Executive Control Processes in Reading

Although it is possible that improved reading speed may be due to operations that are not under executive control, it appears that reading and word identification fluency makes an important contribution to explicit memory judgments (e.g., Johnston et al., 1985; Masson, 1984). The lack of executive control over certain perceptual and cognitive operations does not preclude the possibility that the impact of these operations on processing fluency will be noticed. One function of executive processes is to account for such changes in fluency. A reasonable explanation for the apparent ease of reading a sentence is to attribute the fluency to the beneficial effects of a previous encounter, and this attribution may contribute to a positive decision on a recognition memory test. It is likely that closer examination of this phenomenon will provide important insight into how we become aware of the existence of our memory for reading episodes and other kinds of events.

Preparation of this chapter was supported in part by Grant A7910 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering? Research Council of Canada. I am grateful to Betty Ann Levy and two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of this chapter.

Anderson J. R. ( 1974). "Verbatim and propositional representation of sentences in immediate and long-term memory". Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 13,149- 162.

Anderson J. R. ( 1976). Language, memory, and thought. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Anderson J. R., & Paulson R. ( 1977). "Representation and retention of verbatim information". Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 16,439-451.

Atkinson R. C., & Shiffrin R. M. ( 1968). "Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes". In K. W. Spence & J. T. Spence (Eds.), The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 2, pp. 89-195). New York: Academic Press.

Baron J. ( 1978). "The word-superiority effect: Perceptual learning from reading". In W. K. Estes (Ed.), Handbook of learning and cognitive processes: Vol. 6. Linguistic functions in cognitive theory (pp. 131-166). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Begg I., & Wickelgren W. A. ( 1974). "Retention functions for syntactic and lexical vs. semantic information in sentence recognition memory". Memory & Cognition, 2,353- 359.

Bransford J. D., & Franks J. J. ( 1971). "The abstraction of linguistic ideas". Cognitive Psychology, 2,331-350.

Cermak L. S., Lewis R., Butters N., & Goodglass H. ( 1973). "Role of verbal mediation in performance of motor tasks by Korsakoff patients". Perceptual and Motor Skills, 37, 259-262.

-274-