Two experiments examined the role of analogy in the development of a situation model of a target passage, specifically, whether an analogous source text could improve comprehension and inferencing about causal mechanisms in the target. Responses of analogy subjects were more likely to include given and inferred information that comprised the…

Studied the impact of changes in item difficulty on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) estimates over time through a Monte Carlo study that simulated the responses of 1990 NAEP mathematics respondents to 1990 and 1996 NAEP mathematics items. Results support the idea that these changes have not affected the NAEP trend line.…

Forty third graders divided into average and below average reading skill groups were given a story comprehension task that consisted of two conditions, listen through and think aloud. Average readers generated significantly more explanatory inferences and comprehension performance as measured by story recall was significantly better for both…

Devised is a test involving chemical examples to establish to what extent college chemistry students recognized and assessed the explanatory content of statements presented in the form of justifications. Several results are discussed. Several test items are included. (Author/YP)

Uses proverbs to facilitate the development of inferential reading skills. Provides examples of proverbs which children have finished with their own original endings. (MG)

Examines the influence of pre-reading instruction versus prior experience on factual and inferential comprehension. Concludes that prior experience affects factual and inferential comprehension more than does pre-reading instruction, and that younger students need to have relevant knowledge externally activated, while older students can activate…

Described is a third-grade science unit using feathers. Children use the feathers to learn about measurement, observation, and inference. Procedures and results are discussed. (CW)

Questions whether a writing classroom which deals with enthymemes (arguments in which underlying premises or assumptions are unexpressed) reproduces patriarchal social relations, providing men with greater opportunities for success. Concludes that using enthymemes to structure writing classes can illuminate the complex relation of discourse to…

The study compared effects of two ways of making text more explicit for learning disabled (LD) children: by adding supportive information or asking inference questions at the ends of episodes. Adding elaborative content enhanced story understanding while asking inference questions was not more effective than the explicit version of the text alone.…

Outlines the procedure for "Comprehension Court," a discussion model for building inferential skills and strategies at the elementary level. Provides a sample "Comprehension Court Evidence Sheet." (MM)

A cued recall study and a semantic verification study with individuals with mental retardation (n=93) found that increasing the degree to which the words in sentences were semantically related increased subjects' ability to utilize contextual information in sentences to essentially normal levels. (Author/DB)

A constructionist theory is described that accounts for the knowledge-based inferences that are constructed when readers comprehend narrative text. Distinctive assumptions of the constructionist theory embrace a principle of search (or effort) after meaning. Literature in support of the theory is reviewed. (SLD)

Relationships among low-level reading skills, sentence verification, and error detection were studied using 91 fourth graders. Error detection was best predicted by subjects' tendency to generate inferences while reading. Literal text comprehension depended on low-level reading; strategic reading competence reflected a tendency to go beyond…

Changes in children's understanding of experimentation are examined. Sixteen fifth and sixth graders worked on two experimentation problems consistent with an engineering and science model, respectively. The science model was associated with broader exploration, more selectiveness about evidence interpreted, and greater attention to establishing…

Examines the use of prediction during the silent reading of short stories with surprise endings. Investigates the effects of instructional setting and content familiarity upon overall reading comprehension, literal comprehension, inferential comprehension, and interest. Finds that both inferential comprehension and interest were negatively…