Inference comprehension during reading: influence of age and education in normal adults

Silagi, Marcela Lima; Romero, Vivian Urbanejo; Mansur, Leticia Lessa; Radanovic, Marcia

doi:10.1590/2317-1782/20142013058

Marcela Lima Silagi Correspondence address: Marcela Lima Silagi, Rua Cipotânea, 51, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo (SP), Brasil, CEP: 05360-160. E-mail: marcelasilagi@usp.br; marcela_silagi@hotmail.com.br

Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo – USP – São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Vivian Urbanejo Romero

Department of Physiotherapy, Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences and Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo – USP – São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Leticia Lessa Mansur

Department of Physiotherapy, Speech-Language and Hearing Sciences and Occupational Therapy, School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo – USP – São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Marcia Radanovic

Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo – USP – São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Correspondence address: Marcela Lima Silagi, Rua Cipotânea, 51, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo (SP), Brasil, CEP: 05360-160. E-mail: marcelasilagi@usp.br; marcela_silagi@hotmail.com.br

Conflict of interests: nothing to declare.

Figures (2)
Tables (3)

Thumbnail

Figure 1
Mean scores obtained by subjects in each type of inference according to age

Thumbnail

Figure 2
Mean scores obtained by subjects in each type of inference according to schooling

Thumbnail

Table 1
Demographic characteristics of the sample

Thumbnail

Table 2
Performance of groups on textual inference tests by age and educational level

Thumbnail

Question type Explanation Example Explicit (11 questions) Require literal translation of the statement, but no inferential reasoning per se. Nadia called Lucas and told him: "My goodness, have you seen the time?", and Lucas answered: "Yes, I know, but I can't find my car keys."Has Lucas lost the keys to his car? Logical (12 questions) Engage the use of formal reasoning and processes of deduction. My neighbor's cat never meows, except when it hasn't eaten for a long time. Today, I heard the cat meowing all morning.Did my neighbor feed her cat this morning? Distractor (13 questions) Questions to which subject should answer with "Cannot answer", because the information requested does not exist in the test, explicitly or implicitly. Designed to check whether subject is able to deviate from an interpretive approach and provide an explanation not defined spontaneously. Rose says to Suzanne: "Stop eating or you'll put on weight!" and Suzanne replies: "So what, men like it"Is Rose married? Pragmatic (18 questions) Require knowledge of usual scripts, logical and coherent action plans and conformance to discursive rules. After the weather report, Brigitte said to herself: "I mustn't forget my umbrella tomorrow".Does Brigitte like getting wet? Other (6 questions) Require handling of logic operations together with pertinent contextualization (combination of logic and pragmatic competencies). Peter says: "It costs a lot of money to go to Canada; I can't go there right now".Does Peter have a lot of money right now?

Group	n	Age	Schooling	Gender
		Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Gender
		Min–Max	Min–Max	F	M
YLE	12	Min–Max	Min–Max	28.5 (7.6)	3.7 (0.5)	4	8
YLE	12	18–38	3–4			4	8
YME	18	24.3 (7.1)	7.3 (0.9)	14	4
YME	18	18–38	5–8	14	4
YHE	37	25 (5.3)	15.1 (2.7)	28	9
YHE	37	19–39	10–23	28	9
ALE	21	52.7 (5.6)	3.8 (0.5)	15	6
ALE	21	42–59	2–4	15	6
AME	22	50.6 (4.8)	7.2 (1)	14	8
AME	22	40–58	5–8	14	8
AHE	37	52.3 (5.1)	14 (3)	24	13
AHE	37	40–59	10–24	24	13
ELE	19	67.2 (4.7)	3.5 (0.8)	10	9
ELE	19	60–75	2–4	10	9
EME	26	67.7 (4.3)	7.2 (1.2)	21	5
EME	26	60–79	5–8	21	5
EHE	32	65.8 (5)	14.2 (2.8)	19	13
EHE	32	60–78	10–20	19	13
p-value		0.174 (YLE x YME x YHE)	0.357 (YLE x ALE x ELE)	0.097
		0.361 (ALE x AME x AHE)	0.968 (YME x AME x EME)
		0.283 (ELE x EME x EHE)	0.210 (YHE x AHE x EHE)

Group	Logical	Explicit	Pragmatic	Distractors	Others	Total
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
	Min–Max	Min–Max	Min–Max	Min–Max	Min–Max	Min–Max
YLE	6.4 (2.1)	8.2 (2.1)	12.6 (3.1)	4 (4.2)	3 (0.9)	34.2 (72)
YLE	3–11	3–11	7–17	0–13	1–4	24–48
YME	7.8 (2.7)	9.1 (2.1)	12.9 (2.5)	6.8 (4)	3.2 (1.4)	40 (8.6)
YME	2–12	4–11	8–17	0–13	1–5	25–54
YHE	10.5 (1.3)	10.4 (0.9)	14.7 (1.9)	12.4 (1)	4 (1)	52 (4)
YHE	7–12	8–11	8–18	9–13	2–6	44–59
ALE	7.7 (1.7)	8.7 (1.8)	13.9 (2.7)	5.4 (4.8)	3.2 (1.5)	38.9 (7.5)
ALE	4–11	5–11	5–17	0–13	1–6	28–53
AME	8.7 (1.9)	9.6 (1.2)	14.8 (2)	8.2 (2.6)	3.4 (1.2)	44.7 (5.1)
AME	5–12	8–11	11–18	3–13	1–6	34–55
AHE	9.8 (1.5)	10 (1.1)	13.9 (2.6)	11.1 (2)	3.7 (1.1)	48.6 (5.8)
AHE	6–12	6–11	6–18	4–13	1–6	34–60
ELE	6.2 (1.6)	8.7 (1.7)	13 (3.2)	4.3 (3.5)	2.8 (1)	35.1 (7)
ELE	3–9	6–11	5–17	0–11	1–4	19–48
EME	7.6 (2.1)	9.4 (1.8)	14 (2.6)	6.7 (3.8)	3.4 (1.4)	41 (8.8)
EME	3–11	4–11	8–18	0–12	1–6	24–53
EHE	9.7 (1.7)	10 (1.2)	14.5 (2.6)	9.6 (2.9)	3.6 (0.9)	47.5 (5.6)
EHE	5–12	7–11	10–18	0–13	1–6	32–57
Age factor (p-value)	0.050	0.799	0.204	0.030* A x E (0.025)	0.542	0.026* A x E (0.025)
Education factor (p-value)	<0.001* - all differ	<0.001* - all differ	0.027* LE x HE (0.022)	<0.001 - all differ	<0.001* LE x HE (<0.001)	<0.001* - all differ
Interaction age x education (p-value)	0.059	0.569	0.079	0.072	0.646	0.008

Question type	Explanation	Example
Explicit (11 questions)	Require literal translation of the statement, but no inferential reasoning per se.	Nadia called Lucas and told him: "My goodness, have you seen the time?", and Lucas answered: "Yes, I know, but I can't find my car keys." Has Lucas lost the keys to his car?
Logical (12 questions)	Engage the use of formal reasoning and processes of deduction.	My neighbor's cat never meows, except when it hasn't eaten for a long time. Today, I heard the cat meowing all morning. Did my neighbor feed her cat this morning?
Distractor (13 questions)	Questions to which subject should answer with "Cannot answer", because the information requested does not exist in the test, explicitly or implicitly. Designed to check whether subject is able to deviate from an interpretive approach and provide an explanation not defined spontaneously.	Rose says to Suzanne: "Stop eating or you'll put on weight!" and Suzanne replies: "So what, men like it" Is Rose married?
Pragmatic (18 questions)	Require knowledge of usual scripts, logical and coherent action plans and conformance to discursive rules.	After the weather report, Brigitte said to herself: "I mustn't forget my umbrella tomorrow". Does Brigitte like getting wet?
Other (6 questions)	Require handling of logic operations together with pertinent contextualization (combination of logic and pragmatic competencies).	Peter says: "It costs a lot of money to go to Canada; I can't go there right now". Does Peter have a lot of money right now?

[1] Correspondence address: Marcela Lima Silagi, Rua Cipotânea, 51, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo (SP), Brasil, CEP: 05360-160. E-mail: marcelasilagi@usp.br; marcela_silagi@hotmail.com.br

Brasil

Brasil

Inference comprehension during reading: influence of age and education in normal adults

Compreensão de inferências durante a leitura: influência da idade e escolaridade em adultos normais

Purpose:

Methods:

Results:

Conclusion: