Effects of Personal Epistemology on the Understanding of Multiple Texts

Authors: BrÃ¥ten, Ivar; StrÃ¸msÃ¸, Helge I.

Source: Reading Psychology, Volume 27, Number 5, November-December 2006 , pp. 457-484(28)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

<p>We examined whether the text understanding of students holding naÃ¯ve and sophisticated epistemological beliefs was differentially affected by text format, also controlling for effects of gender, word decoding, and prior knowledge on understanding. The participants were 39 Norwegian first-year teacher students, and the topic of reading was attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It was found that only readers holding sophisticated epistemological beliefs displayed adequate understanding when reading multiple, partly conflicting, texts about ADHD, whereas students holding naÃ¯ve epistemological beliefs gained better understanding when reading a single textbook-like source with identical content. This finding, however, depended on the level of understanding being measured by the criterial task, with only the task measuring deeper situational text understanding showing an interaction between epistemological beliefs and text format. This study provides evidence that not only knowledge itself, but also personal beliefs about knowledge, may enhance or constrain deeper understanding of multiple texts.</p>

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02702710600848031

Affiliations: 1: University of Oslo, Norway

Publication date: 2006-11-01

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