The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive test to estimate argument knowledge and examine directly the influence of this knowledge on the comprehension of argumentative text and the critical evaluation of its arguments. Also, the possible contribution of comprehension to argument evaluation was explored. Sixth and ninth graders read two completely balanced two-sided argumentative texts on controversial issues before answering comprehension questions and evaluating the quality of the text-based arguments. Argument quality was varied systematically according to the presence or absence of the ad populum and ad ignorantiam fallacies. Results documented the facilitating role of argument knowledge on both comprehension and evaluation and the contribution of comprehension to argument evaluation. The study highlights the potential of argument knowledge as a target for instructional intervention and of the argumentative text as a fertile context for promoting both comprehension and critical thinking objectives.

这项研究的目的是开发一种全面的测试来估计论点知识，并直接检查该知识对论证文本理解和对论证的批判性评价的影响。此外，探索了理解对论证评价的可能贡献。六年级和九年级学生在回答理解性问题并评估基于文本的论证的质量之前，先阅读了两篇关于争议性问题的完全平衡的双面论证文本。论据质量根据是否存在平民和伪娘谬论而系统地变化。结果记录了论点知识在理解和评估中的促进作用以及理解对论点评估的贡献。