bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Home bases formed to visual cues but not to self‐movement (dead reckoning) cues in exploring hippocampectomized rats
Authors: Hines Dustin J. , Whishaw Ian Q.
Published: November 2005

Spatial theory proposes that the hippocampus contributes to exploratory behavior allowing animals to acquire information about their environment. In the present study, the exploratory movements of control rats, bulbectomized (anosmic) rats and hippocampectomized rats using the neurotoxin N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) were monitored on a large circular table without walls and around which visual cues were manipulated. The rats displayed organized spatial behavior in that they developed home bases, one or more places operationally defined as those in which they spent a preponderance of time, in which they moved slowly, and to which they returned after excursions. Control rats and hippocampectomized rats were similar in that they established home bases: (i) adjacent to a proximal stable or moving visual landmark; (ii) in relation to more distant visual room cues; and (iii) in relation to contextually conditioned visual cues. Nevertheless, in exploratory tests given under infrared light, a wavelength to which rats are insensitive, control rats and bulbectomized rats established one or more home bases that were not dependent upon surface (e.g. olfactory) cues, whereas home base behavior was absent/fragmented in hippocampectomized rats. Thus, exploratory behavior, as exemplified by home base behavior, is organized in control and hippocampectomized rats in relation to visual cues, but is not organized in hippocampectomized rats when visual cues are absent. This result is discussed in relation to the idea that the hippocampus contributes to spatial behavior that is dependent upon guidance (dead reckoning) derived from self‐movement cues.
Hypotension and short‐term anaesthesia induce ERK1/2 phosphorylation in autonomic nuclei of the brainstem
Authors: Springell Deborah A. , Costin Natalie S. , Pilowsky Paul M. , Goodchild Ann K.
Published: November 2005

The aims of this study were: first, to investigate the effects of anaesthesia on phosphorylated extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (p‐ERK)1/2‐immunoreactivity (‐ir) in the brainstem; second, to choose the best anaesthetic for p‐ERK1/2 studies; and third, to determine the effect of short‐term hypotension on p‐ERK1/2‐ir in the brainstem. Rats were anaesthetized with halothane, sodium pentobarbital or 100% CO2 narcosis, or were cervically dislocated and within 5 min perfused and the brains processed immunohistochemically for pERK1/2‐ir. p‐ERK1/2‐ir was primarily observed in regions associated with cardiovascular and/or respiratory control. Several regions consistently showed dense p‐ERK1/2 labelling, including a restricted region of the ventrolateral medulla (VLM). In contrast, other regions showed differential labelling depending on the mode of death. Cervical dislocation showed the least VLM labelling, limited to a discrete area approximately 0.6–1.4 mm caudal to the facial nucleus. Anaesthetics induced labelling throughout the VLM, with halothane inducing the most. Many p‐ERK1/2‐ir VLM neurons were catecholaminergic following halothane or sodium pentobarbital anaesthesia, but no double labelling was seen following cervical dislocation. Of the anaesthetics, sodium pentobarbital induced the least labelling and was used subsequently. Intravenous hydralazine was used to induce a 20‐min period of hypotension, whereas arterial pressure did not change in vehicle‐treated animals. Hydralazine evoked more pERK‐ir neurons in specific regions, including the VLM, nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), parabrachial nuclei, Kolliker‐Fuse nucleus and locus coeruleus. Approximately twice as many p‐ERK1/2‐positive neurons were seen in the intermediate NTS and rostral VLM following hydralazine compared with the vehicle. In conclusion, p‐ERK1/2‐ir identifies neurons in central autonomic regions, and their number and distribution are markedly affected by anaesthetics, and are increased in some regions by short‐term hypotension.
Memantine prolongs survival in an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mouse model
Authors: Wang Rengang , Zhang Dongxian
Published: November 2005

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease which results from selective loss of upper and lower motor neurons. Mouse models of ALS, such as one carrying the G93A mutant of the human Cu‐Zn superoxide dismutase gene[SOD1(G93A)], develop motor neuron pathology and clinical symptoms similar to those observed in ALS patients. There is compelling evidence that both direct and indirect glutamate toxicity contribute to the pathogenesis of motor neuron degeneration. However, the therapeutic effect of various glutamate receptor antagonists has not been clearly demonstrated. Memantine is a noncompetitive N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist. It has been shown to protect neurons against NMDA‐ or glutamate‐induced toxicity in vitro and in animal models of neurodegenerative diseases. In the current study, we have examined the therapeutic efficacy of memantine in an ALS mouse model carrying a high copy number of SOD1(G93A). Memantine treatment significantly delayed the disease progression and increased the life span of SOD1(G93A) mice, from 121.4 ± 5.5 to 129.7 ± 4.5 days (P = 0.032). Furthermore, NMDA receptor subunits were reliably detected in the spinal cord of SOD1(G93A) mice and their expression levels were similar to those in the wild‐type littermate control. Therefore, the neuroprotective effect of memantine in SOD1(G93A) mice is most probably due to the inhibition of spinal cord NMDA receptors. In view of the long‐term usage of memantine for dementia patients, with excellent tolerance and safety, these data suggest that memantine may be used in ALS patients alone or in combination with other therapies to prolong survival.
Trichomes of Lycopersicon species and their hybrids: effects on pests and natural enemies
Authors: Simmons Aaron T. , Gurr Geoff M.
Published: November 2005

1 The cultivated tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum, is an economically important worldwide crop. Current pest management techniques rely heavily on pesticides but trichome‐based host‐plant resistance may reduce pesticide use.

2 A review of the literature is provided on trichomes of wild Lycopersicon species and the effects of trichome‐based host‐plant resistance on arthropods. Solvents have been used to remove glandular trichome exudates and the resulting dimminution of their effects quantified. Correlational approaches to assess the relationship between the different trichome types and effects on pests have also been used.

3 Most studies have focused on Lepidoptera and Hemiptera, although some work has included Coleoptera, Diptera and Acarina, and both antibiotic and antixenotic effects have been demonstrated.

4 Natural enemies are a cornerstone of international pest management and this review discusses how the compatibility of this approach with trichome‐based host‐plant resistance is uncertain because of the reported negative effects of trichomes on one dipteran, one hemipteran and several Hymenoptera.

5 For trichome‐based host‐plant resistance to be utilized as a pest management tool, trichomes of wild species need to be introgressed into the cultivated tomato. Hybrids between the cultivated tomato and the wild species Lycopersicon hirsutum f. glabratum, Lycopersicon pennellii and Lycopersicon cheesmanii f. minor have been produced and useful levels of resistance to Acarina, Diptera and Hemiptera pests have been exhibited, although these effects may be tempered by effects on natural enemies.

6 This review proposes that studies on genetic links between fruit quality and resistance, field studies to determine the compatibility of natural enemies and trichome‐based host‐plant resistance, and a strong focus on L. cheesmanii f. minor, are all priorities for further research that will help realize the potential of this natural defence mechanism in pest management.
Influence of sulphur plant nutrition on oviposition and larval performance of the cabbage root fly
Authors: Marazzi Cristina , Städler Erich
Published: November 2005

1 Oilseed rape plants (Brassica napus) (L.) (Brassicaceae) were grown under different levels of sulphur supply and tested for the oviposition preference and larval performance of cabbage root flies Delia radicum (L.) (Diptera: Anthomyiidae).

2 Adult females laid more than three‐fold as many eggs on control Sn (normal field concentration) than on sulphur‐free S0 plants. By contrast, no significant difference was observed between control and double normal concentration (S+) plants.

3 The larval performance was evaluated using three additional, intermediate sulphur levels between S0 and Sn, and the plants were infected with equal numbers of eggs. The percentage pupation at the end of larval feeding ranged from 6% (S0) to 32% (Sn or S+) and the average number of pupae, or of emerging flies, was significantly correlated with sulphur application.

4 The weight of emerging males and females was correlated with plant sulphur supply.

5 The duration of development from eggs to adult emergence was approximately 2 days longer in females than in males. Females originating from plants with a normal or higher sulphur supply tended to emerge 1–2 days earlier.
Effects of green tree retention, prescribed burning and soil treatment on pine weevil (Hylobius abietis and Hylobius pinastri) damage to planted Scots pine seedlings
Authors: Pitkänen A. , Törmänen K. , Kouki J. , Järvinen E. , Viiri H.
Published: November 2005

1 Feeding damage and mortality caused to planted Scots pine seedlings by the pine weevils Hylobius abietis and Hylobius pinastri were studied on burned and unburned sites with 0, 10 and 50 m3 per hectare levels of green tree retention from the second to the fourth summer after logging and burning of the sites.

2 The rate of severe feeding damage to pine seedlings caused by pine weevils was higher on burned clearcut sites than on unburned ones, whereas burning did not increase the feeding damage rate on sites with groups of retention trees. The damage rate in the fourth summer was approximately the same on burned and unburned sites.

3 Pine weevil feeding was the major cause of mortality of freshly planted pine seedlings on unburned sites. On burned sites, mortality was higher than the rate of severe feeding damage, particularly in the second summer after burning, possibly owing to fungal attack and abiotic factors.

4 At a retention tree level of 50 m3, feeding damage to the seedlings was lower than on clearcuts and at a 10 m3 retention tree level. Furthermore, on sites with 50 m3 of retention trees, scarification of the soil was found to decrease feeding damage more effectively than on clearcuts and 10 m3 sites. If the seedlings were situated in the centre of scarified patches, scarification alone was as effective as insecticide treatment on unscarified soil for decreasing feeding damage and mortality.

5 The results suggest that when burning is applied as silvicultural treatment after clear‐cuts, retention of trees is recommended to reduce the damages caused by pine weevils on pine seedlings.
Affirmation of Personal Values Buffers Neuroendocrine and Psychological Stress Responses
Authors: Creswell J. David , Welch William T. , Taylor Shelley E. , Sherman David K. , Gruenewald Tara L. , Mann Traci
Published: November 2005

Stress is implicated in the development and progression of a broad array of mental and physical health disorders. Theory and research on the self suggest that self-affirming activities may buffer these adverse effects. This study experimentally investigated whether affirmations of personal values attenuate physiological and psychological stress responses. Eighty-five participants completed either a value-affirmation task or a control task prior to participating in a laboratory stress challenge. Participants who affirmed their values had significantly lower cortisol responses to stress, compared with control participants. Dispositional self-resources (e.g., trait self-esteem and optimism) moderated the relation between value affirmation and psychological stress responses, such that participants who had high self-resources and had affirmed personal values reported the least stress. These findings suggest that reflecting on personal values can keep neuroendocrine and psychological responses to stress at low levels. Implications for research on the self, stress processes, health, and interventions are discussed.
Is Developing Scientific Thinking All About Learning to Control Variables?
Authors: Kuhn Deanna , Dean David
Published: November 2005

Academically low-performing urban sixth graders engaged in inquiry activity received a suggestion that they focus their investigation on the role of a single factor. This suggestion had significant effects on their use of a superficially dissimilar strategy—controlling the variation of other factors. This latter strategy has received the lion's share of attention in research on the development of scientific reasoning. These results have implications, we propose, for what undergoes development with respect to scientific thinking and how this development can best be facilitated.
The Effects of Reward and Punishment in Violent Video Games on Aggressive Affect, Cognition, and Behavior
Authors: Carnagey Nicholas L. , Anderson Craig A.
Published: November 2005

Three experiments examined the effects of rewarding and punishing violent actions in video games on later aggression-related variables. Participants played one of three versions of the same race-car video game: (a) a version in which all violence was rewarded, (b) a version in which all violence was punished, and (c) a nonviolent version. Participants were then measured for aggressive affect (Experiment 1), aggressive cognition (Experiment 2), and aggressive behavior (Experiment 3). Rewarding violent game actions increased hostile emotion, aggressive thinking, and aggressive behavior. Punishing violent actions increased hostile emotion, but did not increase aggressive thinking or aggressive behavior. Results suggest that games that reward violent actions can increase aggressive behavior by increasing aggressive thinking.
Multiple Object Tracking in People With Williams Syndrome and in Normally Developing Children
Authors: O'Hearn Kirsten , Landau Barbara , Hoffman James E.
Published: November 2005

Multiple object tracking is hypothesized to utilize visual indexes, which may provide rapid, parallel access to a limited number of visual objects, thereby supporting a variety of spatial tasks. We examined whether faulty indexing might play a role in the severe visuospatial deficits found in Williams syndrome. We asked observers to track from one to four targets in a display of eight identical objects. Objects remained stationary (static condition) or moved randomly and independently (moving condition) for 6 s, after which observers pointed to the objects they thought were targets. People with Williams syndrome were impaired in the moving condition, but not the static condition, compared with mental-age-matched control participants. Normal children who were younger than the mental-age-matched control children did not show the same profile as individuals with Williams syndrome, which suggests that the difference between the tasks in Williams syndrome did not reflect simple developmental immaturity. Error analysis revealed that all groups had “slippery” indexes, falsely identifying target neighbors, and further suggested that people with Williams syndrome deploy fewer indexes than do people without this disorder.
What Children Are Looking at During Shared Storybook Reading
Authors: Ann Evans Mary , Saint-Aubin Jean
Published: November 2005

Two studies were conducted to determine the extent to which young children fixate on the print of storybooks during shared book reading. Children's books varying in the layout of the print and the richness of the illustrations were displayed on a computer monitor. Each child's mother or preschool teacher read the books while the child sat on the adult's lap wearing an EyeLink headband that recorded visual fixations. In both studies, children spent very little time examining the print regardless of the nature of the print and illustrations. Although fixations on the illustrations were highly correlated with the length of the accompanying text and could be altered by altering the content of the text, fixations to the text were uncorrelated with the length of the text. These results indicate that preschool children engage in minimal exploration of the print during shared book reading.
Analyse factorielle des skills du savoir‐lire en première année d'étude
Authors: Dickes Paul
Published: November 2005

ABSTRAIT

Seize tests de lecture, administrés à 217 enfants de première année d'étude, après trois, six et neuf mois d'enseignement, ont été soumis à des analyses factorielles en composantes principales. Après trois mois on trouve trois facteurs: une aptitude générale de lecture, unc aptitude à reconnaître du matériel écrit (précodage) et l'aptitude à comprendre des texts. Après six mois, trpis facteurs sont identifiés: compréhension, précodage et déchiffrage. Après neuf mois on retrouve les mêmes facteurs.

L'étude de l'évolution des structures factorielles dans le temps montre que les premières compétences en lecture, relativement générales au début de l'année scolaire, ont tendance à se diffiréncier en skills de déchiffrage et de compréhension, alors que les skills de compréhension apparaissent comme relativement spécifiques au début de l'année scolaire et tendent à se généraliser par la suite. 64% de la variance de la comprehension en fin d'année scolaire est expliquée par les facteurs du premier et du second trimestres. 68% de la variance du déchiffrage, mesuréà la fin de l'année scolaire, est expliquée par les facteurs du premier et du second trimestres.
Effects of auditory perception training on reading achievement
Authors: Bailey Terence J.
Published: November 2005

This study investigated the effect of an auditory training programme with backward readers who were also deficient in one or more auditory perceptual subskills. Thirty subjects were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The experimental group received a nine hour taped programme devised by the experimenter and designed to teach the skills of auditory discrimination, memory, analysis and synthesis and auditory‐visual integration. The comparison group listened to stories on tape for the same duration as the experimental group, while the third group served as a control merely being tested at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. It was found that although the training programme significantly improved the performance of the experimental group over the other two groups on a total auditory perceptual test, there was no corresponding improvement in reading, on word recognition or comprehension tests. The particular auditory subskills which appeared amenable to training were auditory discrimination (rhyme) and auditory synthesis (blending and closure).
The effect of colour of tester on performance on a group reading test
Authors: Anderson Eleanor , Thomas K. C.
Published: November 2005

A study of the relationship between colour of tester and performance on a group reading test was carried out using, as testers, two student teachers of similar experience and appearance apart from colour of skin and, as subjects, 24 children of families of West Indian origin and 24 indigenous children matched for school, sex and age (8‐9 yrs). Parallel forms of the Young Group Reading Test (Young, 1969) were administered on alternative occasions by the black tester and the white tester. Differences between the mean group scores were not statistically significant. Correlations between performance on test and re‐test by ethnic group, sex, school, colour of tester for first test and form of test for first test were statistically significant, and at or beyond the .05 level. Evidence of ethnic‐group effect was not apparent. Attempts to reduce stress e.g. the use of group tests, may have inhibited the expression of ethnic‐group effect, if indeed it existed.
Cognitive skills in the reading process: a review
Authors: Underwood Geoffrey , Holt Patrik O'B
Published: November 2005

Some current problems in reading, as viewed by cognitive psychology, are discussed around a summary of a symposium on Reading and Lexical Access held ac, part of the International Conference on Practical Aspects of Memory (Gruneberg, Morris arid Sykes, 1978).

The analysis of component processes in reading, and the analysis of reading dynamics provide apparently opposing approaches to the study of reading, but they often lead to similar conclusions about reading behaviour and are seen here to be complementary approaches.

Prompted by the discussion of phonological mediation in a number of the papers we are led to the conclusion that whereas phonological reading can be observed to be used on some occasions, it is not necessaryfor word recognition and reading. Three hypotheses of its use by skilled readers are suggested—for sequential attention control, for the generation of a working memory code, and for the resolution of ambiguity by prosodics. The beginning reader may have a further use in gaining a spoken representation, and therefore recognition, of new words.
Reading skills in extended discourse in English as a foreign language
Authors: Berkoff Nelson A.
Published: November 2005

Are there different reading skills (Davis, 1944; 1968; 1972) or is there just one‘basic’(Spearitt, 1972) or‘common’(Thorndike, 173) reading skill? Tests designed to measure some posited reading comprehension skills were given to advanced students of English as a Foreign Language. There were five tests: I) Vocabulary Recognition as measured by a multiple‐choice test, 2) Extraction of Meaning during reading as measured by open‐end questions, 3) Extraction of Meaning during and after reading as measured by a question‐cued recall test, 4) Fast and accurate reading as measured by a Word Intrusion Test, and 5)‘Overall reading proficiency’as measured by a modified cloze test. Results indicate the existence of two factors: Factor I which is connected with‘receptive’reading skills, and Factor 2 which is connected with‘productive’reading skills. It is suggested that reading comprehension tests of extended discourse in English as a Foreign Language which do not tap‘productive’reading skills, such as are required in recall (and in real life), are only partial tests of reading comprehension.
The effect on the doze test of changes in deletion frequency
Authors: Alderson J. Charles
Published: November 2005

Although the pseudo‐random cloze procedure has been in use for some twenty‐five years as a measure of readability and reading comprehension, little research has been carried out into the effect of deleting words from text more or less frequently. This paper reports on an experiment in which the deletion frequency variable was systematically studied. Every 6th, 8th, 10th and 12th word was removed from three texts of differing difficulty, and the effect studied. Significant differences among cloze tests resulted, but the differences were unpredictable. Deleting every 12th word did not necessarily result in an easier test than deleting every 6th 8th or 10th word. However, when only items identical to both cloze tests under consideration were compared, no significant differences were found. It appears that cloze items are, on the whole, unaffected by context greater than five words. Testers are warned that changing deletion frequency may result in a different measure of readability or comprehension.
Devine comment j'apprends a lire?
Authors: Burion J.
Published: November 2005

The Swiss researchers Cardinet and Weiss (1975) have stressed, following recent psycholinguistic trends, the complexity of the intellectual activity involved in reading. A Belgian study (Burion, 1979) examined what constituted reading for a beginner, what were the general principles of teaching initial reading, and what the implications of these were for teaching early readers. Reading was taken to involve hypothesis forming and guessing, within constraints which vary according to the reader's skill. Beginning reading requires, among other things, motivation to learn and some relevant personal experience, both of which are aspects which parents and others have been encouraged to develop. Following Cardinet and Weiss (1974) and Inizan (1978) children's oral language is used as a basis for reading texts. The purpose and use of reading are stressed as well as the development of skills which are needed for continuing to learn how to read (see figure). In general, it is argued that the teaching of initial reading should focus upon the beginning reader rather than on teaching procedures and that account must be taken of factors in the individual child such as motivation, experience, oral language, cognitive development and pace of learning.
Visual performance and reading in seven and eleven year old children
Authors: Riding R. J. , Pugh J. C.
Published: November 2005

Groups of seven and eleven year old children were given a test of visual performance in which they viewed a small white disc on a black background in a tachistoscope and reported whether the disc appeared to disappear when the experimenter switched very briefly to a second completely black field. The shortest disappearance reported was taken as a measure of their dark interval threshold. The threshold decreased with age for girls, who also had a higher threshold than boys at both ages. When the subjects were grouped according to their threshold, the girls at seven and eleven who had a moderate threshold were superior on reading accuracy to those of low and high threshold. For the boys this was so at eleven, but not at seven.
An approach to analysing teacher verbal moves in hearing children read
Authors: Campbell Robin
Published: November 2005

A study has been made to investigate the teacher‐child interaction of hearing children read in infant school classrooms. Recordings of 156 interactions from six different teachers have been collected from naturalistic settings. The transcriptions of these recordings have been analysed, and this paper is concerned with the descriptive system of the teacher verbal moves which has been developed. This system indicates three main variety of moves; pedagogical, feedback and asides. The pedagogical moves are sub divided into areas concerned with welfare, directions, providing words, word recognition, phonics and comprehension. The functional nature of the teacher moves is indicated and specific examples of thc moves are provided.
Reading research in Hungary
Authors: Kamarás Istvan , Nagy Attila
Published: November 2005

Much recent reading research in Hungary has focused on the formation of readers’attitudes and value judgements. This paper reports the results of a number of such studies, based on research with various groups, including library users, ‘killed‐worker’ students, and children. A‘more books’programme has been found to be successful in developing a more discriminating approach to literature, but there is concern over national trends in reading. International studies have shown Hungarian students to be comparatively good at science but poor at reading. More books are being bought, and the proportion of women readers is increasing, but adults are spending less time on reading, and have a growing interest in non‐fiction. The results of reading research in Hungary are not regarded as of purely theoretical interest. Such results are regularly used by librarians and by educational administrators.
The family and the development of literacy skills and values
Authors: Taylor Denny
Published: November 2005

This paper presents the initial findings of three years of field work with six families in which the children were considered by their parents to be successfully learning to read and write. The study represents an attempt to develop systematic ways of looking at reading and writing as activities which have consequences in and are affected by family life. In the present report, it is suggested that multigenerational family literacy patterns mediated by personal experiences of everyday life are of fundamental importance to the child's development of an individual educative style and, therefore, to learning to read and write. Consideration is given to the interplay of individual biographies and educative styles within each family. Variations are then explored in the degree to which each family specifically fostered literacy skills and values. Within this context emphasis is placed on the importance of the children's family experiences of print which are situationally diffuse, occurring at the very margins of awareness.
Cloze procedure and comprehension: an exploratory study across three languages
Authors: Grundin Hans U. , Leonard Brother , Langer Judith , Pehrsson Robert , Robinson H. Alan , Sakamoto Takahiko
Published: November 2005

This cross‐cultural study of cloze procedure and comprehension involved samples of 10‐ to 11‐year‐old schoolchildren in Canada, Japan, Sweden and the United States. The aim of the study was to explore the nature of what might be called‘cloze comprehension’in relation to overall or‘global comprehension’of a passage; in particular to establish

(a) whether cloze procedure measures the same facets of comprehension regardless of what language is being read; and

(b) to what extent cloze procedure, in different linguistic areas, measures‘global comprehension', or comprehension of the general ideas contained in a passage, as distinct from literal comprehension.

The results of the study indicate that cloze procedure is a valid and reliable measure of certain aspects of reading comprehension in all the linguistic and cultural areas sampled. Furthermore, comprehension as measured by cloze procedure seems to be a necessary, albeit not sufficient, condition for overall or global understanding of the meaning of a passage.

The study also shows that the ability measured by cloze procedure is more generalized (i.e., less text specific) than the ability measured by our global comprehension task. One implication of this seems to be that the higher‐order skills necessary for global understanding do not always develop automatically once children have mastered the skills necessary for literal comprehension of simple texts. On the contrary, the higher‐order skills may have to be taught systematically at an appropriate stage in the children's reading development.
Reading retardation or linguistic deficit? II: test‐answering strategies in hearing and hearing‐impaired school children
Authors: Wood D. J. , Griffiths A. J. , Webster A.
Published: November 2005

The reading test performances of 60 hearing and 60 hearing‐impaired children of similar measured reading ages on the Southgate reading test were analysed. As in an earlier study using the Brimer Wide‐span test it was shown that the performances of the two groups were quite different. Deaf children tackled significantly more test items than the hearing and made significantly more errors in achieving similar reading scores.

A detailed examination of both correct and incorrect answers showed that the deaf children were not simply providing answers to questions at random. Even where they produced incorrect responses they tended, as a group, to select the same answer. Unlike the hearing group, who did not converge on the same incorrect solution to difficult test items, the deaf were systematic in their choices, indicating that they were using a consistent strategy.

A post hoc examination of individual test items indicated that the deaf children were selecting answers on the basis of word associations in each test item. On some items these produced a correct response, on others the same (incorrect) response. The implications of these findings are discussed to argue that reading tests based on hearing norms are of little value in the assessment of reading abilities and reading problems in hearing‐impaired children.
Reading Relative Clauses
Authors: Beaumont Clare
Published: November 2005

This study investigated children's ability to read and understand sentences containing relative clauses (RCs). A small group of seven‐year‐old children were tested on their comprehension of four different types of sentences containing them. It was anticipated that sentences without relative pronouns would be more difficult to understand than those where they were present: for example,

The horse the man is chasing is fat would be more difficult than

The horse that the man is chasing is fat.

This was indeed the case in sentences where the pronoun functioned as object in the RC. Where the pronoun functioned as subject, presence or absence of the pronoun (plus auxiliary verb) was not an important factor. It seemed that the children did not make consistent use of pronouns to aid their parsing of the sentence. It is suggested that a still incomplete understanding of function words may contribute to beginning readers' difficulties. Moreover, these results did not entirely bear out predictions made from spoken language data, which suggests that syntactic complexity in written language may need special consideration.
Middle School Children's Responses to Enid Blyton in ‘The Bradford Book Flood Experiment’
Authors: Ingham Jennie
Published: November 2005

During‘The Bradford Book Flood Experiment’(1976–80), a longitudinal record was kept of the reading of one year‐group of children in each of four middle schools in predominantly working‐class areas. The children's choices of, and responses to, books were recorded on reading record forms, questionnaires which were completed by the children each time they read a book. Subsequently, it was possible to isolate responses to books written by Enid Blyton and compare responses to these books with responses to all the other authors together (i.e., to an‘average’other author). The chi‐square test of significance was applied throughout. It was found that children responded more favourably to Enid Blyton in response to every question, the differences being statistically significant in every instance. Children's reasons for choice of books by Enid Blyton are quoted and categorized. An attempt is made to analyse the reasons for Enid Blyton's popularity.
Verbal‐imagery Learning Style and Reading Attainment in Eight‐year‐old Children
Authors: Riding Richard J. , Anstey Linda
Published: November 2005

Eight‐year‐old children were given a test of verbal‐imagery learning style and the Neale Analysis of Reading Ability. Both reading accuracy and comprehension were found to be significantly related to learning style. Reading accuracy was highest at the extreme verbalizer end and lowest at the imager end of the verbal‐imagery continuum, with a plateau of average performance at the central positions. The pattern for comprehension was similar. The results were discussed in terms of the manner in which individuals represent information during learning.
Effects of Contextual Constraints and Non‐fixated Words in a Simple Reading Task
Authors: UNDERWOOD GEOFFREY , WHITFIELD ALISON , WINFIELD JANE
Published: November 2005

An experiment is reported which investigates the perceptual span available to skilled readers in a single fixation. After adult readers had listened to an incomplete sentence they were presented tachistoscopically with a word which they were to name aloud. Congruency between sentence and word facilitated naming, but the presence of an unattended word in the right visual field confounded this relationship. If the unattended word was also congruent, then the naming response was further facilitated, but a congruent unattended word interfered with the naming of an incongruent attended word. This relationship did not hold for unattended words which were presented in the left visual field, and which did not appear to have been processed for meaning. An effect of an unattended word upon the naming of a fixated word suggests that skilled readers recognize the meanings of more words than are fixated. Skilled readers may use the meanings of words ahead of fixation to enrich their interpretation of the text, or use those words more simply as markers to guide future eye‐movements to the location of the next useful fixation.
Primary School Students' Attitudes towards Reading
Authors: Lewis Ramon , Teale William H.
Published: November 2005

This study investigates the applicability to upper primary school children of a multidimensional conceptualization of attitude towards reading which previous research (Lewis and Teale, 1980; Teale and Lewis, 1981) had shown to be useful for characterizing the reading attitudes of secondary school students. Self‐report scales designed to measure Individual Development, Utilitarian, and Enjoyment dimensions were found to be both internally consistent (α= 0.65 to 0.88) and stable (rtr= 0.73 to 0.86). Concurrent validity data based on peer ratings are also provided. Factor analyses showed that primary school students also hold attitudes about reading which are multidimensional. Enjoyment was clearly one facet of their feelings about reading. Although the primary school students did not discriminate between valuing reading as a means of facilitating success at work and at school, they did consistently discriminate between valuing reading and enjoying it. Implications for pedagogical and research issues arising from this conceptualization of attitude towards reading are also discussed.
Control processing vs. information processing in models of reading
Authors: Reilly Ronan G.
Published: November 2005

The purpose of this paper is to highlight some important ways in which standard information‐processing models of language, and specifically of reading, are deficient. It is proposed that the standard models do not provide an adequate framework for dealing with a number of central issues in reading. Their deficiencies are considered under four headings, (1) theoretical rigour, (2) the interaction of different levels of information during reading, (3) the parallel nature of much of human information processing, and (4) reading comprehension. The source of the problems is considered to be the view of information as an inert encoding and of information processing as a series of these encodings. A distinction is made between models which emphasize a flow of information and models which emphasize a flow of control. Production systems are proposed as examples of the latter type of model. Their use is seen as a qualitatively different approach to language processing which provides a solution to many of the problems inherent in the standard models.
School reading volunteers: results of a postal survey of primary school head teachers in England
Authors: Stierer Barry
Published: November 2005

This article reports the results of a postal survey of primary school head teachers in England carried out in order to take a broad ‘sounding’ of mainstream practice with respect to volunteer help with reading within schools. The objective was to build up a general picture of the scale of the practice in schools and of its significance to teachers. From an initial random sample of 500 schools, an overall response rate of 76 per cent was achieved. Issues raised by the results include: (i) the special status of reading in the relationship between home and school; (ii) the issues of professionalism raised by head teachers with respect to the use of volunteer reading helpers; (iii) the question of whether parents' help with school reading can in all cases legitimately be called ‘parental’; and (iv) the relationship between volunteer help with reading and teachers' working conditions in a contracting education service.
The effects of illustrations on children's comprehension of abstract and concrete passages
Authors: Moore Phillip J. , Skinner Michael J.
Published: November 2005

This study investigates the effects of illustrations on 11‐year‐olds' comprehension of abstract and concrete passages. For half the subjects, illustrations were provided and these subjects were instructed to utilize the illustrations in comprehending each of the stories. Results for the concrete passage revealed no significant effects due to the illustration, although ability effects were found for literal, inferential and total comprehension. Similar ability effects were found for the abstract passage. In addition, for the abstract passage significant effects attributable to the illustration were revealed for inferential and total comprehension. A more detailed analysis of this facilitative effect showed that both text‐based and script‐based inferences were significantly enhanced when an illustration accompanied the abstract passage.
A longitudinal study of deaf students’ use of an associational strategy on a reading comprehension test
Authors: Wolk Steve , Schildroth Arthur
Published: November 2005

The present investigation focused upon the use of a choice‐dependent associational strategy by hearing‐impaired students during a test of reading comprehension. An analysis of selected test items from the Stanford Achievement Test indicated that hearing‐impaired students significantly favoured answers based upon association cues unrelated to the overall meaning of the preceding paragraph or stimulus sentence. The use of this strategy was highly stable over time; nearly seven of every ten students who used the strategy during an initial test administration reused the strategy a year later. Significant numbers of students also shifted away, after the year's interval, from the selection of correct answers or other incorrect distractor choices to the selection of the association‐based answers. Finally, those students with the most profound hearing losses were even more likely to use and reuse the strategy, suggesting that hearing‐impaired students are limited in those reading skills required for inferential processing and thus rely upon more concrete and comprehensible semantic cues.
Are cloze items sensitive to constraints across sentences? A review
Authors: Rye James
Published: November 2005

Four types of study relating to the sensitivity of cloze to intersentential constraint are reviewed: (1) factor analytical and correlational studies; (2) studies which varied the length of available context; (3) studies which varied the mode of presentation; (4) studies which varied the quality of coherent context. Many of the investigations failed to provide convincing evidence that cloze is sensitive to intersentential constraint. However, this could be explained in part by weaknesses in the studies themselves. The factor analytical and correlational studies often failed to employ an adequate measure of global comprehension. While other studies demonstrated the importance of immediate context they did not specifically address the question of intersentential constraint. Quality of context needs to be considered separately from length of context. The quality of context studies provided conflicting results. Again, some of these investigations have serious weaknesses which tend to prejudice the results. The most reliable recent studies suggest that cloze is sensitive to intersentential constraint. Finally, tentative recommendations are made for establishing testing conditions which are most likely to encourage the use of intersentential constraint.
The influence of lexical and structural variables on lexical decision and syllable judgment tasks
Authors: Parkin Alan J.
Published: November 2005

In this study subjects were presented with a series of letter strings and required to either make a lexical decision about each one or to judge the number of syllables present. The factors manipulated were lexicality (word/nonword), word frequency (high/low), syllables (one/two), and array length (4, 5, 6 letters). The results showed that neither task was affected by number of syllables. Lexical decision times were influenced by word frequency and lexicality but not affected by array length or number of syllables. Syllable judgments were found to be significantly quicker for four‐ and six‐letter words compared with five‐letter words. Implications of these results in relation to the processing demands of lexical decision and syllable judgment tasks are discussed.
The interaction with text of failing and normal readers (Ph.D thesis, School of Education, Open University, 1984)
Authors: Mulholland Helen
Published: November 2005

The research reported in this thesis was designed to investigate the nature of reading comprehension failure with a view to improving remedial reading programmes for those children who, although resembling normal readers in other respects, enter secondary education with an inadequate level of reading ability.

By the use of cloze tests, in which the reader is required to restore words deleted from a text, comparisons were made between failing readers at age twelve, normal readers of age twelve and normal readers of age nine who had reached the same level of reading comprehension as the failing twelve‐year‐olds. The three groups’ responses were classified by a system based on a view of the reading process as an interaction between the reader and the text. The effects of specific aspects of text on the three groups of readers were investigated. It was found that there were significant differences between the responses offered by the failing readers at age twelve and normal readers at age nine. Since the level of reading ability of the two groups was the same, this suggests that reading failure involves qualitative differences from normal reading development.

The types of difficulty experienced by failing readers, as reflected in their cloze responses, include difficulties in visual scanning, in reconstruction of syntactic structures and in vocabulary. These components did not affect all failing readers equally. Failing readers appear to have greater difficulty than normal in relating their responses to the general theme of the text and tend to treat it as a series of isolated fragments. They make less use of the context following a deleted word than normal readers. Failing readers at age twelve appear to have greater difficulty than normal readers at age nine in recognizing which segments of a text contain important information.

The whole population of a secondary school, 643 subjects, was tested and it was found that failing readers at age fifteen produced the same pattern of responses as those failing at age twelve. The only improvement appearing in their reading was in the processing of complete sentences.

There were indications that remedial programmes designed on the diagnostic basis provided by the research results produced an increase in reading age in six months of a similar order to that produced by previous remedial programmes in a year. The increase was approximately twenty‐four months on average for a group of failing readers whose mean reading age on entry was eight years six months. The programme caused them to alter their response patterns to resemble those of normal readers at age twelve.
Correlates of leisure‐time reading
Authors: Greaney Vincent , Hegarty Mary
Published: November 2005

Pupils from middle‐class homes devoted an average of 7.2 per cent of leisure time to reading. The relationship between home environment, attitude to reading and motivations for reading on the one hand and leisure‐time reading on the other, was examined. The addition of these sets of variables to previously established correlates of leisure‐time reading, achievement, sex, and library membership increased the proportion of variance accounted for in leisure‐time reading by a significant amount (10.1 per cent). Correlations tended to be low, since leisure reading is a relatively sporadic type activity. From the perspective of developing the reading habit, the results suggest that what parents do is more important than what they are; the emphasis placed on reading in the home, on academic development and on intellectuality was related to leisure‐time reading. Attitude to reading correlated more highly with leisure‐time reading than any of the other variables included in the study; the correlation between attitude and time was significant even after controlling for sex, reading achievement and library membership. Among the motivational variables, reading for enjoyment was related to leisure‐time reading whereas reading for utilitarian or escapist reasons was not.