Using biographical details as seductive information in a science text

Gastón Saux; Natalia Irrazabal

Authors

Gastón Saux
Natalia Irrazabal

Keywords:

comprehension, seductive detail, expository text

Abstract

This study examined the effect of including seductive details in an expository-structured scientific text. 66 low prior-knowledge students read the text without a seductive detail, or with an interesting biographic detail. Interestingness associated to the materials was pre-tested in a preliminary study. Post-reading memory (text recall and literal sentences verification task), comprehension (inferred sentences verification task), and synthesis capacity (title selection) were collected. Results revealed that the condition that read the biographic detail showed the poorest recall and the highest error rate in the verification of sentences related to the text segments adjacent to the detail. These results are interpreted considering the deviated integration hypothesis.

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Author Biographies

Gastón Saux

Doctor en Psicología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Becario posdoctoral. CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas).

Natalia Irrazabal

Doctor en Psicología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Investigadora. CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) – CIPP (Centro de Investigaciones Psicológicas y Psicopedagógicas), Universidad Católica Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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