ABSTRACT

Little is known about conceptual integration processes and their contributions to memory representations that are constructed in sentence comprehension among adults with underdeveloped literacy skills. We measured word-by-word reading time to examine variation of responsiveness to demands of lexical and conceptual processing during sentence comprehension in a sample of adults with reading proficiency ranging from 4th grade through college-level. Relative to those of their more skilled counterparts, the reading times of adults with lower levels of literacy skill were more sensitive to word-level features, but showed a reduced lengthening at sentence-final words (“wrap up”), which has been argued to reflect conceptual integration processing. They also showed poorer sentence memory. However, regardless of literacy level, readers with better overall sentence memory engaged in a reading strategy marked by a larger sentence wrap-up effect. These findings suggest a pathway to intervention for struggling adult readers.

摘要

对于概念整合过程及其对记忆表达的贡献知之甚少，这些知识是由读写能力不足的成年人在句子理解中构建的。我们对逐字阅读时间进行了测量，以考察在4年级至大学水平阅读水平的成年人中，句子理解过程中对词汇和概念处理要求的响应能力变化。相对于熟练程度较高的同伴，识字能力较低的成年人的阅读时间对单词水平特征更为敏感，但句子最终单词的延长时间却有所减少（“总结”）反映概念上的整合处理。他们还表现出较差的句子记忆。但是，无论识字水平如何，具有更好整体句子记忆的阅读者会采用以更大的句子包裹效果为标志的阅读策略。这些发现为陷入困境的成人读者提供了干预的途径。