Publication Date

1989

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Simon, Seymore

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Psychology

LCSH

Reading comprehension; Memory; Concepts

Abstract

In this study, both conceptually driven and data-driven processes were varied to study their joint effects on the retention of prose materials. Conceptually driven processes were examined by varying the expertise of the subjects. One group was knowledgeable about the topic of a target passage; the other group had no prior knowledge of the topic. Data-driven processes were studied by utilizing a transfer of training paradigm in which the structure of an initial story was manipulated. Forty-seven subjects, 21 of whom were knowledgeable about the game Dungeons and Dragons, read and recalled aloud a folktale and a Dungeons and Dragons story under both immediate and delayed recall conditions. An examination of the percentage of the propositions recalled indicated that while the recalls of the folktales were similar, the Dungeons and Dragons knowledgeable subjects recalled a greater percentage of the Dungeons and Dragons story. A conditionalized recall analysis of the proposition types within the Dungeons and Dragons story revealed that both knowledge groups tended to recall proportionally more High-Level Central Propositions than any other category.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages 87-91)

Extent

2 volumes (viii, 565 pages)

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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