Advance Organizers in Advisory Reports: Selective Reading, Recall, and Perception
http://wcx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/25/1/53
  access restricted (by the publisher) to members/subscribers/customers only
  peer-reviewed

Lagerwerf, Luuk, Louise Cornelis, Johannes de Geus and Phidias Jansen
Written Communication
2008

Abstract:

According to research in educational psychology, advance organizers lead to better learning and recall of information. In this research, the authors explored advance organizers from a business perspective, where larger documents are read under time pressure. Graphic and verbal advance organizers were manipulated into six versions of an advisory report, read by 159 experienced professional readers in a between-subjects design. Their reading time was limited to encourage selective reading. The results show that graphic advance organizers facilitate selective reading, but they do not enhance recall. Verbal advance organizers introducing a problem enhance recall, and graphic advance organizers moderate the effects on both selective reading and recall.