Macrorules for summarizing texts: the development of expertise

Abstract

The development of the ability to use macrorules for paraphrasing expository texts was examined in a series of three studies. In the first, older high school and college student were able to use sophisticated condensation rules, such as invention and integration, in contrast to the fifth and seventh graders who relied on a more simple copy-delete strategy. In the second study, experts, college rhetoric teachers, outperformed freshman college student in their ability to combine information across paragraphs and in their propensity to provide a synopsis in their own words. Following the consideration of experts, we examined novicesm junior college students who performed on a level set by normal seventh graders, confirming the general impression that such students experience particular problems with critical reading and effective studying. © 1983 Academic Press, Inc.