Linguistic Markers of Inference Generation While R

Authors: Virginia Clinton Sarah E Carlson Ben Seipel

Publish Date: 2015/04/02

Volume: 45, Issue: 3, Pages: 553-574

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Abstract

Words can be informative linguistic markers of psychological constructs The purpose of this study is to examine associations between word use and the process of making meaningful connections to a text while reading ie inference generation To achieve this purpose thinkaloud data from thirdfifth grade students hbox N = 218 reading narrative texts were handcoded for inferences These data were also processed with a computer text analysis tool Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count for percentages of word use in the following categories cognitive mechanism words nonfluencies and nine types of function words Findings indicate that cognitive mechanisms were an independent positive predictor of connections to background knowledge ie elaborative inference generation and nonfluencies were an independent negative predictor of connections within the text ie bridging inference generation Function words did not provide unique variance towards predicting inference generation These findings are discussed in the context of a cognitive reflection model and the differences between bridging and elaborative inference generation In addition potential practical implications for intelligent tutoring systems and computerbased methods of inference identification are presentedThis research was supported by Grant R305C050059 from the Institute of Education Sciences US Department of Education to the University of Minnesota The paper does not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the funding agency no official endorsement should be inferred

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