Executive functions and multiple-text comprehension

Background

The present study aims at investigating the direct and indirect relationships between executive functions on multiple-text comprehension performance and processes.

Methods

The research questions were investigated through a path analysis approach. The participants in this study were 286 university students. The tasks were subdivided into three sessions to regulate cognitive fatigue during testing: demographic (age and gender) and control variables (perceived prior knowledge, prior knowledge, and need for cognition), executive functions (verbal and visuospatial working memory, inhibition, and shifting), and 3) multiple-text comprehension task (reading four texts and writing and argumentative essay: reading time, writing time, essay length, depth of comprehension, argumentative quality, text relevance ratings, and strategic processing).

Results

The estimated path model had an excellent fit. Visuospatial working memory and inhibition were associated with depth of comprehension.

Conclusion

The results of the study allow to delineate a cognitive control theory of multiple-text comprehension.

Educational relevance statement

• 1.
  What is already known about this topic

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  When people turn to the Internet to find an answer to relevant questions, they must face an overwhelming quantity of knowledge.
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  Readers' competences are suboptimal for dealing with the increased complexity of reading for critical thinking, knowledge acquisition and decision making.
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  Executive functions play a main role in supporting reading comprehension processes.

• 2.
  What this paper adds

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  This paper compares the effect of multiple measures of executive functions on multiple-text comprehension outcomes and processes.
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  We tested the direct and indirect effect of executive functions on depth of reading comprehension and source-based argumentation.
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  This paper contributes to defining a cognitive control theory of multiple-text comprehension.

• 3.
  Implications for theory, policy, or practice

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  The study contributes to the literature on multiple-texts comprehension by emphasizing the role of executive functions.
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  The interactivity between source elements may determine the extent to which specific levels of working memory are required to complete the task.
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  Working memory and inhibition contribute to multiple-text comprehension by supporting the ability to suppress irrelevant information and in managing cognitive resources.