Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Counseling, Educational Psychology, and Special Education, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (Proquest, viewed on Aug. 17, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-200). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

No description available.

This descriptive study investigates the effects of a metacognitive strategy called "Question-Answer Relationships (QARs)" on the ability to answer comprehension questions of content area passages. The strategy teaches students how to analyze the task demands of a question before answering it. The study also investigates the effect of QARs on the retelling abilities of subjects and the transferability of the strategy from science to social studies. Two third grade students of average reading ability participated individually in the study. Procedures included two days of pre tests, five days of training, one day of post test and one day of transfer test. The data were analyzed by comparing the number of correct answers per QARs category. Retellings were analyzed by total scores and sub categories of Text Comprehension, Reader Response and Language Use. Results indicate that training in QARs increases comprehension, improves retelling abilities, and transfers from one content area to another.

Question Answer Relationships (QARS), is a metacognitive strategy which develops students abilty to answer comprehension questions. This study was designed to assess the effects of QARs on subjects' comprehension and on retellings, and to investigate subjects' ability to transfer QARs to another content area. The four seventh grade subjects in the study were of average ability according to previous test scores. The questions were developed from passages taken from typical seventh grade textbooks. The procedures consisted of two pretests, followed by five days of training in QARs. A post test was given for assessment of QARs. A second test assessed transfer of QARs. As an additional measure, subjects were asked to retell text information after answering questions for pre, post and transfer tests. Results indicate training in QARs had a positive effect on subjects' ability to both answer comprehension questions, and to retell information from text. Subjects were able to transfer QARs to another content area.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University.

Rationale : Investigating the relationship between working memory and reading comprehension will lead to an improved understanding of the nature of working memory and will reveal how working memory contributes to reading comprehension failure. A pattern of working memory deficits will determine if ‘signature’ working memory profiles exist which will assist in the diagnosis and treatment of children with reading comprehension difficulties. Aims : (1) To explore the relationship between working memory and reading comprehension to determine if there are ‘signature’ working memory profiles that distinguish subgroups of Grade 5 English language learners with different comprehension capabilities. (2) To determine if a domain-specific or general working memory system is implicated in reading comprehension. (3) To explore the particular role played by the episodic buffer zone in reading comprehension. Method : Eighty Grade 5 English learners were tested on the GORT-4, AWMA and CELF- 4 Recalling Sentences Subtest. Based on their accuracy/decoding and comprehension scores on the GORT-4, participants were assigned to one of four reading ability groups: Skilled Reader Group; Reading Disabled Group; Poor Comprehender Group; or Poor Fluency Group. Comparison of mean standard scores determined how the four reading ability groups fared on the five memory components. Correlation and regression methods investigated the relationships between the five working memory variables and reading comprehension across the four reading ability groups. Results : Working memory plays a role in reading comprehension. The Skilled Reader group displayed intact working memory profiles, whilst the Reading Disabled group performed in the low average range on four working memory variables and below average on the fifth viz. sentence recall. The Poor Comprehender group’s working memory performance resembled that of the Skilled Reader group on two working memory variables. The Poor Fluency group performed below average on visuo-spatial short-term memory. These findings gave evidence of the inter-play between domain-specific and domain-general components of working memory during the complex task of reading comprehension. In addition, the findings highlighted the predictive role of sentence recall, as well as that of verbal working memory in reading comprehension. The episodic buffer was shown to play an important binding function between fluid and crystallised knowledge. The results suggested that reading comprehension was affected by a learner’s working memory capacity, however, working memory alone did not account for variations in performance. Lower-order and higher-order cognitive processes, as well as the interaction between fluid and crystallised knowledge appear essential to authentic reading. This has ramifications for prevention and remediation of reading comprehension deficits and underscores the important role of the speech therapist in literacy promotion.