The effects of cohesive conjunctions, reference, response rhetorical predicates, and topic on reading rate and written free recall

This study investigated the effects of four textual variables on two dependent measures. Subjects, 240 university freshmen, each read one of 24 passage versions. The 24 versions included all possible combinations of four variables: topic (Neanderthals, Pre-Neolithic Farming), cohesive conjunctions (low, moderate, high), reference (high, low), and response rhetorical predicates (present, absent). The two dependent measures employed were reading rate and written free recall. Results revealed statistically significant differences in recall due to topic and cohesive conjunctions. Theoretical implications of the results are discussed.