Studies were performed to base findings of the Inconsistency Effect on skilled readers and on unskilled readers. After reading four passages that were in global condition, consistent; global condition, inconsistent; local condition, consistent; and local condition, inconsistent, the findings were as follows:
Skilled readers were able to understand and reflect on all four passages.
This is found true because skilled readers have the focued memory and comprehension skills desired to retain information about all types of passages.
Less skilled readers were able to understand and reflect both local passages, but neither of the global condition passages.
This is found true for the global condition, inconsistent passage because longer reading on inconsistent passages is required when there is longer filler time. This occurs because of long term memory use required in order to process the passages. The reading time should be longer because of the inconsistency.
It is also found true because in the global condition, consistent passage, because less skilled readers are having to process more information due to a 6 sentense filler before the target action takes place.
RE: Long and Chong
ReplyDeleteGood job summarizing this difficult study.
This was a difficult study, but it certainly has a beautiful design.
The dependent variable was the reading times not the accuracy of the answers to the comprehension questions.
There were consistent and inconsistent passages. In the inconsistent passages, the target action (Bill quickly runs across the street and picks up the boy) was inconsistent with his physical description (that he is 81 years old and uses a cane) that was presented before a filler section. The filler section was only 1 sentence in some passages (the local condition) or 3 sentences long in other passages (the global condition).
If a reader is monitoring his/her comprehension, s/he should slow down on the target sentence (Bill quickly runs across the street to pick up the boy) in the inconsistent passage (where Bill is introduced as a 81-year-old using a cane to walk). In the local condition, this should be easier because there is only one sentence separating his physical description and the target action. The info about his being old should still be in working memory when the reader reads the target action. However, in the global condition it is possible that the physical description is no longer in working memory when the reader reaches the target action: there are three sentences that intervene between the info about Bill's being 81-year-old and the target action.
Long and Chong find skilled readers slow down when reading the target action in the inconsistent passage in both the local and global conditions. However, less skilled readers do so only in the local condition. Among a few, the most plausible explanation is that they lose track of info from earlier sections of passages due to working memory deficits. Relatedly, they don't tend to monitor their comprehension beyond distances of 3 sentences in passages.
~Dr. Ari