Interest,inferences, and learning from texts |
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| Authors: | Virginia Clinton Paul van den Broek |
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| Institution: | 1. Stichting EARTH, de Weehorst, 9321 XS 2, Peize, The Netherlands;2. Department of Physics, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, South Africa;3. Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia;4. Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | Topic interest and learning from texts have been found to be positively associated with each other. However, the reason for this positive association is not well understood. The purpose of this study is to examine a cognitive process, inference generation, that could explain the positive association between interest and learning from texts. In Study 1, sixty undergraduate students participated by reading two science texts, which differed in coherence levels, silently. The results replicated previous findings that topic interest is positively associated with recall and accurate answers to comprehension questions for both texts. In Study 2, sixty-nine undergraduate students participated by reading the same two science texts while thinking aloud. The results indicated that topic interest was positively associated with inference generation while reading for the more coherently-written text. Subsequent analyses indicated inference generation partly explained the positive association between topic interest and accurate answers to comprehension questions for the more coherently-written text. The findings from Study 2 were independent of the effects of reading comprehension skill. Theoretical implications of the findings, in regard to standards of coherence and depth of processing while reading, are discussed. |
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