ABSTRACT. The "information society", once hyped as ushering in a post-industrial nirvana, has instead created a monster--and educational systems now face the challenge of preparing students to cope with information overload, unreliability, and manipulation. In this talk, we revisit 25 years of research into readers' comprehension of multiple documents. We recount how some early observations led us to propose new assumptions regarding what readers represent in long-term memory when they engage with multiple texts that offer various perspectives on a situation. We present the core features of the Documents Model framework and the various kinds of evidence that have supported its provisions across two decades of research, highlighting the critical role of information sources in readers' integration of inconsistent contents. We then turn to the theoretical issue of modeling readers' decisions as they handle purposeful reading tasks involving multiple sources of information. The massive variability of readers' behavior with its seeming dependence on the task context and the readers' domain expertise led us to propose RESOLV, a theory of purposeful reading. We introduce some new conjectures and prospects offered by the theory, and we present emerging evidence that support the view of reading as a situated, adaptive and goal-driven behavior. We discuss the implications of our work for reading instruction throughout the curriculum.

This talk will be introduced by Susan R. Goldman.

ABSTRACT. This paper will present results from year two of a three-year study on MOCCA-College. MOCCA-College is a diagnostic reading comprehension assessment designed to identify poor comprehenders and their cognitive processing propensity (i.e., paraphrasing or elaborating). The results presented will include item statistics, form reliability, and validation correlations with admission data (n≊1500). In conjunction with item coding and analysis, these results have helped to refine the assessment for the third year of the study.

ABSTRACT. This paper presents cohesive devices found in MOCCA-College items (narrative, expository). Previous research has identified that cohesive texts (i.e., connected ideas and relationships) may be helpful for readers when developing successful comprehension of texts (e.g., O’Reily & McNamara, 2007). Results will include the relationships found between overlapping relationships and connective words found in MOCCA-College items, and relationships between response types chosen. Results will inform further item development and our understanding of text cohesion.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study is to identify reader profiles of cognitive processes by genre of college students. For narrative texts, two profiles were identified: 1) self-integrating readers who focused on metacognitive awareness and opinions about the text and 2) knowledge-and-text integrating readers who paraphrased the text and made connections within the text and with their background knowledge. For expository texts, three profiles were identified: 1) self-integrating, 2) text-integrating readers, and 3) knowledge-integrating readers.

ABSTRACT. This presentation describes a coding scheme to capture emotion in MOCCA-College items. Our coding scheme targets the location (at the beginning or the end; e.g. Wassenburg et al., 2015), valence (positive or negative; e.g. Mouw et al., 2017), and salience (explicit or implicit; e.g. Nook et al., 2019) of emotion in a text. Results will be discussed in terms of how emotion may influence updating and revising of emotional information during reading.

ABSTRACT. It is often assumed that reading comprehension skills are critical to college success, but that relationship is not well understood. This meta-analysis examined studies correlating performance on reading assessments and college grade point averages. Based on 29 studies, reading comprehension performance was positively correlated with college grade point averages, r = .30, p < .001. The effect varied depending on the assessment with the Nelson-Denny being more highly correlated than others (e.g., ACT- Reading, ACCUPLACER).

ABSTRACT. Readers’ engagement with false information is a topic of growing importance. In two experiments, we investigated whether the misinformation effect can be reduced by educating participants about it prior to reading. In both experiments (N = 84 and N = 133), no reduction of the misinformation effect through psychoeducation was observed. Participants in both groups (control and psychoeducation) referenced a similar amount of misinformation after reading false information on items they previously answered correctly. Both reading false and reading neutral information did not change the confidence participants had in answers they previously knew, while reading correct information increased confidence.

ABSTRACT. Research has shown that non-experts tend to rely on their own evaluations when encountering scientific information that is easy to comprehend. This easiness effect leaves them vulnerable to uncritically accept misinformation presented in a simplified manner. The present study investigated whether warnings of misinformation prevent the persuasive advantage of information easiness. Forty-one medical non-experts read health-related texts that were either easy or less easy to comprehend and that either were or were not accompanied by a warning of misinformation. Results show that warnings reduce non-experts’ confident claim acceptance. However, they do not mitigate the persuasive advantage of easy-to-comprehend information.

ABSTRACT. Why do obviously false statements affect people’s judgments? Accounts suggest people’s failure to think critically about the accuracy of information during reading increases the likelihood false information will influence subsequent judgments and decisions. We investigated whether tasks that encourage deliberate evaluation reduce these effects, specifically focused on people’s reproductions of inaccuracies. Participants tasked with contemplating the accuracy of statements reproduced fewer false ideas and produced more correct answers than did participants who rated their interest in those same statements. Similar benefits were observed when participants made both accuracy and interest judgments, suggesting accuracy judgments can beneficially establish evaluative mindsets.

ABSTRACT. Studies show that people are not very skilled at detecting misinformation on social media; relying on inaccurate information may be especially dangerous for health topics. This study, involving 121 participants, showed that participants tended to trust health information on Facebook, Twitter, and a “normal” Control Text equally. Participants trusted true claims significantly more than false claims across all platforms. Moreover, participants who had low trust in the medical establishment had lower trust ratings for both true and false health claims compared to participants with more trust in the medical establishment, especially for claims presented in a social media format.

ABSTRACT. This study leverages unique strengths of cognitive research on belief change and design principles of gamification to develop, distribute, and evaluate a new digital game to refute COVID-19 misconceptions. A digital game was developed to motivate and positively engage approximately 180,000 learners via game elements and mechanics, including individual feedback. When participants indicated a misbelief, they were presented a refutation embedded in the game platform. User interaction data were mined for relevant learner analytic variables and results contribute to theoretical knowledge about how refutations in a digital gamified context can effectively update controversial misconceptions.