Effects of Spontaneous and Induced Lookbacks on Self-Perceived High- and Low-Ability Comprehenders

This study investigated the effects of a graphic organizer that was designed to induce students to look back in their texts for information they had missed, misunderstood, or forgotten. Sixty-four tenth graders, whose self-perceived comprehension ratings matched their scores on a traditional reading achievement measure, were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Students in the graphic organizer group read a social studies passage and answered questions with the aid of the organizer. Students in the control group read the passage and answered the questions. Predictions suggested by the achievement-treatment-interaction hypothesis were confirmed. Lookback behavior induced by using a graphic organizer as a “road map” to guide students to the appropriate answers in the text differentiated between students who perceived themselves as low-ability comprehenders but not between students who perceived themselves as high-ability comprehenders.