Issues in Identifying Poor Comprehenders

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Studies on poor comprehenders use diverse selection criteria and tests.
• This variability raises questions about the consistency of findings in poor comprehension research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess how different selection methods impact the identification of poor comprehenders.
• To examine the cognitive profiles of poor comprehenders identified through various methods.

Main Methods:

• Over 1,500 children (ages 8-19) completed reading comprehension, listening comprehension, single word reading, and nonword reading tests.
• Poor comprehension was defined using low-tail performance and discrepancies between comprehension and reading abilities.

Main Results:

• The overlap between different selection methods for identifying poor comprehenders was generally low.
• Identification varied based on the type of comprehension test, selection criteria, and participant age.
• Poor comprehenders identified by different methods showed variations in IQ and working memory, but not attention.

Conclusions:

• Differences in selection criteria and tests significantly influence the definition and identification of poor comprehension.
• These variations have substantial consequences for understanding the cognitive deficits associated with poor comprehension.