Cognitive and Motivational Determinants of Reading Comprehension in Good and Poor Readers

Abstract

Cognitive, metacognitive, and motivational factors were examined as predictors of individual differences in the reading comprehension abilities of good and poor readers. Two hundred twenty seventh graders were measured on reading comprehension, and the top 30% and bottom 30% were identified as good and poor readers, respectively. Subjects were then measured on word recognition, metacognitive knowledge about text processing, perceived competence, and attributional beliefs about the reasons underlying academic outcomes. The results indicated that good readers in comparison to poor readers scored higher on the word recognition measure, possessed richer metacognitive knowledge, and had more positive beliefs about their academic abilities. Regression analyses indicated that word recognition and metacognition predicted reading comprehension in the whole sample; however, regression analyses within subgroups indicated that word recognition was the most important predictor variable for poor readers, whereas perceived competence predicted the reading comprehension abilities of good readers.