This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Farley, M. J. Articles by Elmore, P. B. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Relationship of Reading Comprehension to Critical Thinking Skills, Cognitive Ability, and Vocabulary for a Sample of Underachieving College Freshmen

Dyersburg State Community College

Patricia B. Elmore

Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of reading comprehension for underachieving college freshmen to their critical thinking skills, vocabulary, and cognitive ability. Three tests administered to 165 students enrolled in a remedial reading course at a large midwestern university were: (a) Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z (CCTT), (b) Developing Cognitive Abilities Test (DCAT), and (c) Iowa Silent Reading Test (ISRT). Each test took only one class period and was administered by the same examiner. A multiple regression analysis was employed in which the subscale scores of (a) literal comprehension, (b) reasoning in reading, (c) evaluation and appreciation of written materials, along with scores on (d) reading comprehension, and (e) critical reading comprehension obtained from the ISRT served as criterion variables. Seven critical thinking skills measured by the subscales from the CCTT; vocabulary measured by the ISRT; verbal, quantitative, and spatial cognitive abilities measured by the DCAT; and the five verbal cognitive abilities broken down into knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, and synthesis served as independent variables. The vocabulary subtest of the ISRT and all three subscales of the DCAT were important predictors of the various dimensions of reading comprehension ability.

Educational and Psychological Measurement, Vol. 52, No. 4, 921-931 (1992)
DOI: 10.1177/0013164492052004014


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				N. Frey "We Can't Afford to Rest on Our Laurels": Creating a District-Wide Content Literacy Instructional Plan NASSP Bulletin, March 1, 2006; 90(1): 37 - 48. [Abstract] [PDF]

				G. L. Canivez and T. R. Konold Assessing Differential Prediction Bias in the Developing Cognitive Abilities Test across Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Groups Educational and Psychological Measurement, February 1, 2001; 61(1): 159 - 171. [Abstract] [PDF]