Self-judged comprehension in adults: effects of age and skill

We used an error detection paradigm to examine the effects of skill on young (M = 23.74) and old (M = 68.87) adults' self-judged comprehension of texts. Skill was defined as the ability to evaluate comprehension by detecting text problems. Multiple regression results indicated that problematic texts produced lower comprehension judgments for older readers, regardless of level of skill, than for younger readers. Only more skilled younger readers tended to lower their comprehension judgments for problematic text. Younger adults who were less skilled at evaluating their comprehension assessed their comprehension as superior to their more skilled peers. Less skilled older adults appear to know, better than less skilled younger adults, when they do not comprehend a text. Research is needed to examine older adults' perceived self-efficacy and use of regulation strategies to resolve comprehension failures.