Active Reading Procedures for Moderating the Effects of Poor Highlighting

Abstract

We investigated two active reading techniques intended to eliminate the negative effect on reading comprehension of preexisting, inappropriate highlighting. College students read passages in three highlighting conditions: no highlighting, appropriate highlighting, and inappropriate highlighting. In Experiment 1, 30 students read the passages while using a finger as if it were a highlighter. In Experiment 2, another 30 students used blue highlighters while reading the passages. The results showed that both using a finger as a highlighter and using a blue highlighter eliminated previously documented negative effects of preexisting, inappropriate highlighting. Further, metacomprehension was poor in the presence of inappropriate highlighting.