Early Studies

Not noticing comprehension failure

In a landmark 1977 study, Ellen M. Markman wondered whether readers would detect obvious logical contradictions when they read. She gave readers a passage about ants that indicated that when ants forage away from their hill they emit an invisible chemical with an odor that they use to find their way home. The passage also indicated, however, that ants have no nose and are unable to smell.

• Would readers notice that the passage did not make sense?

• Would they recognize that they did not understand the passage?

• What would they do?

Her disturbing finding was that young and mature readers alike overwhelmingly failed to notice either logical or semantic inconsistencies in the texts.

What instruction would help readers to be more conscious of their understanding and to learn strategies that would overcome these comprehension failures?