Augmentation of Research on Cognitive Control
Abstract
Results from the first year of the AASERT grant showed that readers high and low in working memory (WM) capacity read expository text in qualitatively different ways, and this resulted in the groups learning different information from the same text. In the first experiment, a probe deadline methodology sampled the contents of WM during the reading of expository passages. The lag between the presentation of expository information and the presentation of a probe question about that information was varied. The questions tested the reader's ability to recall detail or topic information. Subjects performed similarly on the topic probe questions. However, subjects low in WM capacity answered fewer detail probe questions correctly than those high in WM capacity. In the second experiment, subjects read the passages without topic sentences, and answered thematic and detail questions about them. Reading times for identical sentences in a topic absent and topic present conditions and subjects' accuracy in answering detail and topic questions were compared. Subjects performed similarly in the topic present condition, but subjects low in WM capacity answered fewer detail questions correctly in the topic absent condition. Working memory, Text comprehension, Individual differences.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 31, 1993
- Accession Number
- ADA266136
Entities
People
- Paul Whitney
Organizations
- Washington State University