ASPECTS OF SCHEMATA AND SYNTAX IN FIFTH GRADE CHILDREN'S INFERENTIAL READING COMPREHENSION OF CAUSAL RELATIONS

Seventy‐five urban middle class fifth grade children of average and above average reading ability served as subjects in an experiment designed to determine the effects of passage content (schemata) and syntactic structure (clause order) on inferential comprehension of causal structures. Subjects were presented with twelve passages varying in semantic level (easy vs. hard, based on congruence with childhood schemata background) and clause order for the target causal structure (cause‐effect vs. effect‐cause). Subjects were asked to specify the implied meaning of the target structure. An analysis of variance for the randomized block factorial design yielded significant effects for subject variability and semantic content. Although the syntactic variable was not significant, proportions correct suggested a trend favoring the clause order of cause‐effect. An interaction between the variables was not confirmed. The findings are discussed in terms of the roles of schemata and syntax in an interactive model of reading.