The Intersection of Beliefs and Reading Goals

• In Event: Individual Differences in Reading Comprehension

Abstract

Many factors affect the processes and products of reading, such as the instructional context, the reader, and the text. However, interactions among these factors can yield interesting and surprising findings. In this study, readers were instructed to focus on arguments for versus against teaching intelligent design in science classrooms. In addition, they were instructed to approach the text with the general goals of reading to remember versus explain the text. Furthermore, participants’ beliefs about the topic were measured. Instructional manipulations affected processing when participants held neutral beliefs, but belief-consistency effects emerged for participants who held strong beliefs. The implications suggest that theories of comprehension as well as educational practitioners should consider how both instructions and beliefs affect processing.

Authors

• Catherine M. Bohn-Gettler, College of Saint Benedict

• Matthew T. McCrudden, Victoria University of Wellington