Reading Comprehension in Aging: The Role of Working Memory and Metacomprehension

Abstract

This study examines age-related differences in reading comprehension analyzing the role of working memory and metacomprehension components in a sample of young (18–30 years), young-old (65–74 years), and old-old (75–85 years) participants. Text comprehension abilities were measured by a standardized test, including two texts: a narrative and an expository text. The elderly's reading comprehension performance, when compared to the norm, emerged to be adequate. More specifically, the young-old showed an equivalent level of comprehension as the young adults for the narrative text. However, a clear age-related decline was found in the case of the expository text. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that working memory capacity, as well as different metacomprehension components but not age, are the key aspects in explaining the different patterns of changes in the comprehension of narrative and expository texts.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We would like to thank Elena Pisoni for her help in data collection.

Notes

¹ This scoring method produces the best distribution (Pazzaglia et al., 2000; Friedman & Miyake, 2004). Several studies with different age groups and populations using this working memory score have shown good correlations with reading comprehension tests (see Pazzaglia et al., 2000; De Beni et al., 1998, 2003; De Beni & Palladino, 2001).

² The approximate values given by the manual, used in Italy for diagnostic and rehabilitative purposes, refers to the clinical/educational classification of the DSM-IV. The comprehension skills are divided into four comprehension performance bands: deficient, poor, adequate, and good.

* correct answers