En försämring av svenska elevers läsförståelse har skett under de                                  senaste tio åren. Samtidigt som definitionen av läsförståelse är vida diskuterat vad läsförståelse innefattar eller ej. Enligt Läroplanen för grundskola, skola och fritidshem 2011 är en godtagbar läsförståelse när eleven uppvisar ett gott läsflyt och kan återberätta explicita delar ur texten. I motsatts till läroplanen menar ett flertal forskare att läsförståelse innefattar så mycket mer än ett gott läsflyt. Studien syftar till att synliggöra hur elevers läsförståelse kommer till uttryck och kan identifieras under ett litteraturarbete genom att fokusera på förmågorna läsa på raderna, mellan raderna och bortom raderna.  För att synliggöra elevers läsförståelse har reciprocal teaching använts som metod där eleverna har samtalat kring textens innehåll, vidare har eleverna videoinspelats för att fånga deras uttryckta läsförståelse under de samtal eleverna fört. Studiens resultat visar hur elevernas förmåga att läsa på – och mellan raderna var mest förekommande medan endast ett fåtal elever uttryckte en antydan att läsa bortom raderna. Resultatet visar att användandet av ett litteraturarbete för att identifiera elevers läsförståelse var fördelaktigt då flera olika nivåer av läsförståelse kunde identifieras.

In language, information is omitted for brevity. Comprehension requires inferences to be made, but do we make such inferences during encoding or later? Kintsch (1988) claimed that transitive inferences are made during reading and proposed transitive inferences are extracted from a constructed mental image. Two experiments were performed to test his ideas. Participants read sentences permitting a transitive or reciprocal inference, then immediately answered an inference based question. Data included reaction time and accuracy. By comparing verification against inferential sentences, it is possible to determine if the inference is made during encoding or later. A further manipulation was to compare concrete sentences that could be easily converted to an image with abstract sentences that are hard to image. Results showed reciprocal sentences are slower to verify than transitive, suggesting additional processing is needed. In contrast, no difference was observed between concrete and abstract relations, calling into question Kintsch’s inference/image view.

Popular theories of motor learning (e.g., Adams, 1971; Schmidt, 1975) rely heavily on formation of new skills through refinements of pre-existing ones. Dynamic Pattern Theory has the advantage of being able to assess initial individual differences on the required task so that the subject becomes the important unit of measure. The general purpose was to identify the reciprocal influence of intrinsic patterns and learning a new pattern. In two experiments subjects were required to practice a rhythmic bimanual coordination task of the forearms using linear sliding devices. In the first experiment, 7 subjects practiced a 90° relative phase pattern for 45, 15 s trials on each of 6 practice days. In-phase and anti-phase trials were performed pre-and post-practice. Subjects were provided terminal feedback with a Lissajou figure after each practice trial and augmented feedback was provided after every 5th practice trial. Mean constant error (CE) for individual subject data and absolute CE (|CE|) for group data were used as measures of accuracy. Standard deviation of relative phase was used as a measure of stability (VE). Subjects were able to learn the 90° pattern and performance plateaued by the fourth practice day. Neither intrinsic pattern showed any destabilization, although a temporary decrease in accuracy (CE) within days was found. The four week retention test revealed no change for any pattern. Experiment 2 compared two groups practicing either 45° or 135° relative phase. It was predicted that the 135° relative phase pattern would be easier to learn because of the reduced competition from the less stable 180° intrinsic pattern. The procedure was similar to Experiment 1 except that subjects practiced for only four days. Performance of the practiced patterns was never as accurate as 0° and 180° but variability of performance was not different for both practiced and intrinsic patterns by Day 4. There was no difference in either accuracy or stability between the two groups on the practiced patterns. As in Experiment 1, there was no change from the last day of practice to the four week retention test. Individual subject data revealed numerous different paths to learning the required pattern. Constant error and VE values for intrinsic patterns were not particularly good predictors of ability to learn the practiced pattern. Additionally, a low VE was not indicative of a low CE or vice-versa when practicing the required pattern. The results from both experiments show that early in learning, competition biases performance away from the intrinsic attractors. Later in practice, subjects stabilize their performance of the new pattern and the intrinsic patterns do not destabilize. Differences in performance of the required pattern may have depended, not only on dynamic principles, but also on motivation, handedness, and conceptualization of the task. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

Det här arbetet behandlar textsamtal i den tidiga läs- och skrivutvecklingen samt hur textsamtal gynnar elevers utveckling av läsförståelse. Strukturerade modeller av textsamtal är bevisligen mer effektiva i syfte att utveckla elevers läsförståelse. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur lärarna i vår undersökning definierar textsamtal samt om dessa lärare använder textsamtal i undervisningen. Studien har till syfte att undersöka om lärarna i undersökningen utgår från Lgr 11 (Skolverket 2011) när de använder textsamtal i undervisningen samt om lärarna anser att textsamtal skiljer sig åt utifrån textens genrer. Studiens resultat grundar sig på observationer av samt intervjuer med tre behöriga lärare. Studieresultatet samstämmer med tidigare forskning inom området, således att lärare i liten utsträckning undervisar i läsförståelsestrategier samt använder textsamtal som undervisningsmetod. Resultatet visar att strukturerade textsamtal inte används i undervisningen utan lärarna använder ett axplock av predikatorer, viktiga beståndsdelar för att uppnå läsförståelse, ur strukturerade textsamtal när de använder textsamtal i undervisningen.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of an intervention of reciprocal teaching (RT) strategies in students’ reading comprehension. A quantitative method using a quasi-experimental design is used in the intervention with three students in seventh grade with reading comprehension difficulties. The intervention of twelve lessons took place during a period of five weeks. A reading comprehension test was made before and after the intervention. The results from the experiment group are compared with the results from the reference group, and three intervention lessons were filmed. The findings from the film documentation revealed a progress in using different strategies to overcome obstacles to achieve reading comprehension. The students develop the ability to ask spontaneous questions and make critical reflections when reading. The test results also show a positive trend in the development of reading comprehension. This study thus confirms previous studies showing that students with reading difficulties benefit from being taught in how to use reading comprehension strategies, where RT is an available model.

Den internationella undersökningen PIRLS 2011 visar att svenska elevers läsförståelse försämras. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att utifrån tidigare forskning undersöka vad boksamtalet har för betydelse för läsförståelsen samt hur man i boksamtalet kan använda metoden Reciprocal Teaching för att utveckla elevers läsförståelse. Detta smalnades av till två frågeställningar: hur kan boksamtal användas för att utveckla läsförståelsen hos elever i årskurs F-3? Hur kan metoden Reciprocal Teaching användas i boksamtal för att utveckla elevers läsförståelse i årskurs F-3? Metoden som har använts är en systematisk litteraturstudie där litteratur systematiskt sökts i olika databaser. Resultatet visade att kvaliteten på boksamtalet sammankopplas med läsningen av texten. Högläsning ger fantastiska möjligheter att agera tillsammans och är en bra utgångspunkt till samtal. Utifrån högläsningen kan man när som helst stanna upp för att samtala om sådant som väcker intresse, sådant som är svårt att förstå, för att fantisera eller bara gissa vad som tillslut kommer att hända. Resultatet visade även att reciprocal teaching är en gynnsam metod för de yngre eleverna genom att arbeta på ett kreativt sätt. En av studiens slutsatser var att eleverna genom att kommunicera och samtala kring böcker utvecklar en djupare läsförståelse, ny kunskap, ordförråd, avancerad språkutveckling och tankeprocesser på en högre nivå. / <p>Svenska</p>

The purpose of this study is to determine the manner in which a number of business concerns have dealt with the problem of reciprocity and how they are presently dealing with it.

The processes underlying the perceptual analysis of visual form are believed to have minimal interaction with those subserving the perception of visual motion (Livingstone and Hubel, 1987; Victor and Conte, 1990). Recent reports of functionally and anatomically segregated parallel streams in the primate visual cortex seem to support this hypothesis (Ungerlieder and Mishkin, 1982; VanEssen and Maunsell, 1983; Shipp and Zeki, 1985; Zeki and Shipp, 1988; De Yoe et al., 1994). Here we present perceptual evidence that is at odds with this view and instead suggests strong symmetric interactions between the form and motion processes. In one direction, we show that the introduction of specific static figural elements, say 'F', in a simple motion sequence biases an observer to perceive a particular motion field, say 'M'. In the reverse direction, the imposition of the same motion field 'M' on the original sequence leads the observer to perceive illusory static figural elements 'F'. A specific implication of these findings concerns the possible existence of (what we call) motion end-stopped units in the primate visual system. Such units might constitute part of a mechanism for signalling subjective occluding contours based on motion-field discontinuities.

In this article we analyse the structure of Markov processes and reciprocal processes to underline their time symmetrical properties, and to compare them. Our originality consists in adopting a unifying approach of reciprocal processes, independently of special frameworks in which the theory was developped till now (diffusions, or pure jump processes). This leads to some new results, too.

This study applied the method of action research to explore the impacts of reciprocal teaching on junior elementary students¡¦ reading comprehension. The main purposes of the thesis were to understand the students¡¦ learning process of reciprocal teaching, and to discuss their performance on expository text reading comprehension after learning reciprocal teaching, as well as their performance on utilizing reciprocal teaching on reading story texts. The researcher performed reciprocal teaching activities in her class, collecting and analyzing data from ¡§Students¡¦ Learning Record¡¨, ¡§Group Discussion Record¡¨, ¡§Students¡¦ Learning Status Datasheet¡¨, and ¡§Teachers¡¦ Reflective Record¡¨, in order to understand the students¡¦ learning process and alter the teaching activities from time to time according to the students¡¦ learning conditions. At last, the researcher surveyed the reading comprehension results and reading interest development. The findings of the research were: 1The difficulties of junior elementary students¡¦ learning of reciprocal teaching: 1.1They were likely to be confused with ¡§clarifying¡¨ and ¡§questioning¡¨ strategies; 1.2They needed to use written description to help them express themselves verbally; 1.3They needed the teacher¡¦s guide for ¡§summarizing¡¨ and ¡§questioning¡¨ strategies. 2Reciprocal teaching influenced the performance of junior elementary students¡¦ reading comprehension. 3Reciprocal teaching increased junior elementary students¡¦ reading interest. 4Students were able to utilize reciprocal teaching strategies when reading story texts.