Revisiting the Role of Standards of Coherence in Reading Comprehension

• In Event: Text Relevance and Task-Oriented Reading

Abstract

Objectives
Our purpose is this theoretical paper is three-fold. We first define the notion of standards of coherence and place it in the context of current models of text comprehension. Second, we describe central properties of standards and specify how a reader’s standards influence processing of text. Third, we also describe how standards are influenced by factors such as reader, text, and task characteristics (several experiments from our lab and others are presented here to support our position).

Theoretical Framework
Standards of coherence refer to the types and strengths of coherence that the reader aims to maintain during reading (van den Broek, Lorch, Linderholm, & Gustafson, 2001; van den Broek, Risden, & Husebye-Hartmann, 1995). These standards consist of a set of implicit or explicit criteria that the reader adopts for the particular reading situation, reflecting the desired level of understanding. They vary between individuals as well as within an individual from one reading situation to the next.

Methods & Results
To understand the role of standards of coherence in modulating the reading process, it is useful to consider some of their properties in detail. These properties have been investigated in several empirical studies and the results indicate that:
o A reader’s standards of coherence can be implicit or explicit (Bohn-Gettler & Rapp, in press; Kendeou, Bohn-Gettler, & Fulton, 2011).
o Strategic processes are initiated when the automatic processes do not attain the reader’s standards of coherence (van den Broek et al., 2005).
o Standards reflect both the types and strengths of coherence that are being pursued (van den Broek et al., 2001).
o The standards that a reader adopts are a joint function of the reader, the text, and the specific reading situation (Kendeou et al., 2011; van den Broek et al., 2011).
Together, these findings indicate that standards of coherence operate as criteria for comprehension. They influence the dynamic execution of the cognitive processes that take place at each point during reading as well as the gradual emergence of a coherent mental representation of the text as a whole (van den Broek et al., 2001; van den Broek et al., 2011).

Scientific or scholarly significance of the study or work
The notion of standards of coherence has important theoretical and practical implications. With respect to theory, it explains the online fluctuations in activations and the different types of processing readers engage in when they proceed through a text: some processes occur frequently during reading, others only when comprehension fails and are needed to establish the reader’s standards. Standards capture how the particular mix of processes is a result of the dynamic interplay between reader, text, and reading situation. With respect to educational practice, standards capture individual differences in reading behaviors and suggest the development of specific strategies for improving reading comprehension.

Authors

• Paul van den Broek, Leiden University

• Panayiota Kendeou, NEAPOLIS UNIVERSITY PAFOS

• Catherine M. Bohn-Gettler, Wichita State University