Adults' reading comprehension: Effects of syntactic complexity and working memory

Abstract

Two experiments investigated the relationship between working memory and reading comprehension. In the first, college students, 18 to 26 years of age, and adults, 60 to 92 years of age, were given a battery of tests of working memory, a standard timed reading comprehension test, and a reading test designed to explore how syntactic complexity affects comprehension. In a follow-up study, the adults were retested on a modified version of the syntax comprehension text. Age group declines in working memory and reading comprehension were obtained in Experiment I; age group declines in reading rate but not comprehension were obtained in Experiment II. The results suggest that working memory limitations affect elderly adults' ability to process complex syntactic constructions, lowering comprehension in the timed test (Experiment I) and reducing reading rates in the untimed test (Experiment II).