Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38514702›Full record

ArticleNPJ science of learning2024

The neural and cognitive basis of expository text comprehension.

Timothy A Keller, Robert A Mason, Aliza E Legg, Marcel Adam Just

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ science of learning, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Timothy A KellerCenter for Cognitive Brain Imaging, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA. tk37@andrew.cmu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2345-8626
Robert A MasonCenter for Cognitive Brain Imaging, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0589-2629
Aliza E LeggCenter for Cognitive Brain Imaging, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.
Marcel Adam JustCenter for Cognitive Brain Imaging, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1245-3050

Funding

National Science Foundation (NSF) BCS-1748897National Science Foundation (NSF) BCS-2215741United States Department of Defense | United States Navy | Office of Naval Research (ONR) N00014-20-1-2625United States Department of Defense | United States Navy | ONR | Office of Naval Research Global (ONR Global) N00014-20-1-2625
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

As science and technology rapidly progress, it becomes increasingly important to understand how individuals comprehend expository technical texts that explain these advances. This study examined differences in individual readers' technical comprehension performance and differences among texts, using functional brain imaging to measure regional brain activity while students read passages on technical topics and then took a comprehension test. Better comprehension of the technical passages was related to higher activation in regions of the left inferior frontal gyrus, left superior parietal lobe, bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and bilateral hippocampus. These areas are associated with the construction of a mental model of the passage and with the integration of new and prior knowledge in memory. Poorer comprehension of the passages was related to greater activation of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the precuneus, areas involved in autobiographical and episodic memory retrieval. More comprehensible passages elicited more brain activation associated with establishing links among different types of information in the text and activation associated with establishing conceptual coherence within the text representation. These findings converge with previous behavioral research in their implications for teaching technical learners to become better comprehenders and for improving the structure of instructional texts, to facilitate scientific and technological comprehension.

Identifiers

PMID38514702
PMCPMC10957871

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.