Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The role of importance and interest in the processing of text

  • Published:
Educational Psychology Review Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In this review, text-based research on importance and interest is analyzed with several objectives in mind. First, the constructs of importance and interest are unidimensionally considered to show that various forms of each can operate within any text-learning environment. Second, research specifically addressing the interplay between these two factors is explored in relation to the goal of learning from text. The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate the research on importance and interest from a methodological standpoint and to delineate key findings that emerge from this body of research. Finally, based on the review of the literature, implications for future research and instructional practice are presented.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander, P. A. (1992). Domain knowledge: Evolving issues and emerging concerns.Educ. Psychol. 27: 33–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A. (in press). Phases and stages of learning: The dynamics of domain knowledge, strategy knowledge, and motivation. In Weinstein C. E., and McCombs, B. L. (eds.),Strategic Learning: Skill, Will, and Self-Regulation. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.

  • Alexander, P. A., and Knight, S. L. (1993). Dimensions of the interplay between learning and teaching.Educ. Forum 57: 232–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., and Kulikowich, J. M. (1994). Learning from physics text: A synthesis of recent research.J. Res. Sci. Teaching (Special Issue on Print Based Language Arts and Science Learning) 31: 895–911.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Schallert, D. L., and Hare, V. C. (1991). Coming to terms: How researchers in learning and literacy talk about knowledge.Rev. Educ. Res. 61: 315–343.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Kulikowich, J. M., and Schulze, S. K. (1994a). How subject-matter knowledge affects recall and interest.Am. Educ. Res. J. 31: 313–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Jetton, T. L., Kulikowich, J. M., and Woehler, C. (1994b). Contrasting instructional and structural importance: The seductive effects of teacher questions.J. Reading Behav. 26: 19–45.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Kulikowich, J. M., and Jetton, T. J. (1994c). The role of subject-matter knowledge and interest in the processing of linear and nonlinear texts.Rev. Educ. Res. 64: 201–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alexander, P. A., Murphy, P. K., Duhon, K. E., Parker, D., and Woods, B. S. (April, 1995b).A Developmental Study of Domain Learning. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

  • Alexander, P. A., Jetton, T. L., and Kulikowich, J. M. (1995c). Interrelationship of Knowledge, Interest, and Recall: Assessing a Model of Domain Learning. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Alexander, P. A., Murphy, P. K., and Woods, B. S. (April, 1995a). Of squalls and fathoms: Navigating the seas of educational innovation. In Rosenshine, B. (Chair), Why Innovations Come and Go (Mostly Go)? Invited symposium presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

  • Alvermann, D. E., and Hayes, D. A. (1989). Classroom discussion of content area reading assignments: An intervention study.Reading Res. Quart. 24: 305–335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, R. C., and Pichert, J. W. (1978). Recall of previously unrecallable information following a shift in perspective.J. Verb. Learning Verb. Behav. 17: 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, R. C., Reynolds, R. E., Schallert, D. L., and Goetz, E. T. (1977). Frameworks for comprehending discourse.Am. Educ. Res. J. 14: 367–381.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, R. C., Shirey, L., Wilson, P. T., and Fielding, I. G. (1986). Interestingness of children's reading material. In Snow, R. E., and Farr, M. J. (eds.),Aptitude, Learning, and Instruction: Vol. 3. Cognitive and Affective Process Analysis, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 287–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, T. H., and Armbruster, B. B. (1984). Content area textbooks. In Anderson, R. C., Osborn, J., and Tierney R. J. (eds.), Learning to Read in American Schools, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 193–224.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumann, J. F. (1984). The effectiveness of a direct instruction paradigm for teaching main idea comprehension.Reading Res. Quart. 20: 93–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., Omanson, R. C., and Pople, M. T. (1984). Improving the comprehensibility of stories: The effects of revisions that improve coherence.Reading Res. Quart. 19: 263–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benton, S. L., Corkill, A. J., Sharp, J., Downey, R., and Khramtsova, I. (1995). Knowledge, interest, and narrative writing.J. Educ. Psychol. 87: 66–79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bransford, J. D., and Franks, J. J. (1972). The abstraction of linguistic ideas.Cognit. Psychol. 2: 331–350.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, W. F., and Lichtenstein, E. H. (1981). Event schemas, story schemas, and story grammars. In Long, L. and Baddeley, A. (eds.). Attention and Performance (Vol. 9), Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 363–379.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brewer, W. F., and Lichtenstein, E. H. (1982). Stories are to entertain: A structural-affect theory of stories.J. Pragmat. 6: 473–486.

    Google Scholar 

  • Britton, B. K., Van Dusen, L., Gulgoz, S., and Glynn, S. M. (1989). Instructional texts rewritten by five expert teams: Revisions and retention improvements.J. Educa. Psychol. 81: 226–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, A. L., and Smiley, S. S. (1977). Rating the importance of structural units of prose passages: A problem of metacognitive development.Child Devel. 48: 1–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990).Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deci, E. L. (1992). The relation of interest to the motivation of behavior: A self-determination theory perspective. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 43–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1913).Interest and Effort in Education, Riverside, Boston.

  • diSessa, A. A. (1988). What will it mean to be “educated” in 2020? In Nickerson, R. S., and Zodhiates, P. P. (eds.),Technology in Education: Looking Toward 2020, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 43–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dole, J. A., Duffy, G. G., Roehler, L. R., and Pearson, P. D. (1991). Moving from the old to the new: Research on reading comprehension instruction.Rev. Educ. Res. 61: 239–264.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garner, R. (1990). When children and adult's do not use learning strategies: Toward a theory of settings.Rev. Educ. Res. 60: 517–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garner, R., Alexander, P. A., Gillingham, M. G., Kulikowich, J. M., and Brown, R. (1991). Interest and learning from text.Am. Educ. Res. J. 28: 643–659.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garner, R., and Gillingham, M. G. (1992). Topic knowledge, cognitive interest, and text recall: A microanalysis.J. Exp. Educ. 59: 310–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garner, R., Gillingham, M. G., and White, C. S. (1989). Effects of “seductive details” on macroprocessing and microprocessing in adults and children.Cognit. Instr. 6: 41–57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garner, R., Brown, R., Sanders, S., and Menke, D. J. (1992). “Seductive details” and learning from text. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 239–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, R. (1984). Education and thinking.Am. Psychol. 39: 93–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goetz, E. T., Schallert, D. L., Reynolds, R. E., and Radin, D. I. (1983). Reading in perspective: What real cops and pretend burglars look for in a story.J. Educ. Psychol. 75: 500–510.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goetz, E. T., Alexander, P. A., and Ash, M. J. (1992).Educational Psychology: A Classroom Perspective, Merrill, Columbus, OH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, K. S., and Goodman, Y. M. (1979). Learning to read is natural. In Resnick, L. B., and Weaver, P. A. (eds.),Theory and Practice of Early Reading (Vol. 1), Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 137–154.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graves, M. F., and Slater, W. H. (April, 1989). Some Qualitative Assessments of Two Versions of a Passage from a High School History Textbook. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

  • Graves, M. F., Slater, W. H., Roen, D., Redd-Boyd, T., Duin, A. H., Furniss, D. W., and Hazeltine, P. (1988). Some characteristics of memorable expository writing: Effects of revisions by writers with different backgrounds.Res. Teaching Engl. 22: 242–265.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, V. C., and Borchardt, K. M. (1984). Direct instruction of summarization skills.Reading Res. Quart. 20: 62–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hidi, S. (1990). Interest and its contribution as a mental resource for learning.Rev. Educ. Res. 60: 549–571.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hidi, S. (in press). A reexamination of the role of attention in learning from text.Rev. Educ. Psychol.

  • Hidi, S., and Anderson, V. (1992). Situational interest and its impact on reading and expository writing. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 215–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hidi, S., and Baird, W. (1986). Interestingness—A neglected variable in discourse processing.Cognit. Sci. 10: 179–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hidi, S., and Baird, W. (1988). Strategies for increasing text-based interest and students' recall of expository texts.Reading Res. Quart. 23: 465–482.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hidi, S., Baird, W., and Hildyard, A. (1982). That's important, but is it interesting? Two factors in text processing. In Flammer A., and Kintsch, W. (eds.),Discourse Processing, North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 63–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jetton, T. L. (1994). Teachers' and Students' Understanding of Scientific Exposition: How Importance and Interest Influence What Is Assessed and What Is Discussed. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, College of Education, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jetton, T. L., and Alexander, P. A. (April, 1994). Instructional Importance: What Teachers Value and What Students Learn. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans.

  • Jetton, T. L., and Alexander, P. A. (April, 1995). The Nature of Scientific Discourse: The Academic and Social Texts That Are Constructed Through the Discourse in a Science Classroom. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.

  • Jetton, T. L., Alexander, P. A., and White, S. H. (December, 1992). Motivating from Without: The Effects of Including Personally Involving Information in Content-Area Texts. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Reading Conference, San Antonio.

  • Jose, P. E., and Brewer, W. F. (1990). Early grade schoolchildren's liking of script and suspense story structures.J. Reading Behav. 22: 355–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kintsch, W. (1980). Learning from text, levels of comprehension, or: Why anyone would read a story anyway?Poetics 9: 87–89.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kintsch, W., and van Dijk, T. A. (1978). Toward a model of text comprehension and production.Psychol. Rev. 85: 363–394.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krapp, A., and Fink, B. (1992). The development and function of interests during the critical transition from home to preschool. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 397–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapan, R., and Reynolds, R. E. (1994). The selective attention strategy as a time-dependent phenomenon.Contemp. Educ. Psychol. 19: 379–398.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mandl, H., Stein, N. L., and Trabasso, T. (1984).Learning and Comprehension of Text, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLaren, J., and Hidi, S. (1991). Text-Based Interest: Facilitative and Disruptive Effects. Unpublished manuscript.

  • Meyer, B. J. F. (1975).The Organization of Prose and Its Effect Upon Memory, North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, B. J. F., Brandt, D. M., and Bluth, G. J. (1980). Use of top-level structure in text: Key for reading comprehension of ninth-grade students.Reading Res. Quart., 16: 72–103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, M. (1993). Situational interest: Its multifaceted structure in the secondary school mathematics classroom.J. Educ. Psychol. 85: 424–436.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ortony, A., Reynolds, R. E., and Arter, J. L. (1978). Metaphor: Theoretical and empirical research.Psychol. Bull. 85: 919–943.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson, P. D., Gallagher, M. Y., Goudvis, A., and Johnston, P. (December, 1981). What Kinds of Expository Materials Occur in Elementary School Children's Textbooks? Paper presented at the National Reading Conference, Dallas, TX.

  • Pichert, J. W., and Anderson, R. C. (1977). Taking different perspectives on a story.J. Educ. Psychol. 69: 309–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pintrich, P. R. (1994). Continuities and discontinuities: Future directions for research in Educational Psychology.Educ. Psychol. 29: 137–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pintrich, P. R., and Schrauben, B. (1992). Students' motivational beliefs and their cognitive engagement in classroom academic tasks. In Schunk, D., and Meece, J. (eds.),Student Perceptions in the Classroom, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 149–183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pintrich, P. R., Marx, R. W., and Boyle, R. A. (1993). Beyond cold conceptual change: The role of motivational beliefs and classroom contextual factors in the process of conceptual change.Rev. Educ. Res. 63: 167–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renninger, K. A. (1992). Individual interest and development: Implications for theory and practice. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 361–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renninger, K. A., and Wozniak, R. H. (1985). Effect of interest on attentional shift, recognition, and recall in young children.Dev. Psychol. 21: 624–632.

    Google Scholar 

  • Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (1992).The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Resnick, L. B. (1991). Shared cognition. In Resnick, L. B., Levine, J. M., and Teasley, S. D. (eds.)Perspectives on Socially Shared Cognition, American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C., pp. 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, R. E. (1992). Learning important information from text: The role of selective attention.Rev. Educ. Psychol. 4: 345–391.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, R. E., and Schwartz, R. M. (1983). The relation of metaphoric processing to comprehension and memory.J. Educ. Psychol. 75: 450–459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, R. E., and Shirey, L. L. (1988). The role of attention in studying and learning. In Weinstein, C. E., Goetz, E. T., and Alexander, P. A. (eds.),Learning and Study Strategies: Issues in Assessment, Instruction, and Evaluation, Academic Press, San Diego, CA, pp. 77–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds, R. E., Standiford, S. N., and Anderson, R. C. (1979). Distributions of reading time when questions are asked about a restricted category of text information.J. Educ. Psychol. 71: 183–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogoff, B. (1990).Apprenticeship in Thinking: Cognitive Development in Social Context, Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenblatt, L. M. (1978).The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadoski, M., and Quast, Z. (1990). Reader response and long-term recall for journalistic text: The roles of imagery, affect, and importance.Reading Res. Quart. 25: 256–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadoski, M., Goetz, E. T., and Kangiser, S. (1988). Imagination in story response: Relationships between imagery, affect, and structural importance.Reading Res. Quart. 23: 320–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadoski, M., Goetz, E. T., and Fritz, J. B. (1993). Impact of concreteness on comprehensibility, interest, and memory for text: Implications for dual coding theory and text design.J. Educ. Psychol. 85: 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schallert, D. L. (1982). The significance of knowledge: A synthesis of research related to schema theory. In Otto, W., and White, S. (eds.),Reading Expository Material, Academic Press, New York, pp. 13–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schallert, D. L., Alexander, P. A., and Goetz, E. T. (1988). Implicit instruction of strategies for learning from text. In Weinstein, C. E., Goetz, E. T., and Alexander, P. A. (eds.),Learning and Study Strategies: Issues in Assessment, Instruction, and Evaluation, Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 193–214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schank, R. C. (1979). Interestingness: Controlling variables.Artif. Intell. 12: 273–297.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiefele, U. (1991). Interest, learning, and motivation.Educ. Psychol. 26: 229–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiefele, U. (1992). Topic interest and levels of text comprehension. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 151–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiefele, U., Krapp, A., and Winteler, A. (1992). Interest as a predictor of academic achievement: A meta-analysis of research. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 183–211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schraw, G., and Dennison, R. S. (1994). The effect of reader purpose on interest and recall.J. Reading Behav. 26: 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schraw, G., Wade, S. E., and Kardash, C. A. (1993). Interactive effects of text-based and task-based importance on learning from text.J. Educ. Psychol. 85: 652–661.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schraw, G., Bruning, R., and Svoboda, C. (1995). Sources of situational interest.J. Reading Behav. 27: 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sewall, G. T. (1988). American history textbooks: Where do we go from here?Phi Delta Kappan 69: 552–558.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shirey, L. L. (1992). Importance, interest, and selective attention. Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (Eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 281–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spiro, R. J., and Jehng, J. C. (1990). Cognitive flexibility and hypertext: Theory and technology for the nonlinear and multidimensional traversal of complex subject matter. In Nix, D., and Spiro, R. J. (eds.),Cognition, Education, and Multimedia, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 163–205.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, B. M., and Beach, R. W. (1984). The effects of text structure instruction on middle-grade students' comprehension and production of expository text.Reading Res. Quart. 19: 134–146.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobias, S. (1994). Interest, prior knowledge, and learning.Rev. Educ. Res. 64: 37–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade, S. E. (1992). How interest affects learning from text. In Renninger, K. A., Hidi, S., and Krapp, A. (eds.),The Role of Interest in Learning and Development, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 255–277.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade, S. E., and Adams, R. B. (1990). Effects of importance and interest on recall of biographical text.J. Reading Behav. 4: 331–351.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade, S. E., and Schraw, G. (April, 1991). Seduction of the strategic reader: Effects of interest on selective attention and recall. In Schallert, D. (Chair), Effects of Interest on Strategies and Learning from Text. Symposium presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

  • Wade, S. E., and Trathan, W. (1989). Effect of self-selected study methods on learning.J. Educ. Psychol. 81: 40–47.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wade, S. E., Schraw, G., Buxton, W. M., and Hayes, M. T. (1993). Seduction of the strategic reader: Effects of interest on strategies and recall.Reading Res. Quart. 28: 93–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yore, L. D. (1991). Secondary science teachers' attitudes toward and beliefs about science reading and science textbooks.J. Res. Sci. Teaching 28: 55–72.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A & M University, College of Education, College Station, Texas, USA

    Patricia A. Alexander

  2. Department of Educational Studies, The University of Utah, 84112, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

    Tamara L. Jetton

Authors
  1. Patricia A. Alexander
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tamara L. Jetton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Alexander, P.A., Jetton, T.L. The role of importance and interest in the processing of text. Educ Psychol Rev 8, 89–121 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01761832

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01761832

Key words

Search

Navigation