Publications [#250634] of Steven R. Asher

Journal Articles

1. Asher, SR; Hymel, S; Wigfield, A (1978). Influence of topic interest on children's reading comprehension. Journal of Reading Behavior, 10(1), 35-47. [doi]
   (last updated on 2024/04/23)

   Abstract:
   Previous research indicates that children comprehend more of high-than low-interest material when each child is given a mixture of both types of material. This effect could be due to a contrast effect whereby children selectively respond to the more appealing topics in their set of passages. In the present study fifth grade children each received either all high-interest cloze passages or all low-interest cloze passages but not both. Children's cloze responses were scored by the exact replacement method and by a method which included synonyms as correct. Results were that children comprehended more of high- than low-interest material, indicating that the interest effect is not dependent on a contrast phenomenon. Synonym production data indicated that high-achieving children generated more synonyms than low-achieving children and that boys produced more synonyms than girls. Thus, scoring synonyms as correct appears to have informational value. © 1978, SAGE Publications. All rights reserved.