TY - JOUR
T1 - The Multidimensional Knowledge in Text Comprehension framework
AU - McCarthy, Kathryn S.
AU - McNamara, Danielle S.
N1 - Funding Information:
The development of this manuscript was made possible in part by grants from the Department of Education [R305A150176, R305A180144, and R305A190063], the Office of Naval Research [N00014-14-1-0343, N00014-17-1-2300], the American Psychological Association Division 15, and the Spencer Foundation [201900217]. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IES, ONR, APA, or the Spencer Foundation.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Division 15, American Psychological Association.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Prior knowledge is one of the strongest contributors to comprehension, but there is little specificity about different aspects of prior knowledge and how they impact comprehension. This article introduces the Multidimensional Knowledge in Text Comprehension framework, which conceptualizes prior knowledge along four intersecting dimensions: amount, accuracy, specificity, and coherence. Amount refers to how many relevant concepts the reader knows. Accuracy refers to the extent to which the reader’s knowledge is correct. Specificity refers the degree to which the knowledge is related to information in the target text. Coherence refers to the interconnectedness of prior knowledge. Conceptualizing prior content knowledge along these dimensions deepens understanding of the construct and lends to more specific predictions about how learners process information. Considering knowledge across multiple dimensions is crucially important to the development and selection of prior knowledge assessments and, in turn, educators’ ability to capitalize on learners’ strengths across various comprehension tasks.
AB - Prior knowledge is one of the strongest contributors to comprehension, but there is little specificity about different aspects of prior knowledge and how they impact comprehension. This article introduces the Multidimensional Knowledge in Text Comprehension framework, which conceptualizes prior knowledge along four intersecting dimensions: amount, accuracy, specificity, and coherence. Amount refers to how many relevant concepts the reader knows. Accuracy refers to the extent to which the reader’s knowledge is correct. Specificity refers the degree to which the knowledge is related to information in the target text. Coherence refers to the interconnectedness of prior knowledge. Conceptualizing prior content knowledge along these dimensions deepens understanding of the construct and lends to more specific predictions about how learners process information. Considering knowledge across multiple dimensions is crucially important to the development and selection of prior knowledge assessments and, in turn, educators’ ability to capitalize on learners’ strengths across various comprehension tasks.
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U2 - 10.1080/00461520.2021.1872379
DO - 10.1080/00461520.2021.1872379
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100713550
SN - 0046-1520
VL - 56
SP - 196
EP - 214
JO - Educational Psychologist
JF - Educational Psychologist
IS - 3
ER -