Signaling Text Relevance in Multiple-Text Reading: A Think-Aloud Study

• In Event: Multiple Documents, Sources, and Structures

Abstract

Fifty-one undergraduates read conflicting documents on cell phones and health risks for the purpose of advising a friend who experienced discomfort. They were thinking aloud during reading and afterwards wrote essays judging the potential health risks of cell phone use. Judgment of text relevance at both global and local levels were identified in the think-aloud protocols, with some judgments having a negative valence and some judgments having a positive valence. Negative judgments of text relevance at the global level and positive judgments of text relevance at the local level were related to the quality of written argumentation, indication that the suppression of irrelevant information as well as attention to relevant information were associated with more relevant and integrated argumentative reasoning.

Authors

• Oistein Anmarkrud, University of Oslo

• Ivar Braten, University of Oslo

• Helge I. Stromso, University of Oslo