Working memory plays an important role in understanding reading comprehension, which is shown in the standardized reading comprehension test.

Claremont Graduate University

- Reading comprehension is very much related to cognitive psychology 
- Reading is a complex human behavior that requires higher cognitive demands 
- Reading comprehension is important for basic skills such as completing tax forms, reading menus, scholastic achievement, and more. 


Reading Comprehension + Cognitive Psychology

Masson, M. E., & Miller, J. A. (1983). Working memory and individual differences in comprehension and memory of text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 75(2), 314–318. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.75.2.314

Working Memory and Individual Differences in Reading Comprehension

- Episodic memory 
- Semantic memory 
- Attention and working memory 
- Reasoning 
- Knowledge of reading strategy


Assessing these basic skills for reading comprehension:

Each generation of research focuses on different aspects of reading comprehension

Three generations of reading comprehension research in psychology: 

Working Memory and Reading Comprehension

Working memory is positively related to the long-term memory in recalling the explicitly stated information in a text 

Working Memory and Longterm Memory

Working memory also positively correlated with the ability to draw inferences from texts 

Working Memory and Inferences

Masson and Miller concluded that working memory’s storage and process function determines text processing skills, which is related to understanding how well a person decodes information from their long-term memory


Working Memory and Text Processing Skills

- Readers’ prior knowledge is a strong predictor for the reader to learn from text 
- Readers with minimal background knowledge read better with explicitly cited information 


Readers’ Prior Knowledge of Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is flexible cognitive and continuous process, which adds to the mental model of text ideas 

Cognitive Process and Reading Comprehension

- Factors that influence skilled reading: cognitive, linguistic, and perceptual processes 
- Reading is interactive 
- Readers’ ability to process information depends on their limits in information processes 
- Reading strategy 


Four common assumptions in psychological research on reading comprehension: 

Prior knowledge and cognitive and metacognitive processes are important factors in reading comprehension 

Important Factors that Impact Reading Comprehension

Having specific instruction can also improve reading comprehension 


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