Bonnie Meyer

Reading Behavior and Prose Recall Performance of Young and Older Adults with High and Average Verbal Ability

Educational Gerontology, 1985

Previous research has demonstrated an interaction between verbal ability and age on performance o... more

What is recalled after hearing a passage?

Journal of Educational Psychology, 1973

In order to determine what aspects of information from prose are available for recall after one p... more In order to determine what aspects of information from prose are available for recall after one presentation of a passage and what aspects are learned with additional presentations, two passages were divided into idea units. These units were placed in a logical hierarchical structure for each passage, and scores were assigned to the idea units on the basis of their position in the structure. Sixty-nine undergraduates were divided into three groups equally; each group heard the passages once, twice, or three times before recalling-Effects of the logical structure were seen in the kinds of idea units remembered, the stability of these units in consecutive recalls, and the tendency for clustering of idea units on this basis. In addition, serial position, importance of idea units, and order of recall were examined with the recall data. It was found that units high in the logical hierarchy were recalled more frequently than those lower in the hierarchy, that subjects tended to recall groups of units from the passages which were related to one another in the hierarchical structure, and that the stability of each unit recall was substantially related to its position in the logical structure of the passage. Figures and a bibliography are included.

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Individual differences in children’s knowledge of expository text structures: A review of literature

DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Jul 1, 2010

In this review of literature we examine empirical research of individual differences in younger r... more In this review of literature we examine empirical research of individual differences in younger readers' knowledge and use of expository text structures. The goal of this review is to explore the influence of reader and text characteristics in order to better understand the instructional needs of elementary school readers. First we review research which has examined the influence of two textual characteristics: the hierarchical organization of macro-and micro-level propositions and the type of text structure (e.g. collection, comparison, problem-and-solution). Then we review research of three reader characteristics: overall comprehension skill, age, and prior knowledge and how their influences may vary in relation to the aforementioned text characteristics. Our review of research suggests that readers of all ages may benefit from explicit instruction in text structure, particularly less-skilled comprehenders. Text structure instruction should focus on highly structured texts like comparison, causation, and problem-and-solution.

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A Qualitative Study of Breast Cancer Treatment Decisions: Evidence for Five Decision-Making Styles

Health Communication, May 1, 2013

Being diagnosed with breast cancer requires that women make a number of decisions about their med... more Being diagnosed with breast cancer requires that women make a number of decisions about their medical treatments. To gain insight into the variety of forces that shape a woman&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s breast cancer treatment decisions, we conducted semistructured interviews with 44 breast cancer survivors. Through an interpretive analysis, we identified five treatment decision-making styles: (a) medical expert, (b) self-efficacy, (c) relationship embedded, (d) inhibition, and (e) constellation of information, which are differentiated by two dimensions: (a) low versus high information needs and (b) self versus other preferences.

Adult Age Differences in Reading and Remembering Text and Using This Information to Make Decisions in Everyday Life

Information recalled from prose by young, middle, and old adult readers

Experimental Aging Research, Sep 1, 1981

The effects of organizational variables in prose on recall are examined for college-educated adul... more The effects of organizational variables in prose on recall are examined for college-educated adults in three age groups. If older adults suffer a deficit in organizational processes [3], this may be manifest in lower in lower quantities of prose recall, difficulty in identifying and following the text&#39;s structure and main ideas, and diminished &quot;levels effects&quot; (information high in the hierarchical text structure recalled better than information low). The study reported tests these implications using Meyer&#39;s [15] prose analysis system to identify text structure. No age differences were found in total recall and recall of main ideas. However, young adults exhibited the typical &quot; levels effects,&quot; while middle and old adults did not. This difference was attributed to the effects of current schooling practices on the youngest group, rater than organizational or reading comprehension deficits in the aged.

Text Processing Variables Predict the Readability of Everyday Documents Read by Older Adults

Reading Research Quarterly, Jul 1, 1993

A model is presented to predict the readability of documents encountered by older adults. The doc... more A model is presented to predict the readability of documents encountered by older adults. The documents studied are contained in the Educational Testing Service's Test of Basic Skills (1977 edition) and require readers to answer questions about charts (e.g., bus schedules), labels (e.g., plant spray labels and prescriptions), and forms (e.g., tax forms). The components of the model came from theoretical and empirical work on discourse processing and include such factors as discourse structure, emphasis, and position of an answer in a linguistic analysis of the everyday document. A sample of 482 adults from 52 to 93 years of age took the everyday problems test as well as a psychometric ability battery. The correlation was .54 (p < .01) between the readability scores for test items predicted by the model and the percentage of older adults correctly answering those items. In addition, the more difficult test items as identified by the model were correlated more highly with fluid intelligence abilities (figural relations and induction), crystallized intelligence abilities (vocabulary, experiential evaluation), and with memory span. An eight-step model is presented to predict the difficulty older adults will have in reading documents. Components of this model come from theoretical and empirical work on discourse processing and include such factors as emphasis, structure, and position of the answer in a propositional analysis of everyday documents. The documents examined include charts, schedules, tables, labels, and forms. One aspect of this investigation is an examination of whether factors found to influence learning and memory from expository and narrative texts also influence comprehension from documents. Another important aspect of this work is the assessment of how well such a model predicts the readability of documents by older adults. A 1 The t test for the difference between correlation coefficients with correlated samples must be adjusted for correlations between the criterion variables being correlated with a common predictor. After , the following formula was used: Walker and Lev (cited in Ferguson, 1953) note that, while the above formula for the t ratio makes no assumption as to the distribution of X and Y (here, "easy" and "hard" subset scores), generalization is only possible for all samples for which X and Y have exactly the same set of values as those in the observed sample. This stringent assumption makes use of the above formula less than ideal for the present purposes, and caveats to the generalizability of the t test results obtained must be noted.

format_quoteMost documents studied did not meet standard readability formula requirements, underscoring challenges in applying conventional methods.format_quote

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The organization of prose and its effects on memory volume 1

... The organization of prose and its effects on memory. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Me... more

Following the author’s top-level organization: An important skill for reading comprehension

Use of Author's Textual Schema: Key for Ninth Graders' Comprehension

Integrating different types of information in text

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, Jun 1, 1980

This investigation was designed to answer two major questions: (a) does height of information in ... more This investigation was designed to answer two major questions: (a) does height of information in the content structure of text affect the probability of integrating the information, and (b) is it possible to differentiate between integration that occurs during acquisition and integration that takes place at retrieval. Results of an inference verification task suggested that information high in the structure is more likely to be integrated than information low in the structure. These effects were observed in two instruction groups (learn and read) and in two presentation modes (separate and consecutive). In addition, premises occurring together in the text (consecutive presentation) were found to promote faster correct decisions than premises occurring separately. These verification time results were interpreted as evidence that structural integration (i.e., integration at acquisition) is more likely when premises occur together in an information source than when they occur separately.

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Text Coherence and Readability

Topics in Language Disorders, Jul 1, 2003

Abstract The goal of matching texts to readers can be aided by using readability formulas in conc... more

Integrating Information from Text: An Evaluation of Current Theories

Review of Educational Research, 1980

Knowledge integration is the incorporation of related facts into comprehensive memory structures.... more Knowledge integration is the incorporation of related facts into comprehensive memory structures. This article examines the research on knowledge integration, particularly in relation to text comprehension. The paper is divided into four sections. The first two sections contrast the knowledge integration theories of Bransford and Franks with the more recent theory of Hayes-Roth and Thorndyke. Factors affecting the probability of integrating information from text are discussed in the third section. The final section presents conclusions and some practical implications for educators.

Comprehension of stories and expository text

Poetics, Jun 1, 1980

... BJF Meyer et al. / Comprehension of stories 207 Just then a genie rose out of a bottle floati... more ... BJF Meyer et al. / Comprehension of stories 207 Just then a genie rose out of a bottle floating in the river and asked why Ur was sad. When the genie heard the lumberjack&amp;amp;amp;amp;#x27;s story, she dived into the river and brought up a golden ax. &amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;Is this the one you lost?&amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; the genie asked. ...

Prose processing in adulthood: The text, the reader, and the task

Cambridge University Press eBooks, Nov 24, 1989

Poon, Leonard W. (Ed); Rubin, David C. (Ed); Wilson, Barbara A. (Ed), (1989). Everyday cognition ... more

Prose Recall: Effects of Aging, Verbal Ability, and Reading Behavior

Journal of Gerontology, Jul 1, 1986

A study was conducted to determine the effects of age, verbal ability, education, reading habits,... more A study was conducted to determine the effects of age, verbal ability, education, reading habits, and recall strategies on prose recall among adults. Subjects were 422 adults in three age groups--young (18-28 years), middle (40-54), and older (62-80). They were asked to read and recall in writing two 388-word prose passages and to answer questions about their background reading habits and recall strategies. The results indicated that while increasing age was associated with a decrease in recall, both verbal ability and education were better predictors of recall than was age. In addition, a recall strategy factor representing "paragraph by paragraph" __retrieval produced the highest simple correlations with total recall and contributed significantly to the explanation of other recall measures. Reading habit factors associated with recall reflected subjects' self -assessment, as good and trequent readers as well as their need to know information. The reading and recall strategy factors proved to be better predictors!of recall than the reading habit factors. While the findings confirmed the expectation that more practiced readers will recall more, the results also made it possible to refine understanding of the relationship between recall and reading experience.. They also suggested that training in the use of reading and recall strategies may be used to improve recall in all age groups. (Extensive tables of data are appended.) (HTH)

format_quoteVerbal ability and education are stronger predictors of prose recall than age, with retrieval strategies significantly impacting recall scores.format_quote

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Effects of Discourse Type on Recall

American Educational Research Journal, 1984

Use of Top-Level Structure in Text: Key for Reading Comprehension of Ninth-Grade Students

Reading Research Quarterly, 1980

EJ234112 - Use of Top-Level Structure in Text: Key for Reading Comprehension of Ninth-Grade Stude... more

Prose Analysis: Purposes, Procedures, and Problems

... Register and you can start organising your references online. Tags. Prose Analysis: Purposes,... more

Reading Rate and Prose Retrieval

Scientific Studies of Reading, Oct 1, 1999

The findings of 2 studies call into question the theory that limitations in working memory pose a... more

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