2015/06/12 by Lynne G. Duncan, Sarah McGeown, Sarah P. McGeown +4 · 103 citations
Computer Science · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Child Development and Digital Technology #Cognition #Cognitive psychology #Comprehension #Developmental psychology #Educational Methods and Media Use #Fluency #Linguistics #Mathematics education #Psychology #Reading (process) #Reading and Literacy Development #Reading comprehension
paper · open access · doi:10.1111/bjop.12134
published in British Journal of Psychology 107(2), 209-238 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 2015/06/12 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This study investigates the concurrent predictors of adolescent reading comprehension (literal, inferential) for fiction and non-fiction texts. Predictors were examined from the cognitive (word identification, reading fluency), psychological (gender), and ecological (print exposure) domains. Print exposure to traditional and digital texts was surveyed using a diary method of reading habits. A cross-sectional sample of 312 students in early (11-13 years) or middle adolescence (14-15 years) participated from a range of SES backgrounds. Word identification emerged as a strong predictor of reading comprehension across adolescence and text genres. Gender effects favouring female students were evident for reading frequency but not for reading skill itself. Reading habits also differed, and comprehension advantages were observed among females for fiction and males for non-fiction. Age effects emerged for reading frequency, which was lower in middle adolescence. Although more time was spent on digital than on traditional texts, traditional extended text reading was the only reading habit to predict inference-making in comprehension and to distinguish skilled from less skilled comprehenders. The theoretical and educational implications of these results are discussed.