The Discrepancy-Induced Source Comprehension (D-ISC) Model: Basic Assumptions and Preliminary Evidence

• In Event: 49.029 - Competing and Complementary Models of Multiple Source Use: Theoretical and Empirical Advancements

Abstract

Purpose

Our purpose is to present the D-ISC model (Braasch et al., 2012) and review supporting evidence from single and multiple document research.

Theoretical Frame

When students encounter textual information concerning controversial issues, they often disregard source information and pay attention only to the content of documents (Britt et al., 2013). This is especially problematic in the current reading context, where the abundance of easily accessible information of dubious quality requires that readers more than ever are capable of critically evaluating the sources they encounter. According to the D-ISC model, readers’ attention to source information might increase when different sources provide discrepant accounts; the basic assumption being that when different sources make conflicting claims about a controversial situation or issue, one mechanism for resolving the resulting break in situational coherence (Graesser et al., 1994) and constructing an integrated mental representation may be to link discrepant content information to the respective sources.

Data Sources and Results

We review research framed by the D-ISC model since Braasch et al.’s 2012 paper, which pioneered work within this model. Braasch et al. (2012) provided preliminary evidence in two experiments where undergraduates read brief news reports containing two claims that were either conflicting or consistent, with conflicting claims promoting deeper processing of and better memory for the sources of the claims. de Pereyra (2014) showed that these effects can also be observed with lower-secondary students, with stronger effects obtained for undergraduates than for seventh- and ninth-graders. In these studies, the conflicting claims and their respective sources were embedded in a single document. However, the D-ISC model has also received support when conflicting claims about the same issue are presented in multiple documents (Kammerer & Gerjets, 2014; Stadtler et al., 2014; Strømsø et al., 2013; Strømsø & Bråten, 2014). Moreover, some evidence suggests that characteristics of the reader and the text(s) may interact to facilitate or constrain attention to and memory for source information (Barzilai, & Eshet-Alkalai, 2013; Bråten & Strømsø, 2014). Thus, building on de Pereyra et al.’s (2014) extension of the D-ISC model to situations involving discrepancies between readers’ prior knowledge or beliefs and textual information, Bråten and Strømsø (2014), in a single document study, showed that readers’ memory for source information may increase with the discrepancy between textual claims and prior beliefs. In a multiple document study, Barzilai and Eseth-Alkalai (2013) found that conflicts between sources improved attention to and memory for “who said what” only among readers with higher levels of multiplist and evaluativist epistemic thinking (Kuhn, 2001).

Scholarly Contributions

The promise of the D-ISC model to theoretically represent conditions that promote students’ attention to the source features of documents is a starting point for much further work, also investigating how diverse reader characteristics may interact with characteristics of textual resources in both single and multiple document contexts. Moreover, this work is important for educational reasons. Assigning reading tasks that trigger attention to source information is one way instructors may help students overcome a general tendency to disregard sources during reading.

Authors

• Jason Braasch, The University of Memphis

• Guillaume de Pereyra

• Ivar Braten, University of Oslo