Reading comprehension assessments: effect of epistemic beliefs on text; availability and question type

Update Item Information
Title Reading comprehension assessments: effect of epistemic beliefs on text; availability and question type
Publication Type dissertation
School or College College of Education
Department Educational Psychology
Author Splinter, Adrienne Farley
Date 2011-08
Description This study used Kintsch's Construction Integration (CI) Model as a context; for investigating reading comprehension assessment and its relationship to epistemic beliefs. Specifically, questions tied to levels of representation delineated in the CI model were used to investigate how individual differences may predict reading comprehension. Literal questions that tie to the text;base representation of text;, and inference questions that tie to the situation model representation of text;, were used to investigate these effects. In addition to question type, text; availability was also manipulated in this study. Previous studies have reported that a person's epistemic beliefs may have an effect on his or her ability to comprehend text;. The current study was designed to investigate these findings using additional measures as covariates (i.e., vocabulary ability, background knowledge and working memory), and a test structure that is cognitively demanding (e.g., short answer questions to a variety of passages from three domains with and without text; available). Participants completed individual measures and the reading assessment in a 2-hour session. Although epistemic beliefs did account for a significant portion of variance in the reading assessment, this was very small, especially compared to the predictive validity of background knowledge and vocabulary ability. As predicted by the CI model, question type was related to reading comprehension performance and this interacted with epistemic beliefs. Surprisingly, this effect was found with literal questions rather than inference questions. text; availability did not interact with epistemic beliefs. The results of this study suggest that when predicting reading comprehension, it is essential to use several individual differences variables, and that the relationship of epistemic beliefs with reading comprehension is less definitive than indicated in the research literature. Future work in reading comprehension research should establish other individual difference variables such as reader's interest level and specific strategy use when answering literal and inference questions using expository text;.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Assessments; Epistemic beliefs; Individual differences; Reading; Test structure
Dissertation Institution University of Utah
Dissertation Name Doctor of Philosophy
Language eng
Rights Management Copyright © Adrienne Farley Splinter 2011
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 627,039 bytes
Identifier us-etd3,48678
Source original in Marriott Library Special Collections; LB7.5 2011 .S65
ARK ark:/87278/s6hq4dnd
Setname ir_etd
ID 194679
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6hq4dnd
Back to Search Results