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Effects of Working Memory and Relevant Knowledge on Reading Texts and Infographics

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  • Author(s): Liu, Chia-Yu (ORCID Liu, Chia-Yu (ORCID 0000-0002-2837-3461); Wu, Chao-Jung (ORCID Wu, Chao-Jung (ORCID 0000-0001-7156-1487)
  • Language:
    English
  • Source:
    Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Nov 2023 36(9):2319-2343.
  • Publication Date:
    2023
  • Document Type:
    Journal Articles
    Reports - Research
  • Additional Information
    • Availability:
      Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
    • Peer Reviewed:
      Y
    • Source:
      25
    • Education Level:
      Higher Education
      Postsecondary Education
    • Subject Terms:
    • Subject Terms:
    • Accession Number:
      10.1007/s11145-022-10368-1
    • ISSN:
      0922-4777
      1573-0905
    • Abstract:
      Infographics are a new type of reading material comprising textual and visual information that has been used worldwide. Nonetheless, there has been limited research investigating people's infographic-reading performance and the characteristics of superior readers. This study adopted Chinese texts and infographics as materials and employed eye-tracking technology to assess how working memory and relevant knowledge affected 137 college students' reading comprehension, as indicated by reading accuracy (ACC), and reading efficiency, which in turn was indicated by reading time (RT) and total fixation duration (TFD). For texts, verbal working memory (VWM) exhibited no effects on individuals' reading performance; visuospatial working memory (VSWM) exerted positive effects on both ACC and TFD, and participants with higher knowledge demonstrated better ACC. For infographics, higher-VWM participants showed greater ACC, and higher-VSWM participants displayed a longer RT and TFD, though the effect of knowledge was limited. Moreover, a significant interaction effect of VWM and relevant knowledge on the TFD of infographics was observed, indicating that individuals' prior knowledge or experience might structure schemas in an infographic and then act with VWM to accelerate reading speed. This study improves our understanding of how working memory and relevant knowledge impact the processing of materials with different synthesized levels, and its implications for instruction and research are discussed.
    • Abstract:
      As Provided
    • Publication Date:
      2023
    • Accession Number:
      EJ1392530