Knowledge and Reading Comprehension

Role of Knowledge in Understanding and Learning From Text

• Substantial theoretical and empirical evidence supports the significant role of prior knowledge in reading comprehension.
• The purpose is to examine the research on knowledge with current comprehension models.
• Initial focus on describing theoretical accounts of knowledge in reading comprehension.
• Next review of the empirical evidence describing knowledge in comprehension.
• Finally a presentation of the connections between knowledge, reading skill, and language development.
• Emphasis on the critical role of knowledge in reading and promising future research areas.
• Decoding and interpreting words are essential skills for text comprehension.
• Emphasis on word-level skills in early reading instruction and skills-focused interventions for older students.
• There is a neglect of comprehension supports, such as skills and knowledge, which help students learn from text.
• Simultaneous development of basic skills, comprehension strategies, and knowledge, negating the idea of sequential development.

Knowledge as Predictor and Product of Reading

• Bartlett (1932) credited with the groundwork for research on knowledge and comprehension.
• He examined the impact of knowledge on processing new information.
• Bartlett described schemata as organizations of past experiences.
• Ausubel (1963, 1968) elevated prior knowledge as a factor in learning during the 1960s.
• Learning is a cumulative process where learners integrate new knowledge with existing knowledge.
• “The most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows." (p. 18).
• Influence of prior knowledge in cognitive models of reading comprehension.

Schema Theory

• The leading model of the 1980s, schema theory, highlighted prior knowledge as an explanation for comprehension.
• Schema models theorize individuals possess knowledge about things and events.
• They possess a conceptual framework for world understanding and a basis for comprehending text.
• They use their knowledge to fill gaps in texts, and assimilate new information
• Readers interpret new situations in text in light of existing knowledge, experiences, and perspectives.
• Anderson, Reynolds, Schallert, and Goetz (1977) studied the impact of knowledge on interpreting ambiguous passages.
• Participants from weightlifting and educational psychology classes read two ambiguous passages.
• The passages had two interpretations: prison/wrestling and cards/music.
• Weight-lifting students provided more wrestling-consistent answers on the prison/wrestling passage.
• Music students gave more music-consistent answers on the cards/music passage.
• Background significantly related to the inclusion of theme-revealing disambiguations in retellings.
• Demonstrates people's interpretation of messages is influenced by high-level schemata.

Contemporary Cognitive Models

• These models describe the role of knowledge in text comprehension.
• Existing knowledge continually activated with textual information.
• Goal of comprehension is to establish a coherent mental representation of the text.
• Models highlight the malleability of knowledge, knowledge as a network with constant shifting during reading.
• Recent research describes memory in detail, how the memory of information encountered in text (episodic memory) and existing knowledge (semantic memory) are activated and reactivated, and how inferences arise.
• The Construction-Integration Model (Kintsch, 1988, 1998) portrays comprehension with three levels.
• Level one involves readers identifying the surface structure of the text, or the words and phrases.
• Level two (textbase) involves the reader using information, extracting information form the text and from their knowledge of the semantic and rhetorical structures of the text, forming basic propositions.
• Level three entails a situation model, involves readers elaborating ideas and events integrating them with prior knowledge, creating a fleshed out mental representation.
• Model relies on the understanding that readers pursue a situation model.
• Reading comprehension relies on a reciprocal relationship where knowledge supports comprehension and comprehension develops new knowledge via situation model development.

Situation Models

• Situation model establishment yields deeper text understandings.
• It is associated with learning from text rather than recalling.
• Readers augment and refine knowledge when they integrate text with existing information.
• Modifications of knowledge stored in long-term memory becomes prior knowledge the reader brings to subsequent reading.
• Basic encoding of propositions is often enough to produce summaries.
• Establishment of a situation model matters it supports new knowledge building.
• Situation model is associated with positive momentum toward comprehending future texts.
• Development enhances the experience of reading and interacting around texts.
• Readers who bring text are better able to form connections, make causal explanations, and infer global messages.
• Establishing a situation model is associated with persistence by enabling readers to avoid abandoning texts and establish a coherent understanding.

Empirical Accounts of Topic, Domain, and General World Knowledge on Comprehension

• Substantial empirical studies have examined the role of knowledge in comprehension for over 40 years.
• Having knowledge related to a text supports comprehension better, aligning with theoretical accounts.
• Researchers operationalize knowledge by varying the proximity of readers' knowledge to comprehended texts.
• Variations loosely clustered into studies of topic knowledge, domain knowledge, and general knowledge.

Topic and Domain Knowledge

• Dozens of studies document topic and domain knowledge's impact on reading comprehension.
• Wide range of ages/grade-levels, e.g., second graders to university students and across test genres.
• Topic knowledge: knowledge closely related to the text's topic (e.g., knowledge about spiders when reading about spiders).
• Domain knowledge is knowledge related to the discipline or context (e.g., biology when reading about spiders).
• Topic knowledge influences readers' ability to recall information and answer text explicit comprehension questions.
• The most consistent impact for topic knowledge is on abilities to respond to bridging inferences and connections to prior knowledge.
• A study demonstrated the effects of third graders' knowledge of food chains.

General World Knowledge

• School topics is another name (arts, humanities, sciences, etc.).
• General world knowledge has positive impacts on comprehension, especially with expository text.
• For example a study, third graders' comprehension of narrative and expository texts, using general world knowledge as a predictor improved.
• Measures like free recall and multiple-choice comprehension were all aided with greater existing knowledge.

Knowledge-Comprehension Relationships

• Some inconsistencies in knowledge and comprehension due to variations in study types
• Defining the knowledge and operationalizing comprehension impact
• Some studies are dependent on particular types of comprehension
• Limited knowledge of text
• Measured as knowledge to academic skills
• Expository texts use more knowledge than narrative
• High and low knowledge college students narrative and expository text to circulatory system
• Prior knowledge elaborations made for those who read expository text
• Expository, not narrative benefited from prior knowledge
• particular domain influences relationship between knowledge and comprehension
• 7th grade on science and history read
• Science topic knowledge did not impact
• Domain science, knowledge and prior vocab knowledge explained comprehension
• All 3 k explained prior history
• Inconsistencies in retaining impacts due to limit recall
• Improves short vs longer text is the only real determination to storing and understanding data.

Knowledge and Reading Ability

• What determines strength of ones reading ability.
• General reaidng, knowledge can predict
• Knowledge more powerful at lower grade levels
• Middle schoolers baseball knowledge and comprehension
• Baseball helped test performance
• Retelling helps test.
• High knowledge compensation does impact
• More knowledge the better at most things
• Low knowledge those with greater skill had better understanding
• High, knowledge can help less skilled
• Help reading of texts,
• Miller k Keenan, prior knowledge impacts more difficult material.

Text Comprehension

• Help fill on gabs
• Use context.
• Text association
• Read main ideas well.
• Understanding from the topics better to go on.
• Prior knowledge does matter.
• Activation integrates in memory.

Cognitive Processes

• Continuous/overlaps
• Information in the text.

Reading

• Readers form meaningful connections leading to coherence.
• Readers unable to use knowledge to fill gaps
• Read more fluently.
• Inferences and connections
• Needed taught knoweledge
• Readers can use what they read.

Overall

• Complimentary benefits
• High level use
• Knowlledge must exist can can be skilled to be used and leverage.

Knowledge and Text Cohesion and Quality

• Inclusion of text help factor.
• Causial relationships help.
• Generally found results
• Explicit and inferential testing
• More Cohesive text is better for reading comprehension
• Reverse Cohension Effect
• High Knowledge is better
• Junior high schoolers bettered understanding
• Those in low knowledge the results were not there.
• Higher knowledge did well.

Comprehension / L2 Readers

• Positive impact to understand
• Domain text, knowledge improved
• More proficency there better testing
• Limited knowledge more better testing.
• Base of facts does improve language.

Higher Education

• Second languages
• Read is high, helps to test
• Knowledge aids

Activation of Knoweledge

• Necessary
• More
• Must help them
• Various types.
• Asking and activating
• May or may not
• Is knowledge accurate
• Can over power info.
• May not align
• More effective.
• Support use
• Knowledge to make up gaps
• Graphic
• What is knowledge help.
• Instruction better.