THE EFFECT OF READING ABILITY, CONTENT ORGANIZATION, AND RECALL CONTEXT ON CHILDREN'S IDENTIFICATION OF MAIN IDEAS AND RETENTION OF PROSE

JAMES JOSEPH HASSE, Purdue University

Abstract

The present study sought to investigate the influence of certain variables on children's subjective organization of expository prose. Identification of a main idea for a passage was hypothesized to be a vital step in the integration of related information. An investigation was made of the learner's sensitivity to main ideas in text and the relative value of three types of retrieval cues. These cues consisted of the reader's own statement of what was perceived to be the main idea of a passage, a main idea supplied by the experimenter, or a sub-idea supplied by the experimenter. In addition, the organizational format of the materials was varied in an attempt to influence the ease with which the information could be subjectively organized. This involved manipulating the contiguity of ideas necessary to form a cause/effect inference. Included in the research were the independent variables of (1) reading ability (either high or low), (2) content organization (adjacent versus dispersed cause/effect statements), and (3) three types of recall cues. The dependent variables were the number of correct main idea identifications and the number of sentences recalled. Fifty-four fifth grade students read six 170-word passages. After each passage, the learners wrote what they believed to be the main idea of the passage, and a cued recall took place approximately three and one-half hours later. The results indicated that good readers performed better than the poorer readers in correctly identifying main ideas and in recalling the passages. As predicted, more correct main idea identifications occurred for the adjacent-statement condition, but contrary to expectations, the content structure variable had no effect upon the recall outcome. The experimenter-supplied main idea statement proved to be the most effective recall cue, even when the learner's initial main idea statement was incorrect. Recall was poorest for the learner-generated cue, again, regardless of the correctness of the statement. The sub-idea statement was mid-range in effectivenss as a retrieval cue. Analysis of the effects of the sub-idea cue indicated that recall was greater for the dispersed textual condition and that sentences were equally likely to be recalled from either the cued or the non-cued paragraph. Analyses of recall also were conducted in which account was taken of the student's accuracy on the main idea task. It was found that the total amount of information retained was greater when the learner had initially stated a correct main idea. In separate analyses of the three cuing conditions, however, accuracy in identifying main ideas was not related to subsequent recall. The discussion of results focused primarily on interpretations of the unanticipated experimental findings. Learner-generated cues were questioned as to their retrieval effectiveness. The relative value of the sub-idea cue was believed to be a function of the fact that this statement was still an integral part of the content structure. The role of main identification in the subjective organization process also was discussed. Educational implications of the findings were considered. The focus was on the possible value of main idea identification in the learning and retention of information. Attention was also directed to the potential value of various retrieval cues and different content organizations.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Educational psychology

COinS