Adult age differences in knowledge-driven reading

The authors investigated the effects of domain knowledge on online reading among younger and older adults. Individuals were randomly assigned to either a domain-relevant (i.e., high-knowledge) or domain-irrelevant (i.e., low-knowledge) training condition. Two days later, participants read target passages on a computer that drew on information presented in the high-knowledge training session. For both age groups, knowledge improved comprehension and recall and facilitated the processing of topic shifts during reading. In addition, domain knowledge had differential effects on processing across the 2 age groups. Among older (but not younger) readers, domain knowledge increased the time allocated to organization and integration processes (wrap-up) and increased the frequency of knowledge-based inferences during recall. These results suggest that among older readers, domain knowledge engenders an investment of processing resources during reading, which is used to create a more elaborated representation of the situation model.

[1]  G. Klein,et al.  Decision Making in Action: Models and Methods , 1993 .

[2]  M. C. Smith,et al.  Adult age-group differences in recall for the literal and interpretive meanings of narrative text. , 1997, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[3]  Rolf A. Zwaan,et al.  Situation models and aging. , 2001, Psychology and aging.

[4]  Kenneth Kotovsky,et al.  Complex Information Processing: The Impact of Herbert A. Simon , 1989 .

[5]  William J. Hoyer,et al.  Age and Skill in Visual Search. , 1994 .

[6]  Suzanne Mannes,et al.  Strategic processing of text. , 1994 .

[7]  Walter Kintsch,et al.  How does background information improve memory for text content? , 2002, Memory & cognition.

[8]  Elizabeth A. L. Stine-Morrow,et al.  Aging and the effects of knowledge on on-line reading strategies. , 1998, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[9]  Jukka Hyönä,et al.  How prior knowledge, WMC, and relevance of information affect eye fixations in expository text. , 2003, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[10]  E. Kaneko,et al.  The Crow-Fukase (POEMS) syndrome with vasospastic angina. , 1994, European Neurology.

[11]  Morton Ann Gernsbacher,et al.  The Structure-Building Framework: What it is, what it might also be, and why. , 1995 .

[12]  Daniel G. Morrow,et al.  Age differences in rereading , 2004, Memory & cognition.

[13]  K. Stanovich,et al.  Knowledge growth and maintenance across the life span : the role of print exposure , 1995 .

[14]  David E. Kieras,et al.  New methods in reading comprehension research , 1986 .

[15]  James F. Voss,et al.  Text Processing of Domain-Related Information for Individuals with High and Low Domain Knowledge: Methodological Considerations. , 1979 .

[16]  W. Kintsch,et al.  Memory and cognition , 1977 .

[17]  Walter Kintsch,et al.  Knowledge Organization and Text Organization , 1987 .

[18]  C. Perfetti,et al.  A Trading Relationship between Reading Skill and Domain Knowledge in Children's Text Comprehension. , 1995 .

[19]  P. Carpenter,et al.  Individual Differences in Integrating Information between and within Sentences. , 1983 .

[20]  J. L. Myers,et al.  Regression analyses of repeated measures data in cognitive research. , 1990, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[21]  F. Craik,et al.  The handbook of aging and cognition , 1992 .

[22]  M A Just,et al.  A theory of reading: from eye fixations to comprehension. , 1980, Psychological review.

[23]  Danielle D. Gagne,et al.  Aging, memory load, and resource allocation during reading. , 2003, Psychology and aging.

[24]  Danielle D. Gagne,et al.  Effects of Age and Control Beliefs on Resource Allocation During Reading Abstract , 2005 .

[25]  Bruce K. Britton,et al.  Executive Control Processes in Reading , 1987 .

[26]  J. Hyönä.  An eye movement analysis of topic-shift effect during repeated reading. , 1995, Journal of experimental psychology. Learning, memory, and cognition.

[27]  Marcel Adam Just,et al.  Paradigms and processes in reading comprehension , 1982 .

[28]  D. Morrow,et al.  Aging, narrative organization, presentation mode, and referent choice strategies. , 1992, Experimental aging research.

[29]  E. Stine-Morrow,et al.  Patterns of resource allocation are reliable among younger and older readers. , 2001, Psychology and aging.

[30]  Arthur C. Graesser,et al.  Models of Understanding Text , 1996 .

[31]  The locus of adult intelligence: knowledge, abilities, and nonability traits. , 1999 .

[32]  Elizabeth A. L. Stine-Morrow,et al.  Patterns of On-line Resource Allocation to Narrative Text by Younger and Older Readers , 2001 .

[33]  R. Keefover,et al.  Aging and cognition. , 1998, Neurologic clinics.

[34]  K. Stanovich.  TOWARD AN INTERACTIVE-COMPENSATORY MODEL OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF READING FLUENCY , 1980 .

[35]  J. W. Riley,et al.  Age integration and the lives of older people. , 1994, The Gerontologist.

[36]  Elizabeth A L Stine-Morrow,et al.  Aging and the representation of spatial situations in narrative understanding. , 2002, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[37]  Robert F. Lorch,et al.  Understanding Reading Comprehension: Current and Future Contributions of Cognitive Science , 1997 .

[38]  Thomas M. Hess,et al.  Aging and cognition : knowledge organization and utilization , 1990 .

[39]  Bonnie J. F. Meyer,et al.  Effects of Structure Strategy Training and Signaling on Recall of Text. , 2001 .

[40]  Renee L. Babcock,et al.  Age and Experience Effects in Spatial Visualization , 1990 .

[41]  Rebecca Fincher-Kiefer,et al.  The role of prior knowledge in inferential processing , 1992 .

[42]  E. Stine-Morrow,et al.  Resource allocation in on-line reading by younger and older adults. , 1996, Psychology and aging.

[43]  W. Kintsch,et al.  Are Good Texts Always Better? Interactions of Text Coherence, Background Knowledge, and Levels of Understanding in Learning From Text , 1996 .

[44]  W. Kintsch,et al.  Strategies of discourse comprehension , 1983 .

[45]  Arthur C. Graesser,et al.  Dimensions of situation model construction in narrative comprehension. , 1995 .

[46]  C. Adams,et al.  Qualitative age differences in memory for text: a life-span developmental perspective. , 1991, Psychology and aging.

[47]  N. S. Johnson,et al.  Remembrance of things parsed: Story structure and recall , 1977, Cognitive Psychology.

[48]  L. Miller,et al.  The effects of age and domain knowledge on text processing. , 2003, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[49]  E. A. Stine,et al.  Age differences in reading time allocation for propositionally dense sentences. , 1994 .

[50]  Marcia K. Johnson,et al.  Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall , 1972 .

[51]  G. Klein,et al.  A recognition-primed decision (RPD) model of rapid decision making. , 1993 .

[52]  Adult age differences in memory in relation to availability and accessibility of knowledge-based schemas. , 1990 .

[53]  Arthur C. Graesser,et al.  Effects of task and new arguments on word reading times , 1986 .

[54]  T. Salthouse,et al.  Predictors of crossword puzzle proficiency and moderators of age-cognition relations. , 1999, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[55]  L. Miller.  The Effects of Real-World Knowledge on Text Processing Among Older Adults , 2001 .

[56]  P. Carpenter,et al.  Individual differences in working memory and reading , 1980 .

[57]  B. K. Britton.  Understanding expository text: Building mental structures to induce insights. , 1994 .

[58]  Gregg T. Vesonder,et al.  Text generation and recall by high-knowledge and low-knowledge individuals , 1980 .

[59]  D. Aaronson,et al.  Performance theories for sentence coding: Some quantitative evidence. , 1976 .

[60]  R. Dixon,et al.  Adult age differences in elaborations produced during prose recall. , 1991, Psychology and aging.

[61]  Thomas M. Hess,et al.  Chapter Three Aging and Schematic Influences on Memory , 1990 .

[62]  Bruce K. Britton,et al.  Effects of prior knowledge on use of cognitive capacity in three complex cognitive tasks. , 1982 .

[63]  K. Warner Schaie,et al.  Cognitive Functioning and Social Structure over the Life Course , 1987 .

[64]  Keith K. Millis,et al.  Resource allocation during the rereading of scientific texts , 1998, Memory & cognition.

[65]  Paul B. Baltes,et al.  On the incomplete architecture of human ontogeny: Selection, optimization, and compensation as foundation of developmental theory , 1997 .

[66]  E. A. Stine,et al.  Activation of emotion information in text among younger and older adults , 1995 .

[67]  W. Nelson Francis,et al.  FREQUENCY ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH USAGE: LEXICON AND GRAMMAR , 1983 .

[68]  Danielle S. McNamara,et al.  Learning from texts: Effects of prior knowledge and text coherence , 1996 .

[69]  Noel E. Sharkey,et al.  What is the point of integration? The loci of knowledge-based facilitation in sentence processing , 1987 .

[70]  A C Graesser,et al.  Processing of new arguments at clause boundaries , 1989, Memory & cognition.