THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPECIFIC PROCESSING ABILITIES AND TRADITIONAL MEASURES OF COMPREHENSION SKILLS

JAMES LAWTON MCCAN, Purdue University

Abstract

An interactive componential model of comprehension, described by Irwin (1981), was used to organize seven processing abilities related to comprehension ability which were identified through a review of recent literature. These processing abilities have been shown, in various situations, to differentiate good and poor readers. An instrument was developed employing alternative methods of assessing each processing ability. As much as possible, these methods were adapted from previous studies which examined similar processing abilities. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a differential contribution by these processing abilities to the comprehension score obtained from traditional measures of reading ability. This instrument was administered individually to 32 sixth-grade subjects from two small rural schools. The Social Studies Form of the Contemporary Classroom Reading Inventory was also administered to each subject to obtain an instructional comprehension grade level score. In addition, a comprehension raw score from the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests standardized test was obtained for each subject from school files. The data were analyzed both correlationally and in multiple-regression analyses. The independent measures were the individual subtest scores, processing ability scores, and model component scores. Dependent measures were the IRI instructional comprehension grade level and the standardized test comprehension raw score. The seven identified processing abilities did not appear to contribute equally to comprehension ability as measured by the dependent measures. The two primary contributors to both dependent measure scores were chunking ability and the ability to establish coherence. Summarizing ability was also a strong contributor to the standardized test score.

Degree

Ph.D.

Subject Area

Literacy|Reading instruction

COinS