| The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between imagery ability and comprehension. Computer administered tasks of image maintenance, considered essential for the use of imagery in reasoning, and image rotation, a measure of image transformation which is necessary for the creation of novel objects and scenes, were administered to 88 fifth graders with on-grade-level or above-grade-level word recognition ability. Word recognition was assessed using the Graded Word Lists and Graded Passages of the Analytical Reading Inventory, Fifth Edition. Subjects were administered the Reading Comprehension subtests of the Stanford Achievement Test, Eighth Edition, Forms J and L as group measures of reading comprehension and listening comprehension.;There was found to be a significant negative relationship between fifth graders' image rotation response times and reading comprehension. Subjects with higher reading comprehension scores responded significantly faster on rotation tasks than subjects with lower reading comprehension scores. There was also found to be a significant negative relationship between fifth graders' image rotation response times and listening comprehension. Subjects with higher listening comprehension scores responded significantly faster on rotation tasks than subjects with lower listening comprehension scores. Discriminant analysis led to the finding of a significant relationship between image rotation response time and the average of reading comprehension and listening comprehension. An investigation of suppressor variables indicated that not one of the other imagery variables (maintenance accuracy rate, maintenance response time, or rotation accuracy rate), by it's presence in the regression model, improved the performance of rotation response time as a "predictor" of comprehension.;There was found to be no significant difference between the correlation for rotation response time and listening comprehension and the correlation for rotation response time and reading comprehension. It could not be concluded that the relationship for listening was stronger than the relationship for reading. Therefore, this study did not provide support for the existence of a reading and imagery interference effect. Recommendations included suggestions for research focusing on the ability to transform images and the role of response time in constructing meaning from what is read and heard. |
