Abstract
Different tests measure text comprehension, including the cloze gap-filling test, often used for language learning. Different studies hypothesized cognitive strategies in this type of test and their relationship with working memory and performance. However, no study investigated the cloze test, working memory, and possible cognitive strategies, while performing the test. Therefore, this study aimed to identify cognitive visual strategies in the cloze test by applying an unsupervised algorithm and to analyze the relationship between these strategies with working memory and performance in the cloze test. Our sample consisted of 51 university students, the largest sample in studies of cognitive strategies with cloze tests. Participants answered an 11-item cloze test in a computer with eye-tracking, a verbal working memory test, and a visuospatial working memory test. Our analysis of participants’ scanpath identified two main strategies: one with fewer toggles between text and word bank and fewer fixations than the other one, indicating the existence of a global strategy. Furthermore, a model predicting the efficiency of participants in the cloze test found that item complexity, using a global strategy, and higher scores of working memory were the most significant predictors. These results confirm the hypothesis of a global strategy being related to successfully achieving higher-order reading processes.
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Acknowledgements
We want to thank Šimon Kucharský for publishing the algorithm’s code openly at https://osf.io/wvzs9/ and for answering our questions regarding the implementation of the algorithm. The text was partially crafted using GPT-3.5, OpenAI's extensive language-generation model. Following the generation of the draft, the author meticulously reviewed, edited, and refined the text according to personal preferences, assuming full responsibility for the content of this publication.
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This study was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP; Grant Numbers: 2018/08069-3 and 2018/09654-7) and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq; grant number: 309159/2019-9).
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Laurence, P.G., Bassetto, S.A., Bertolino, N.P. et al. Differences in scanpath pattern and verbal working memory predicts efficient reading in the Cloze gap-filling test. Cogn Process 25, 379–393 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-024-01189-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10339-024-01189-x