Effects of Vocabulary Difficulty and Text Length on Word Definition and Prose Recall

Abstract

The effects of vocabulary and text length on the reader's ability to infer the meanings of words from their context and to recall factual content were examined. Adult subjects (N = 136) read easy- or difficult-vocabulary versions of connected prose on unfamiliar topics. Both easy and difficult passages were varied in length by the deletion of low level propositions. Readers provided fewer correct English synonyms for two-syllable nonwords when passages contained difficult vocabulary; there was no main effect of text length and no interaction. Fact recall tended to be reduced when difficult vocabulary passages were shortened by removal of propositions, however. Results are discussed in terms of differences in task demands.