APA-Style Citations Can Create a Roadblock to Textbook Comprehension for Less Skilled Readers

We examined the effect of in-text American Psychological Association (APA)-style citations on quiz performance as a function of structure building ability, measured by the Multi-Media Comprehension Battery. Participants were randomly assigned to either APA or no citation conditions and asked to read...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Teaching of psychology 2020-04, Vol.47 (2), p.147-155
Main Authors: Stiegler-Balfour, Jennifer J., Jakobsen, Krisztina V., Stroud, Michael J., Daniel, David B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Citations (References)
Comparative Analysis
Guides
Private Colleges
Professional Associations
Psychology
Reading Comprehension
Reading Rate
Scores
Teaching Methods
Tests
Textbooks
Undergraduate Students
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Summary:We examined the effect of in-text American Psychological Association (APA)-style citations on quiz performance as a function of structure building ability, measured by the Multi-Media Comprehension Battery. Participants were randomly assigned to either APA or no citation conditions and asked to read an expository text followed by a comprehension quiz. Less skilled structure builders performed significantly lower on a comprehension quiz and read faster in the APA citation compared to the no citation condition. In contrast, skilled structure builders performed equally well on the comprehension quiz but had to reduce their reading speed in the APA citation condition. The results challenge the utility of in-text APA citations in textbooks targeted at general populations of students, particularly for moderate to poor comprehenders.
ISSN:0098-6283
1532-8023
DOI:10.1177/0098628320901384