S. Jay Samuels

Toward a theory of automatic information processing in reading

Abstract A model of information processing in reading is described in which visual information is transformed through a series of processing stages involving visual, phonological and episodic memory systems until it is finally comprehended in the semantic system. The processing which occurs at each stage is assumed to be learned and the degree of this learning is evaluated with respect to two criteria: accuracy and automaticity . At the accuracy level of performance, attention is assumed to be necessary for processing; at the automatic level it is not. Experimental procedures are described which attempt to measure the degree of automaticity achieved in perceptual and associative learning tasks. Factors which may influence the development of automaticity in reading are discussed.

Children’s Use of Text Structure in the Recall of Expository Material

This study investigated whether superior recall for expository text could be attributed to the use of text structure as a retrieval cue or to some other memory factor. Elementary students read and recalled normal and scrambled versions of text. Children who were aware of text structure recalled significantly more of the normal passages than the scrambled, whereas for students who were unaware, there was no difference in recall between the normal and scrambled. That the aware group recalled more of the structured passage but not the scrambled suggests that it was use of structure, as opposed to a memory factor, that enhanced their recall. Results also indicated that many elementary students had not yet learned how to use text structure as a retrieval aid.

Toward a Theory of Automatic Information Processing in Reading, Revisited

5. The testing-reading cycle is repeated until the student can read the selection with some degree of fluency. It is not important to eliminate all word-recognition errors, but it is important to have the student read the selection with fluency. When this goal is reached, a new selection is chosen and the process is repeated. The charts provide feedback to the student to indicate rate of progress.

THE IMPORTANCE OF AUTOMATICITY FOR DEVELOPING EXPERTISE IN READING

Automaticity refers to the ability to perform complex skills with minimal attention and conscious effort. Automaticity is essential for higher‐order thinking, such as skilled reading and writing, because important sub‐skills must be performed accurately, quickly, and effortlessly. If reading sub‐skills are performed automatically, then higher‐order aspects of the task, such as comprehension or metacognitive functions, can be performed effectively at the same time. How do students become automatic at these sub‐skills? What are the indicators that can be used to determine whether a student is automatic? What are the psychological mechanisms that allow one to perform complex skills automatically? These questions are addressed in this article.

The Relationship Between Age and Accuracy of Foreign Language Pronunciation

AbstractThe assumption that younger children can master the phonological system of a second language more easily than those who are older was tested under laboratory conditions. This assumption is based on observations of immigrant children in natural settings and findings related to the ability of various age groups to recover full use of speech function following trauma to the dominant cerebral hemisphere. In the study, each of three groups of twenty elementary, twenty junior high, and twenty college students received ten sessions, each 15-25 minutes in length, of pre-taped German phoneme pronunciation instruction. A total of thirty-three phonemes were taught in 2 weeks using various mimicry drills. The students were pretested and post tested and given the Raven Progressive Matrices Test. Analysis of variance and covariance on the pretest indicated no difference in pronunciation. Contrary to common belief, on the posttest the junior high and college groups were significantly (p .01) better at pronunciat...

Sustained and Selective Attention in Children with Learning Disabilities

Sustained and selective attention of 30 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students with learning disabilities (LD) and 20 controls were compared. A continuous performance test (CPT) yielded no differences for students with LD and controls, suggesting similar ability for both groups in sustaining attention and inhibiting impulsive responding. Subjects with LD made more errors than controls on a selective attention task when letter distractors were adjacent to the target letter but not when they were distant, and more correct responses than controls when facilitating letters were adjacent to the target, suggesting that students with LD are less able to narrow the focus of their attention. Longer response times by students with LD indicate that they have slower information-processing skills than controls. Regrouping students according to teacher ratings for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) yielded the customary impulsive response set on the CPT and more errors on the selective attention task, but no differences on response times for students with ADHD. LD students with ADHD made more errors than LD students without ADHD when letter distractors were adjacent to the target letter.Sustained and selective attention of 30 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students with learning disabilities (LD) and 20 controls were compared. A continuous performance test (CPT) yielded no differences for students with LD and controls, suggesting similar ability for both groups in sustaining attention and inhibiting impulsive responding. Subjects with LD made more errors than controls on a selective attention task when letter distractors were adjacent to the target letter but not when they were distant, and more correct responses than controls when facilitating letters were adjacent to the target, suggesting that students with LD are less able to narrow the focus of their attention. Longer response times by students with LD indicate that they have slower information-processing skills than controls. Regrouping students according to teacher ratings for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) yielded the customary impulsive response set on the CPT and more errors on the selective attention task, b...

The Relationship Between a Silent Reading Fluency Instructional Protocol on Students’ Reading Comprehension and Achievement in an Urban School Setting

Reading fluency has been identified as a key component in effective literacy instruction (National Reading Panel, 2000). Instruction in reading fluency has been shown to lead to improvements in reading achievement. Reading fluency instruction is most commonly associated with guided repeated oral reading instruction. In the present retrospective study we examine the effects of a computer-based silent reading fluency instructional system called Reading Plus (Taylor Associates, Winooski, Vermount, USA) on the reading comprehension and overall reading achievement of a large corpus of students in an urban school setting. Findings indicate that the program resulted in positive, substantial, and significant improvements in reading comprehension and overall reading achievement on a criterion referenced reading test for Grades 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 and on a norm-referenced test of reading achievement for Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Moreover, mean gains made by students in the Reading Plus intervention were greater than mean gains for all students at the state and district level. The findings were generally positive for all subpopulations studied, including special education and regular education students. Qualitative reports from teachers who participated in the study were also supportive of the program. Implications for the study are explored for particular subgroups of students and for the role of fluency instruction with struggling adolescent readers.

Word Recognition by Second Graders: The Unit of Perception and Interrelationships among Accuracy, Latency, and Comprehension

Two issues were investigated: the first examined the relationships among accuracy and latency of word recognition and comprehension by non-fluent readers, and the second examined whether component letter or holistic processing was used in word recognition by these same readers. Speed and accuracy of word recognition were measured on individual words. Literal comprehension was measured for the same words presented in meaningful context. The unit of perception was measured by the relationship between latency of word recognition and word length. If students were using component processing, latency would increase with word length, but if holistic processing were used, there would be no increase in latency with length. Results of this study indicated that accuracy and latency were each significantly related to comprehension for both first- and second-grade words, with evidence for latency influencing comprehension scores to a greater extent on the first-grade words. With regard to the unit of perception, in general there was evidence of component letter processing for all subjects with the highly accurate readers showing a tendency towards more holistic processing.

The Effects of Letter Degradation and Letter Spacing on Word Recognition.

Abstract The role of information in individual letters and in the letter strings in word recognition was investigated by degrading the quality of individual letters and by irregular spacing of letters. Two methods of displaying words were employed to correspond to two models of word recognition so that the effects of letter and spacing information could be tested for both models. The indicator of units processed by the subjects was the relationship between latency of word categorization and word length. Four predictions were derived concerning slope of this relationship. Three of these predictions were confirmed and the fourth prediction left untested. The display of words in mirror-image transformation produced an increase in recognition latency with word length, and letter degradation interacted with this relationship suggesting that subjects were processing component letters. Words displayed in normal orthography produced no change in latency with word length even when letters were degraded. Irregular spacing had no significant effect under either normal or transformed orthography.

Effects of Text Structure Instruction on Foreign Language Readers' Recall of a Scientific Journal Article

Intermediate-level college students of French were randomly assigned to a condition in which they received information on the organization of a journal article or to a control condition where they did not receive this training. Half the students from each of these groups were assigned to read a scientific article in French which used canonical organization while the other half read the same article in a coherent form which did not. Afterwards, the students completed a free recall task in English, and the written recalls were scored for number of idea units recalled. Results indicated a significant main effect for instruction in text structure. This effect obtained only, however, when the text was in canonical experimental report order (problem, description of the investigation, results and conclusion). The discussion addresses how knowledge of structure gained through instruction may be used in comprehension and recall in the case of foreign-language readers.