MONITORING OF UNDERSTANDING: AN INVESTIGATION OF ATTENTIONAL ASSISTANCE NEEDS AT DIFFERENT GRADE AND READING PROFICIENCY LEVELS

Good and poor comprehenders from grades four, six, and eight were directed to process one of two short narratives as editors. In each narrative, a major informational inconsistency existed. A score was given each subject based on the point at which the inconsistency was noted. As expected, younger readers and poorer comprehenders scored significantly lower (i.e., required more attentional assistance to note the inconsistency) than more mature readers and better comprehenders. A large number of younger poorer readers never appeared to detect the meaning disruption.