peak SPL of even 48 dB(A). Attentional mechanisms (attentional control) like being threatened by passing aircraft approaching the airport, higher demands of selective filtering, and difficulties in changing cognitive strategies during noise are discussed as underlying mechanisms.

The effects of text structure and prior knowledge of the learner on computer-based learning

This study is an attempt to investigate the effects of document structure and knowledge level of the reader on reading comprehension, browsing, and perceived control. Four types of texts are distinguished, differing in structure (linear text, hierarchical hypertext, mixed hypertext, and generative text). All the materials were on a PC. In all conditions, participants were allowed 1 h to read through the document. After completing the reading part of the experiment, they were asked to fill out the perceived control questionnaire followed by the reading comprehension test. As far as reading comprehension was concerned, knowledgeable participants had higher reading comprehension scores than non-knowledgeable participants only in the linear text. In addition, there were no significant differences in terms of the reading comprehension scores of the knowledgeable participants among the four topologies. However, the performance of non-knowledgeable participants differed with respect to the type of the topology. In particular, non-knowledgeable participants in the hierarchical and generative conditions performed better than those in the other two conditions. With respect to perceived control, the performance of knowledgeable and non-knowledgeable participants was equivalent in all four conditions. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the computer-based learning.

The Effects of Text Structure on Reading Comprehension Performance in English

The Effects of Text Structure on Reading Comprehension Performance in English

Learning from expository texts: Effects of the interaction of prior knowledge and text structure on responses to different question types

The objective of this study was to verify the effects of the interaction between text structures and prior knowledge on memory and learning from expository texts. It examined the effects of two levels of prior knowledge and two types of mixed structures on a post-reading questionnaire. A total of 119 French-speaking, sixth-grade subjects were selected on the basis of a multiple-choice questionnaire. This questionnaire served to distinguish two groups, one possessing a high level of prior knowledge about the topic covered in the text (HP group), and another having a low level of prior knowledge (LP group). The children’s reading ability was evaluated by a cloze test that also served to eliminate children with reading comprehension difficulties from the experimental groups. The subjects in each group were arbitrarily assigned to subgroups. One group read an experimental passage, “The effects of acid rain on maple and pine”, which was organized in a collection inserted in cause/effect structure (SI). The other group read the same information, but which was organized in a comparison inserted in cause/effect structure (S2). The post-reading measure consisted of 24 questions that varied according to three criteria. The statistical analysis revealed that the effects of text structure were dependent on the level of prior knowledge and on the type of questions and confirmed that prior knowledge had a determining influence on knowledge acquisition.

Effects of Text Structure and Prior Knowledge of the Learner on Navigation in Hypertext

In this study we examined the effects of 3 hypertext topologies—hierarchical, nonlinear, and mixed (hierarchical structure with cross referential links)—on the navigation performance of participants with high and low prior knowledge of the text topic. After reading the text, participants used the document to find the answers to 10 questions. After a filled distraction period, participants returned to the document to answer 10 more questions. The results showed that participants in the mixed condition performed better than those in the other 2 conditions and that the performance of knowledgeable participants was superior to that of nonknowledgeable participants. These results are discussed in relation to the ways in which text structure interacts with background knowledge of the user in enhancing or impeding performance. Actual or potential applications of this research include the design and implementation of hypertext systems for users with different levels of familiarity with the subject matter of the text.

Effects of text structure on the impact of heard news

AbstractIn two experiments, audio re‐recordings of texts transcribed from television newscasts were presented to independent groups, one group in each case hearing a ‘bulletin’ with original text structures (as broadcast), the other with key stories revised in accord with story‐grammar notions and restoring chronological sequence in the narrative. In Experiment 1 the middle item in a three‐story bulletin was subjected to text structure manipulation. After hearing the bulletin, subjects were questioned on information in the texts. In Experiment 2, subjects heard two stories with original or restructured text. In addition to being tested for retention they also rated for bias and quality of writing. Text restructuring improved learning in both studies, especially of information central to the main points of stories. In Experiment 2, such text revision also affected judgements of bias without altering assessment of writing quality. It is suggested that attention to assuring more coherent story structures in newscast texts could counter the problems of poor comprehension and perceived bias on the part of audiences which result from current production priorities and practices.

Comprehending coherent and incoherent texts: evidence from eye movement patterns and recall performance

ABSTRACTThe effect of text structure on the reading process and recall performance was examined. Adult readers’ eye movements were monitored when they read coherently and incoherently structured texts (N=19). Incoherence was brought about by changing the sentence order in the middle paragraphs of the two stimulus texts. Each subject read and learned one text in a coherent and the other in an incoherent form in two experimental sessions. Immediate free recall followed the reading. The eye movement data showed that during the first pass reading, i.e. initial reading of a sentence until the end of the sentence is reached, structurally incoherent text segments attracted the largest number of regressive fixations, and, hence, were given more visual attention than coherent text segments (indicated by the total duration of fixations). On the other hand, more rereadings, i.e. all fixations made after the first pass reading but before moving away from the given sentence, were devoted to text segments resolving the incoherence. Textual incoherence was further found to lead to inferior recall. However, no clear‐cut correspondence between eye movement behavior and quantitative recall performance was found.

Evaluation of understanding in college students: Effects of text structure and reading proficiency

Abstract An error detection paradigm was used to examine the ability of college students of different reading proficiency levels to evaluate their understanding of texts. Students read passages containing inconsistent sentences varying in referential coheslveness and were asked to find the textual problems. Error detection was measured by both a performance measure (recording the inconsistent sentences) and a verbal report measure (rating passage understanding following reading). Students were more likely to detect Inconsistent sentences when they were referentially cohesive and good readers were more likely than poor readers to detect Inconsistencies. Students rated passage understanding high regardless of whether they detected problems, resulting In what Glenberg, Wilkinson, and Epstein (1982) have termed Illusion of knowing. Results suggest that college students frequently fail to adequately evaluate their understanding of texts and that Instruction in evaluation strategies would benefit many students.

Reading Comprehension Performance of Adolescents Withlearning Disabilities

A study was conducted to examine the effects of prior knowledge on the reading comprehension performance of students with learning disabilities. Instruction in information and vocabulary concepts was provided to 13 junior-high school students with learning disabilities who had been predetermined to lack the prior knowledge required by an experimental test of reading comprehension. The effect of prior knowledge was examined by comparing the performance of an experimental group (high prior knowledge group) to a control group (low prior knowledge group). The effect of text structure was also examined by comparing reading comprehension performance on three types of reading passages - textually explicit, textually implicit, and scriptually implicit. The results indicated that students in the experimental group increased their prior knowledge and, as a result of instruction, demonstrated superior reading comprehension performance. In addition, text structure was found to affect reading comprehension performance. When comprehension questions tapped information provided in the text, reading comprehension performance improved for all students. Educational implications of the results are discussed.

Effects of text structure on use of cognitive capacity during reading.

Effects of text structure on use of cognitive capacity during reading.

Effects of text structure on use of cognitive capacity during reading.

Effects of text structure on use of cognitive capacity during reading.