Breadth and depth of strategic processing during text comprehension

Abstract

In this study, 58 Norwegian undergraduates read 10 paragraphs on a relatively unfamiliar topic. Verbal protocol analysis was used to assess strategic text processing at different levels of depth, and post-reading written reports on the topic were used to assess text comprehension. Findings indicated that irrelevant processing was negatively and a combination of surface- and deeper-level strategies was positively related to comprehension performance, but that only irrelevant processing was a unique (negative) predictor of performance after individual differences in reading comprehension skills and prior topic knowledge had been controlled for. Finally, a combination of surface- and deeper-level strategies in the absence of irrelevant prosessing was found to mediate the effect on prior topic knowledge on comprehension performance. Taken together, these findings highlight the potential value of combining strategies at different levels of depth into a broad strategic approach for readers who lack competence or expertise in an area. As such, they may have educational as well as theoretical implications that are discussed in the article.