Chapter 40

Chapter 40
“Toward a Theory of Automatic Information Processing in Reading, Revisited”

Over twenty years ago, S. Jay Samuels and D. LaBerge developed the model of automatic information processing for reading. Teachers and researchers used it for explanations of the concept of automaticity and the study provided the conceptual groundwork for repeated reading. Samuels revisits his theory of automaticity and attempts two things; describe theory and its practical applications; explain new ideas about automaticity.

• Samuels begins by describing the heart of his LaBerge-Samuels model- attention. There are two components to attention, internal (alertness, selectivity, limited capacity) and external (related to orientation of one’s sensory organs).

• Core component to model- internal attention:
o Alertness- active attempt to come in contact with sources of information
o Selectivity- sensory organs can be overwhelmed so we select what we will process at any given moment
o Limited capacity- skill of learning uses up attention and we pay attention to only one task at a time, the difference between an associative task that becomes automatic and a cognitive task.

• So how does it relate to reading?
• Internal components of attention essential for decoding skills

• Attention needed for comprehension; ability to get meaning for a word is not the same as comprehending the sentence. Attention is necessary to determine relationships/meanings.

• The dilemma- beginning readers must use attention to decode and if attention can be done one process at a time, how can they comprehend? Attention is therefore switched alternately from decoding to comprehension whereas fluent readers decode automatically and attention is on comprehension (i.e., like learning a second language, you have to translate first, then read for meaning).

• LaBerge-Samuels model thought of as bottom-up, Samuels describes it as top-down processing because the feedback loops from semantic memory to phonological memory to visual memory. He writes that for processing of a word through visual information on the page (bottom-up) as well as knowledge stored in semantic memory (top-down), the model must allow for an interaction of visual information and knowledge as the basis for word recognition.
o Visual memory- first stage of processing- information analyzed by letters/letter combinations and features of the word. When word codes as learned, attention is not required for processing. Samuels makes a distinction between accuracy and automatic. With practice, a student will reach automaticity both in accuracy and prosody.
o Phonological memory- comes from visual memory, episodic memory, feedback from semantic memory, articulatory responses, and direct external acoustic stimulation.
o Similarities between visual and phonological memory- visual moves from features to letters to spelling patterns to words, phonological moves from phonemes to syllables to words. Both may move from features up to words or from words down to features (top-down analysis from whole to parts or bottom-up analysis by synthesizing a word from its parts to a whole).
o Episodic memory- putting a time, place, and context tag on events and knowledge. Categorized under the ‘wh’ words- ‘when/time’, ‘where/place’, and ‘who/person’. This knowledge is stored in semantic memory while details surrounding the actual instruction remain in episodic memory and may be lost in time.
o Semantic memory and comprehension- individual word meanings are produced and comprehension of written messages occurs.

• Some ideas or solutions for reading problems:
o Attention on decoding and not comprehension- a) easier reading texts, b) rereading, c) practice
o Poor comprehension- a) explain that it may be due to lack of attention directed on processing the text, b) teach to engage in self-testing while reading.