Identifying summary parameters

Abstract

The current investigation focused on identifying parameters relevant to the use of author-generated summaries as supplements to text. The impact of map and text summaries on test performance was examined. Participants received either a map summary or a text summary along with the passage at encoding. A control group received only the passage at encoding. Participants then reviewed either the summary or the passage prior to testing. Results revealed that the type of review tool they received affected the nature of the information recalled and recognized. Those who reviewed with a summary performed better on tests assessing recall and recognition of summary propositions, whereas those who reviewed with a passage performed better on tests assessing recall and recognition of passage propositions. Low-verbal ability students benefitted the most from receiving a summary whereas high verbal ability students benefitted from receiving the passage without the summary. No map-text differences were found in this experiment. Materials used in the experiment are enclosed in the appendices.