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Ricerche di Psicologia/Psychological Research Journal - Open Access

Articoli

No. 1 (2022)

An intervention to improve reading abilities: Further evidence

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/rip2022oa13397
Submitted
marzo 26, 2021
Published
2022-03-01

Abstract

The paper presents further results concerning the evaluation of the effects of an intervention aimed at improving reading abilities in adulthood. Previous research has shown that the Super Reading course, hinging on strategies and techniques that enhance different components of reading (i.e., metacognitive abilities, memory, visual-perceptive abilities, emotional aspects, and motivation), allows adult participants (both normotypical and with dyslexia) to improve both their reading speed and their comprehension levels. The improvement is significant and hardly attributable to different factors but course participation. In order to give evidence of this and, at the same time, to evaluate the possible effect of knowledge of the testing procedure, a control group has been taken into consideration.
This group, including 34 normotypical adult readers, has been administered the same readings tests as the participants to the course, randomly distributed in three/four different sessions. Differences between the first and the last session have been measured for eight parameters reflecting the structure of the tests. Each test consists of a 400-word passage to be read silently, followed by ten open questions. The passage is then read again and the same questions have to be answered. The measures considered for the analysis comprise: first reading time, second reading time, total reading time, first reading comprehension, second reading comprehension, and three measures of reading effectiveness (at first reading, at second reading, and total), a synthetic measure combining time and comprehension. The data of the control group have been compared with those obtained by a sample of 154 normotypical readers, who attended the course. Comparing the differences between first and last session statistically significant results in the measures of both time and reading effectiveness emerged. The differences for comprehension were not statistically significant, but these measures were strongly influenced by a ceiling effect. On the whole, the results confirm the effectiveness of the course in promoting reading abilities, in terms of both speed and comprehension.

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