The Influence of Text Factors on Readers  

The objectives of the research study presented here are to increase the discipline's knowledge about reader performance with technical documents, help writers and editors better allocate their efforts, and explore multivariate studies of text variables. For this study, subjects read and recalled one of two technical texts. Their recall protocols were analyzed for syntactic and semantic characteristics. Preliminary results suggest that information has a greater chance of being recalled if it is in clauses, independent clauses, more important idea units, or the first paragraph of the document. Additional results will be discussed at the conference.

Spyridakis, Jan H. and Carol S. Isakson. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>TC>Editing

Nominalizations and Their Impact on Readers  

The study presented here examined the effect of nominalizations in technical documents on readers’ recall and comprehension. Subjects read one of two technical passages in either a nominalized or denominalized form, and took recall and comprehension tests. Results indicate that denominalized passages can help readers retain more information when the original nominalizations are critical to the readers’ understanding of the passage.

Spyridakis, Jan H. and Carol S. Isakson. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Writing>Grammar