Although keystroke logging promises to provide a valuable tool for writing research, it can often be difficult to relate logs to underlying processes. This article describes the procedures and measures that the authors developed to analyze a sample of 80 keystroke logs, with a view to achieving a better alignment between keystroke-logging measures…

This study examined whether reading a refutational or non-refutational text would induce different cognitive processing, as revealed by eye-movement analyses. Unlike a standard expository text, a refutational text acknowledges a reader's alternative conceptions about a topic, refutes them, and then introduces scientific conceptions as viable…

Meaning making is central to transformative learning, but little work has explored how meaning is constructed in the process. Moreover, no meaning-making theory adequately captures its characteristics and operations during radical transformation. The purpose of this dissertation was to formulate and specify a multiperspectival conceptual model of…

Describes a condition called "reader's block" whereby the mind fails to comprehend the meaning of the text because of digressing thoughts. Suggests that "freereading," like freewriting, can help to clarify thoughts. Argues that it is not necessary to read things correctly the first time through. (PRA)

Two experiments investigated some of the cognitive and affective causes of interest and liking. Results did not support the hypothesis that degree of surprise per se causes interest. The hypothesis that interest and liking arise from different causes was supported. (Author/LMO)

Uses a brief fictional narrative to discuss how visual media frequently offer a superior alternative to prose for the communication of some kinds of information, specifically, to describe; represent abstract structures; convey spatial relationships; provide a meaningful context for unfamiliar information; assist readers in their attempts to solve…

Suggests two models of how readers create bridging inferences to resolve signals to textual cohesion. Evaluates reading times, verification accuracy, verification latency, and regressive eye fixations to support the model which views bridges as the result of a form of deduction in which the reader tacitly establishes premises that provide rational…

The reading of a literary work can give rise to five different kinds of literary knowing: (1) knowing about self; (2) knowing about others; (3) knowing about texts; (4) knowing about contexts; and (5) knowing about processes of making meaning. A literary work can prompt a reader to reflect upon aspects of his or her own life. Concentrating upon…

Two experiments with 188 college students investigated the facilitative effect of typographical signals such as underlining, headings, or other devices to help readers identify specific points. Results do not support a general facilitative effect of typographical signals but suggest that use of signals depends on the reader's strategic processing.…

Describes a study contrasting hierarchical and causal approaches to story understanding indicating that when the number of causal connections increases, the likelihood of summarization for both goal and other statements increases. Suggests that the importance accorded to a statement in a story structure is the result of causal reasoning during…

A series of studies investigated the manner in which information is utilized during fixations in continuous reading. Utilization refers to visual information being processed to further the comprehension of the text being read, in contrast to registration, which refers to visual information simply being available to the brain. The studies…

To gain a better understanding of visual perception in reading, a study tested the predictive validity of the Goodman Model of Reading by measuring the extent to which 82 college students (graduate and undergraduate) were able to perceive and accurately report 10 lines of print. It also attempted to integrate research conducted over the past 100…

Sixty-six college students read two chapters from a contemporary novel while their eye movements were monitored. The eye movement data were analyzed to identify factors that influence the location of a reader's initial eye fixation on a word. When the data were partitioned according to the location of the prior fixation (i.e., launch site), the…

To examine the effectiveness of various writing devices, a study used Richard Carter's Signalled Stopping Technique (SST) to compare these devices as used in two student-authored science stories. The SST indicates how messages are mentally processed, and uses the following seven stops: (1) C (confusion); (2) R (reread); (3) Q (question); (4) T…

Shows how the enthymeme can organize a reader's participation in the text, specifically, George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant." (SRT)