Various knowledge sources have been hypothesized to relate to individual differences in reading comprehension skill in developing readers. We present results from two studies using explanatory item-response models to examine the unique role of knowledge in predicting reading and listening comprehension in 5th grade students (mean age of 10.77 years). In study 1, we investigated the importance of different knowledge sources for comprehending grade-level passages. Participants were 254 students with a range of reading abilities. We found that passage-specific topic familiarity, general academic knowledge, and vocabulary knowledge were all significantly associated with the probability of correctly answering questions about a passage. In study 2, we examined the possible transfer mechanisms that allow knowledge in one area to influence comprehension in a related but unfamiliar area. Participants were 26 students embedded in an Interactive Humanities course focusing on the Renaissance period. Students listened to parallel passages on Guttenberg and the printing press and Twitter use in the Arab Spring and answered comprehension questions. The probability of answering a question about the novel Twitter passage was significantly predicted by the ability to answer the corresponding question on the familiar printing press passage. Results point to the importance of knowledge sources in accounting for variance in comprehension performance.

已经假设各种知识来源与发展读者的阅读理解技能的个体差异有关。我们展示了两项研究的结果，使用解释性项目-反应模型来检验知识在预测五年级学生阅读和听力理解中的独特作用（平均年龄 10.77 岁）。在研究 1 中，我们调查了不同知识来源对于理解年级段落的重要性。参与者是 254 名具有不同阅读能力的学生。我们发现，文章特定主题的熟悉度、一般学术知识和词汇知识都与正确回答文章问题的概率显着相关。在研究 2 中，我们研究了可能的转移机制，允许一个领域的知识影响相关但不熟悉的领域的理解。参与者是 26 名学生，他们参与了以文艺复兴时期为重点的互动人文课程。学生们听了关于古腾堡的平行段落以及阿拉伯之春中使用的印刷机和推特，并回答了理解问题。通过回答熟悉的印刷机文章中的相应问题的能力，可以显着预测回答有关新推特文章的问题的概率。结果表明知识来源在解释理解能力差异方面的重要性。学生们听了关于古腾堡的平行段落以及阿拉伯之春中使用的印刷机和推特，并回答了理解问题。通过回答熟悉的印刷机文章中的相应问题的能力，可以显着预测回答有关新推特文章的问题的概率。结果表明知识来源在解释理解能力差异方面的重要性。学生们听了关于古腾堡的平行段落以及阿拉伯之春中使用的印刷机和推特，并回答了理解问题。通过回答熟悉的印刷机文章中的相应问题的能力，可以显着预测回答有关新推特文章的问题的概率。结果表明知识来源在解释理解能力差异方面的重要性。