The current project examined the impact of knowledge about the credibility of sources on readers' processing of texts. Participants read texts in which information about characters was provided by either a credible or a noncredible source; this information suggested that the character potentially possessed a particular trait. A subsequent text…

The accuracy of information in a children's nonfiction book is one criterion the seven-member Orbis Pictus Award Committee considers when selecting outstanding children's nonfiction books for the award. The charge of the committee is to consider other criteria as well, including the clarity and coherence of the book's organization, the extent to…

Identifies college readers' purposeful behaviors when writing from sources, determines whether these behaviors cluster at identifiable stages in the reading-writing process, and determines whether proficient and less able readers' processes are the same. (FL)

A study was conducted to determine how a population viewed the prospect of receiving news and information electronically. Subjects were 529 students attending Stanford University (California) in the heart of the "Silicon Valley" computer industry. The survey was conducted by mail with a telephone follow-up, and included 108 questions on usage of…

Concludes that perceptions of causes of crime vary markedly depending on which news medium is used most. (FL)

To discover the components of a trustworthy source, a study evaluated the credibility of health-related news stories. Subjects, 192 college undergraduates, read one of four random versions of a one-page newspaper story about aspirin's ability to ward off heart attacks. They were told that the sources for the articles were: a medical journal (high…

More than 100 decontextualized, formalistic paradigms of the narrative process are in existence, but little work has been done to apply the insights narrative theory yields to news and journalistic form. Given the journalistic assumption that facts can be presented neutrally, news professionals tend to maintain that narratives do not exist outside…

Results of two experiments revealed a significant correlation between function-word predictability and reader enjoyment and a strong correlation between content-word unpredictability and reader enjoyment. (FL)

To develop a model of newspaper readership more closely related to explanation of readership behavior than prediction, a study used a combination of demographic and political participation variables in a multivariate analysis of data obtained in a national survey. Information from interviews of approximately 1,200 adults conducted in 1979 was…

This document represents one section of the Delaware Teachers' Desk Reference to Standards and Performance Indicators for Curriculum Planning and Unit Development produced by the Delaware Department of Education. The Desk Reference is part of the Delaware Department of Education's ongoing efforts to provide assistance and support to local school…