ABSTRACT. An experiment replicated Rouet et al.'s (2023) experiment suggesting that physical location (i.e., home vs. school) may impact college students' multiple document comprehension processes and outcomes. 171 students were tasked to write a short message based on four online documents either on campus or at home, within an academic or a personal purpose scenario. Online and offline measures suggested interactions between place and purpose. We discuss implications for a contextual model of reading strategies.

ABSTRACT. This study explores how four prior knowledge dimensions—amount, accuracy, specificity, and coherence—impact learning from multiple texts. Analyzing 375 high school students reading about AI, results showed significant knowledge gains across all dimensions. Findings support the compensation effect, where lower initial knowledge is associated with higher gains. While knowledge remains stable, specific dimensions uniquely influence argumentative writing. Overall, this research underscores the necessity of a multidimensional approach to assess knowledge change when reading.

ABSTRACT. This study examined how multidimensional topic familiarity comprised of cognitive and motivational familiarity influences strategic processing and multiple-text reading among 261 ninth graders. Structural equation modeling showed motivational familiarity predicted strategic processing, which supported comprehension and integration. Cognitive familiarity primarily influenced integration through comprehension. A partial mediation model fit best, revealing cascading effects from motivation to strategy to comprehension to integration. Findings highlight topic-related motivation as a key driver of strategic engagement in multiple-text learning.

ABSTRACT. The current study examined the effect of a seductive or non-seductive scientific refutation text on misconceptions about the liver and detoxification diets in low (N = 57) and high knowledge readers (N = 159). As compared to high knowledge readers, low knowledge readers had both lower posttest knowledge and confidence scores, but higher emotional response ratings to the texts. Additionally, the seductive refutation text resulted in reduced knowledge and confidence scores for low knowledge readers.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how summarization-based scaffolding supports attention and comprehension during expository text reading. Undergraduate students (N=160) are randomly assigned to global scaffolding, local scaffolding, or control conditions while reading a long science text. Global prompts require cross-sectional integration, whereas local prompts target section-level main ideas. Task-unrelated thought is assessed via in-the-moment probes. Comprehension, meta-comprehension, sustained attention, and ADHD symptoms are measured to investigate how scaffolding interacts with individual differences in attention and impacts comprehension.

ABSTRACT. This study examined whether large language model–based chatbots can reduce misconceptions about artificial intelligence (AI) in education. Participants interacted with a control, simple refutation, or empathetic refutation chatbot. Both refutation chatbots significantly reduced AI misconceptions, with no difference between refutation styles and no moderation by individual differences. Confidence levels remained unchanged. Findings suggest that corrective content delivered through interactive chatbot dialogue is an effective, scalable, and non-threatening approach to improving AI literacy.

ABSTRACT. This study examined how participants judged their understanding after reading an explanation they believed was either ChatGPT-generated or human-generated. Participants also rated explanation quality and how helpful they found the explanation for supporting learning. Students were assigned to one of three explanation source groups: peer, ChatGPT, or TA. Students gave higher judgments when the explanation source condition was TA compared to ChatGPT. They also rated the TA-generated explanation as more helpful and higher quality.

ABSTRACT. We examined whether using AI to summarize a passage influences subsequent comprehension. 186 undergraduates read a passage before assignment to a self-summarization, AI-summarization, or AI-collaboration condition. Participants self-reported their confidence before completing a validated surprise test on the passage topic. Test performance did not differ across conditions. However, participants were metacognitively more overconfident in the AI-summarization condition than in the AI-collaboration condition, and more metacognitively sensitive in the self-summarization condition than in both AI conditions.

ABSTRACT. This exploratory classroom study examined how undergraduates’ AI acceptance beliefs, self-efficacy, and prior AI experience relate to generative AI-supported inquiry. Students completed a pre-survey, then used ChatGPT to investigate a provocative headline before comparing AI outputs with web sources. Results showed a TAM-consistent belief structure and experience–usefulness links. Preliminary qualitative review suggested movement from AI-anchored sense-making toward more calibrated, source-aware engagement, highlighting emerging “hybrid” inquiry norms and implications for AI literacy and scientific thinking.

ABSTRACT. Narrative writing, Socratic questioning, and gamification have been shown to aid learning. This study describes the development and pilot-testing of gamified, GenAI-powered chatbots using narrative writing and the Socratic method to teach students about a STEM topic. The chatbots were developed through a process of user needs analysis and review of literature on educational games, gamification, narrative learning, and STEM education. Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed to inform future iterations of design and testing.

ABSTRACT. Sourcing is a broad construct, encompassing many uses of source features to predict, interpret, and evaluate texts. Recent systematic review results indicate that how sourcing is measured may influence its relationship to individual difference variables (Anmarkrud et al., 2022), suggesting distinct dimensions of sourcing. This scoping review examines sourcing process measures from 44 papers to systematically define sourcing dimensions. Source perspective inferences, in particular, are investigated further in a secondary analysis of think-aloud data.

ABSTRACT. This study compares sourcing and corroboration performance across adolescence and two recent ChatGPT models (GPT-4o, GPT-5.2). Lower secondary students, upper secondary students, teacher students, and LLM-generated responses were analyzed. Both models outperformed human groups, with GPT-5.2 achieving the highest mean scores. However, neither model consistently enacted independent corroboration, remaining below ceiling. Findings document both developmental progression in human evaluation and measurable performance gains in newer LLMs, while underscoring persistent epistemic limitations.

ABSTRACT. Are citation standards in writing based not merely on linguistic features of cited vs. uncited source material but also on perceived writer skill level? Judgments of 120 writing teachers are compared regarding acceptability of uncited verbatim source phrases in essays by skilled native, less-skilled native, and second-language writers. Noticing and judgment bias is demonstrated, suggesting that perceived skill level influences judgments of propriety. This, in turn, calls into question the underpinnings of the standards themselves.

ABSTRACT. We developed a theoretically-grounded codebook for identifying metacognitive processes in think-aloud responses during multiple-document reading tasks, aligned with the Metacognitive and Affective Self-Regulated Learning (MASRL) model. The codebook operationalizes metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive skills, and metacognitive experiences. With demonstrated interrater reliability (κ = 0.73), the codebook enables researchers to examine how metacognitive processes unfold during comprehension of conflicting information across sources.

ABSTRACT. Integrating corrective feedback within explanation feedback, as well as its position (opening vs. closing), may affect student engagement and recall. In a digital assessment, 80 participants answered multiple-choice questions and received three feedback types in a within-subject design. Engagement in the feedback message and explanation recall were highest when corrective information was not present in the message. A closing position was better than an opening one for engagement and corrective information recall.

ABSTRACT. This study examines how worked examples impact metacognitive judgment accuracy for mathematical word problems. Students were randomly assigned to three conditions: answer-only examples, worked examples, and worked examples + explain. Students study the worked examples, make predictive judgments of learning and complete a posttest. Results indicate no difference in posttest performance or judgment magnitude across conditions, but self-reported effort and difficulty did differ. As data collection is on-going, updated results will be shared.

ABSTRACT. People seek out and learn from videos. But trivially-informative videos depicting expert performance can unjustifiably increase people’s confidence in performing comparably. Replicating previous work, we found participants without flight training who watched a video showing pilots landing a plane demonstrated increased confidence in their ability to land a plane compared to participants who did not watch the video. Our results suggest video-based illusory skill acquisition is a robust effect with implications for educators and communicators.

ABSTRACT. People often prefer feedback that confirms their existing views, as seen in engagement with “sycophantic” AI systems that are biased to validate users’ opinions. The present study examines whether this preference reflects rational concerns about the reliability of uncertain feedback sources. Findings from a Bayesian model and behavioral experiment show that early confirmatory feedback establishes trust in a feedback source, thereby opening the door to later feedback that has the potential to modify existing beliefs.

ABSTRACT. This study investigates sourcing skills among 451 Chinese adolescents (Grades 5–7) using a multidimensional framework. Results reveal substantial heterogeneity across source identification, awareness, and evaluation, including author, platform, date, and in-text citations. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses show that basic reading comprehension predicts all dimensions, while digital exposure and task-level skills support identification and awareness, and higher-order evaluation is driven by critical thinking and epistemic beliefs. These findings underscore the need for targeted cognitive interventions.

ABSTRACT. Today’s information landscape requires people to evaluate diverse, often conflicting sources and integrate them with their beliefs. A key factor in this process is epistemic beliefs – that is, one's personal criteria for judging the accuracy of information. This work reviews the research literature on epistemic beliefs in multiple sourcing contexts across educational contexts. To this end, we investigate whether proposed interventions and materials align with and are practical for real classroom use.

ABSTRACT. Students learning about complex socioscientific issues must coordinate multiple criteria when evaluating evidence. Using natural language processing, we modeled the semantic patterns in students' written justifications when evaluating statistical and anecdotal evidence about declining birthrates. Clustering analyses identified four distinct evaluative orientations in students' responses (e.g., quantification superiority), and these orientations predicted students' evidence evaluations. Findings highlight the role of person-centered approach in examining evidence evaluation and suggest directions for future research in evidentiary reasoning.

ABSTRACT. This study examines whether Word Generation, a discussion-and-debate-based deep reading program, can improve argumentative writing quality without teaching writing. Using data from a cluster-randomized trial (N=2,162, grades 4–7), multilevel models revealed that treatment students used significantly more academic vocabulary and produced higher-quality argumentative essays than controls, while lower-level writing quality indicators did not differ between conditions. We theorize that substantive discussion provides useful linguistic tools and episodic motivation for writing well about meaningful content.

ABSTRACT. This study is an examination of the impact of language of encoding and retrieval on discourse updating for highly-proficient bilingual speakers of English and Spanish whose schooling was primarily in English. Across both expository and narrative passages discourse updating was more successful when updated information was encoded and retrieved in English, across the gamut of language dominance profiles. When encoding was in Spanish accuracy was preserved as long as retrieval was in English.

ABSTRACT. This study examined how causal and concessive connectives influence reading comprehension among Chinese ESL learners across middle school, high school, and college. Results showed that correctly used connectives facilitated comprehension, with effects varying by educational level and connective condition. Higher cognitive reasoning, but not L2 proficiency, moderated connective comprehension, particularly when connectives were misused. These findings highlight the distinct roles of causal and concessive connectives in reading comprehension and suggest integrating connective and reasoning instruction.

ABSTRACT. Research in adult literacy rarely distinguishes between native and non-native speakers or the contribution of inferencing. This study examined the impact of language status on how foundational skills and inferencing jointly support reading comprehension. Mean scores showed native and non-native speakers have distinct strengths and struggles. However, multi-group path modeling revealed equivalent pathways across groups, but the components accounted for more variance in reading comprehension in non-native speakers. Implications for adult basic education are discussed.

ABSTRACT. Readers’ meaning-making processes are rooted in background knowledge, experiences, and social practices. Less clear are processes underlying the association between cultural knowledge and reading comprehension. Six fourth- and fifth-graders read one culturally-tailored (CT) and one non-culturally tailored (NCT) text. They completed think-alouds, retellings, and interviews. Readers used varied cognitive processes while reading both texts. When reading the CT text, readers generated more perspectival inferences and personal identifications, recalled more ideas, and shared more personal reactions.

ABSTRACT. We discuss preliminary results of the effectiveness and feasibility of ELCII, a Tier 1 digital instruction program, for strengthening knowledge and inference-making skills in emerging readers. 1,164 kindergarten students across 73 classrooms in nine schools were randomly assigned to ELCII or business-as-usual instruction. Controlling for pretest differences, linear mixed-effects models indicated that students receiving ELCII significantly outperformed control peers at posttest in inference-making (d = .43) and content knowledge (d = .56).

ABSTRACT. We investigated how individual (oral language, content knowledge) and media differences (genre, spoken-text complexity, modality, audiovisual cohesion) relate to kindergarteners’ inference accuracy while viewing videos. Using explanatory item response modeling with 283 U.S. kindergarteners, oral language and content knowledge predicted inference accuracy, as did video modality and audiovisual cohesion. Syntactic simplicity interacted with students’ oral language skills, though the magnitude was small. Findings inform assessment and instructional design and extend comprehension theories to non-reading contexts.

ABSTRACT. The study aims to investigate differences in inference generation between fiction and non-fiction videos in a non-reading context. The dataset was derived from the ongoing multi-year randomized controlled trial (RCT). We used a linear-mixed-effects model, and findings of the study sample indicate that students tend to generate more correct inferences for fictional videos and that scaffolding and feedback features enhance students' inference generation; students benefit more from these features when making inferences on non-fiction videos.

ABSTRACT. We examined subgroup differences in inference-making efficiency among kindergarteners using drift-diffusion modeling. A total of 1,190 kindergarteners completed the Minnesota Inference Assessment across four subgroups: typically developing learners, English learners, learners who receive special education, and English learners who receive special education. Efficiency of evidence accumulation was significantly associated with concurrent inference performance. English learners who receive special education showed the lowest efficiency among subgroups, highlighting mechanisms not captured by accuracy alone.

ABSTRACT. We investigated the effect of lateral reading on promoting fourth- and fifth-grade students’ evaluation of credibility on digital information. We also examined whether the effect is moderated by digital literacy attitudes and standards of coherence. Students(n=142) were randomly assigned to either lateral reading condition or control at classroom level. We found a significant main effect of lateral reading, but there was no moderation effect. The findings suggest the promise of lateral reading intervention.

ABSTRACT. Does overlap in cognition about what happened in an online group interaction predict feeling connected with the group? In a study of overlap in songwriting group members’ individually elicited takes on what happened in a session, levels of agreement with others’ anonymized statements- particularly positive but not negative statements- predicted feelings of connectedness with the group. Privately assessed agreement with specific content of other group members’ thoughts can predict group members’ bonding with the group.

ABSTRACT. Even when social media readers see identical content, interpretations can diverge. Readers may impute a stance when none was intended or interpret the opposite stance from what the author intended. This study reanalyzes data from Dolgin et al. (2025), where 142 readers interpreted anonymized tweets where the author’s intended stance was known. The goal: to explore misalignments and their predictors. A surprising pattern emerged: more educated readers show a disadvantage in interpreting these tweets.

ABSTRACT. Reward Devaluation Theory (RDT) posits that individuals experiencing depressive symptoms actively avoid positive information. The proposed study investigates whether positively valenced reading passages induce task-unrelated thought (TUT) in individuals who experience Fear of Happiness. Participants will read positive, negative, and neutral passages while eye movements, responses to thought probes, and accuracy on comprehension questions are recorded. This work examines avoidance of positivity as a potential mechanism for disengagement while reading.

ABSTRACT. Persuasion theories are shaped around lab studies, limiting insight into persuasive processes in digital environments. We investigated r/ChangeMyView, a Reddit community where users invite challenges to their beliefs and award “deltas” to successful persuaders. We analyzed linguistic features of persuasive comments and found that epistemic language and first-person framing reduced persuasive effectiveness, whereas lexical sophistication, second-person framing, and semantic overlap with the post increased it. These findings provide new insights into persuasion in text-based contexts.

ABSTRACT. This contribution examines an underexplored textual characteristic: its visual segmentation by the length of paragraphs and chapters. It conceives this segmentation not merely as a visual or linguistic entity, but as a dynamic process. By measuring each paragraph or chapter sequentially, the analysis models prose text as a time series, a sequence of variable lengths/durations. This conceptualization introduces a new analytical insight by revealing a rhythm that renders the frequency of changes manifest within text.

ABSTRACT. International law purports to be universal, yet persistent inequalities suggest some states ultimately experience it as imposed rather than co-created—navigating a discourse shaped by the presumptions of powerful states. Leveraging machine learning methods to analyze International Court of Justice judgments, the current study examines whether legal discourse reveals significant differences when Global North versus Global South states appear as respondents. By tracing discourse features, the research contributes to debates on institutions as reflections of power.

ABSTRACT. This study examines large language models (LLMs) for measuring text cohesion in terms of both reliability with human raters and convergent alignment between human raters, two LLMs (ModernBert and GPT 4.1 nano), and linguistic features. The study finds that LLM raters are reliable statistically but may not be interchangeable with human raters because they demonstrate differential sensitivity with text features of global cohesion. Specifically, human raters seemed more attuned to global cohesion than LLM raters.

ABSTRACT. Novel word reading is often treated as rule-based decoding. Yet responses to unfamiliar words vary widely across individuals and items. We introduce the Experience-Based Lexical–Sublexical (EBLS) Model, a probabilistic generative account in which spelling–sound mappings reflect lexical statistics and are shaped by activation of similar words. By simulating readers who sample from internal probability distributions, the model captures structured item-level variability without separate decoding mechanisms.

ABSTRACT. This study applies Explanatory Many-Facet Rasch Measurement (eMFRM) to judgments of phraseological competence in student discourse by comparing human raters with encoder-based Automated Essay Scoring (AES) models based on ModernBERT, and a generative model, DeepSeek. DeepSeek is more sensitive to predictability measures than humans when providing judgments of students’ phraseological knowledge while ModernBERT aligns more closely with human judgments. The findings highlight the utility of psychometric models in diagnosing differential sensitivity when assessing student discourse.