Procedural text structure and reader perceptions and performance.
This research tested the relationship between text structural variables (on vs. off the causal chain, active vs. static information, and hierarchical structure) and reader perceptions, reading time, and true-false performance for procedural texts. Twenty-four college-age participants each read 3 procedural texts. As predicted, sentences that were (a) on the causal chain, (b) active, and (c) associated with task steps were read more slowly and judged to be more important (p < .05). The results were similar to those previously found with narratives, except for the hierarchical structure variable. Also as predicted, text differences were found such that as the variation in the type of information contained in the text increased, relationships with the structural variables increased.
Diehl
Virginia A
VA
Department of Psychology, Western Illinois University, Macomb 61455, USA. V-Diehl@wiu.edu
Mills
Carol Bergfeld
CB
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States