Inference-making performance improves with age between 6 and 10 years, with children performing better on global than local coherence inference questions¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r2 · q3 · i3 large
Currency · newest study 2015 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 2 of 2 entries) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i3 Inference performance improves significantly across the three age groups (6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds), with each older group outperforming the younger ones. → Currie 2015 q3 i3 Children performed better on global coherence inference questions than on local coherence inference questions. → Currie 2015 (2)

Evidence¶

Currie 2015¶

Currie, N. K., & Cain, K. (2015). Children's inference generation: The role of vocabulary and working memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 137, 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.03.005

q3 · i3 · associational · r2

Mixed-factor ANOVA on first-response inference scores of 130 children listening to four short narratives, with age as a between-participants factor. The article reports a significant main effect of age with a large printed effect size, η² = .19 (printed as "gp 2 = .19"), with means of .58, .65, and .74 in order of increasing ages.

"There was a significant main effect of age, F(2, 127) = 14.78, p < .001, gp 2 = .19. Post hoc Tukey tests (p < .05) indicated that the 6-year-olds obtained significantly lower scores than the 8- and 10-year-olds"

Currie 2015 (2)¶

Currie, N. K., & Cain, K. (2015). Children's inference generation: The role of vocabulary and working memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 137, 57–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.03.005

q3 · i3 · associational · r2

The same mixed-factor ANOVA on first-response scores showed a significant main effect of inference type with a large printed effect size, η² = .46 (printed as "gp 2 = .46"), with children performing best on global inference questions (Mlocal = .58, Mglobal = .73). The age × type interaction was not significant.

"There was also a significant main effect of inference type, F(1, 127) = 106.89, p < .001, gp 2 = .46, because the children performed best on the global inference questions ( Mlocal = .58, Mglobal = .73)."

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Age and Developmental Stage — predictor: learners who differ on it differ in outcomes
• Inferencing — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• Vocabulary fully mediates the effect of working memory on both local and global coherence inference making in 6- to 10-year-olds — related
• Vocabulary is the only unique predictor of global coherence inference making at all three ages, 6 through 10 years — related
• Prompting underspecified responses improves children's performance on both local and global coherence inference questions at all ages — related
• Vocabulary uniquely predicts local coherence inference making for 6- and 8-year-olds, but neither vocabulary nor working memory predicts it for 10-year-olds — related
• Less skilled comprehenders make fewer knowledge-based coherence and elaborative inferences than skilled comprehenders even when the relevant knowledge is equally available — related
• When explicitly required by direct questions, less skilled comprehenders' inference performance improves greatly while skilled comprehenders perform at ceiling — related
• Younger children (3–5-year-olds) answered story comprehension questions less accurately than all older age groups — related
• PSP-1 performance increases with age across grades 1–4, with significant differences between adjacent age groups on total score — related