Differences in low and high working-memory capacity readers' cognitive and metacognitive processing patterns as a function of reading for different purposes

Differences in cognitive and metacognitive processing patterns as a function of working-memory capacity and reading for different purposes were examined in college-aged readers by collecting reading times and calculating absolute monitoring accuracy, which is the difference between estimated and actual comprehension test performance. Readers read an expository text under one of two reading purpose conditions, reading for study versus reading for entertainment, and then answered comprehension questions about the text. The results showed that low working-memory capacity readers' reading times were slower when reading for study versus entertainment purposes than when reading for study purposes, whereas high working-memory capacity readers' reading times were similar across reading purposes. In addition, low working-memory capacity readers were overconfident but more accurate in their estimates when reading for study versus entertainment, whereas high working-memory capacity readers were similarly underconfident and had equivalent degrees of accuracy across reading purposes. Thus, low and high working-memory capacity readers' cognitive and metacognitive processing patterns are different when reading for more demanding reading purposes such as reading for study. It is proposed that time spent reading, which is affected by the reader's working-memory capacity and purpose for reading, mediates degree of confidence and accuracy in predicting future comprehension test performance.