Twenty-seven one-paragraph passages scaled for linkage, imagery, interest, reading ease, and word frequency¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 1 claim (1 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q2 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 1 claim rests on one study

Description¶

A normed corpus of 27 one-paragraph passages (nine narrative, nine factual, nine conceptual) with scores on five dimensions: familiarity (linkage), imagery, interest, reading ease, and word frequency. Linkage values "ranged from 5.14 to 29.95 with an average of 16.70", with sets matched on syntax so the scaled variables can be varied while holding syntax constant. The scaled values for all variables except interest are at an interval level of measurement, making the materials useful for studies testing quantitative hypotheses.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Researchers selecting passages to isolate one attribute should choose non-typical passages high on the attribute of interest and low on other attributes, because the attributes are correlated

Constraints¶

• The significant intercorrelations among attributes make it difficult to isolate the effect of any one variable

Target Learners¶

• middle school students

Target Learning Goals¶

• study of passage attributes in comprehension and recall research

Claims¶

• Passage familiarity (prior related knowledge) correlates .52 with recall, and only familiarity, not imageability, affected one-week delayed recall [+W]

Related Elements¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Gagne, Ellen D. (1981). Comprehension and the Long-Term Recall of Information. Final Report. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED221831