Children’s integration of information across texts: reading processes and knowledge representations

Abstract

Constructing a knowledge representation from multiple texts requires the integration of information across texts. The aim of the current study was to investigate how elementary school students integrate information across multiple text passages and, particularly, whether students use information from a prior text to improve understanding of a current text. A sample of 105 children in grades 4 and 6 participated in the experiment. The multiple-text integration paradigm was used to study integration processes across texts during reading. Recall and (application) questions were used to investigate the extent to which information from different text passages was integrated into knowledge representations after reading. Individual differences in reading comprehension ability and working memory were also considered. The results indicate that children in both grades spontaneously activate information from an earlier text to aid their understanding during reading, and that they integrate information across texts in their knowledge representations. This was the case regardless of grade or individual differences in reading-comprehension ability and working memory. These findings provide insight into the mechanisms that may be involved in the integration of information across texts.