Bonnie Meyer

RESEARCH INTERESTS
I study learning, reading, and decision-making across the life span. The overall thrust of my research focuses on how learners of various ages and aptitudes attempt to understand the underlying, critical, or “big” ideas in text or everyday problems. I am particularly interested in improving the reading comprehension of readers from 9 to 90+ years of age by helping them to strategically use text structure and organize ideas. At Penn State, we completed a 5-year project funded by the National Institute on Aging to study factors and conditions that produce optimal reading comprehension and retrieval of readers across the adult life span (18 to 85 year-olds). In a number of studies, we have taught adults a reading strategy focusing on using the structure in text (the structure or plan strategy) to improve their reading comprehension. This 9-hour training program has shown dramatic increases in learning from text for a variety of different types of adult learners from young college students to retired adults. We also examined this training with a group of older African American readers (many with only 8 years of formal schooling) and found promising gains in reading performance.

An interdisciplinary project related to this work studied the effects of an intergenerational tutoring on the well being of participants and their literacy. A cadre of tutors in their retirement years was trained with our reading comprehension strategy. Then, they used the Internet to tutor fifth-grade students the structure strategy to improve reading comprehension. The study can be seen in the 2002 Journal of Educational Psychology article listed under publications.

Another current project involves studying how people understand and use information from various sources to make important decisions. The work on decision-making has focused on health issues as can be seen in the 1995 Psychology and Aging article listed under publications. We have a number of current projects further investigating medical decision making.

U.S. Department of Eduction Institute of Education Sciences (IES) - (i)

Development and (ii) Efficacy and Replication Grants for Intelligent Tutoring of the Structure Strategy (ITSS), 8/15/2003 - 6/30/2012; $4,267,037; one of few Development grants funded at the next IES level of funding: Efficacy and Replication; The research effort headed by Dr. Meyer involved five faculty members in the College of Education at Penn State and two faculty at Penn State branch campuses (Beaver and Shenango). The effort provided multiple years of funding for 5 Penn State ESPSE granduate students, Also, $169, 500.00 funding for ITSS from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. Dr. Meyer mentored junior faculty at the branch campuses, Dr. Kay Wijekumar (former Penn State Student) and Dr. Wendy Middlemiss on the inital Development grant. Dr. Wikejumar Serves as Principal Investigator on the efficacy and replication grant.

Development Grant: Intelligent Tutoring Using the Structure Strategy to Improve Reading Comprehension of Middle School Students B.J.F. Meyer, Principal Investigator; Co-PIs=Kay Wijekumar, Wendy Middlemiss, & Barbara Van Horn.

The funding involved development of an intelligent tutor to teach 95 40-minute lessons in the structure strategy for 5th and 7th grade students. Also, a main focus of the research included two randomized experiments testing effects on reading comprehension of various maniputlations of design features for the ITSS intervention. Types of design features examined were type of feedback (elaborated vs. simple), motivation variable of choice (select topic of text for praticing strategy vs. computer selected topic), and individualization (staandard ITSS vs. lesson difficulty and sequence dependent on performance in prior lesson).

Efficacy and Replication research on the Intelligent Tutoring System for the Structure Stratege - Rural and Suburban Schools Grades 4, 5, 7, and 8. Kay Wijekumar, Prinicipal Investigator; Co-PIs=Bonnie J.F. Meyer and Pui-wa Lei. (In the I.E.S. review cycle, 52 proposals by investigators with sucessful Development Grants submitted for the next funding level of Efficacy Grants and two were selected for funding).

The primary test for replication of ITSS efficacy rests on a comparison of the computerized ITSS system versus control (i.e., regular classroom instruction). The study this year is a replication of past work with fifth-grade students and an extension to fourth-grade students. A modification was made in the instruction to reduce the burden of typing for the younger students. Next year an efficacy study will be conducted with severnt-and eighthgrade students. The study with seventh-grade students is a replication study of the earlier work. Work with eight-grade students extends our lessons to older middle school students. In preparation for the efficacy student we have written lessons to meet standards in science and social studies for eighth-grade students (e.g., force, motion, and mass). Several series of related lessons on a topic with multiple texts involving complex structures were added to ITSS as we extended this work to eighth grade.

Current Efficacy and Replication grant involves three C.O.E Educational Psychology faculty and funds three Educational Psychology 1/2-time graduate students (Yu-Chu Lin, Mike Cook, and Mark Baker as well as an IES TIES Fellow, Melissa Ray).

TEACHING INTERESTS
Some information about courses I teach and links to course materials are found below.

I also teach a course in Discourse Analysis, EDPSY 597, that is offered from time to time. Please check with me about when it is being offered or consult the schedule of classes.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Meyer, B. J. F., Wijekumar, K. K., Lin, Y. (in press). Individualizing a Web-Based Structure Strategy Intervention for Fifth Graders' Comprehension of Nonfiction. Journal of Educational Psychology.

Meyer, B. J. F., Wijekumar, K., Middlemiss, W., Higley, Lei, P., K., Meier, C., Spielvogel, J., (2010). Web-Based Tutoring of the Structure Strategy With or Without Elaborated Feedback or Choice for Fifth-and Seventh-Grade Readers. Reading Research Quarterly. 45 (1), 62-92.

Meyer, B. J. F., Talbot, A. P., & Ranalli, C. K. (2007). Why older adults make more immediate treatment decisions about cancer than younger adults. Psychology and Aging, 22, 505-524.

Convertino, G., Farooq, U., Rosson, M. B., Carroll, J. M., & Meyer, B. J. F. (2007). Supporting intergenerational groups in Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). Behaviour and Information Technology: Special Issue on Designing computer systems for and with Older Users, 26, 275-285.

Wijekumar, K., Meyer, B. J. F., Ferguson, L., & Wagoner, D. (2006). Technology affordances: The “real story” in research with K-12 and undergraduate learners. British Journal of Educational Technology: Special Issue on Technology Effects, 37, 191-209.

Wijekumar, K., & Meyer, B. J. F. (2006). Design and pilot of a web-based intelligent tutoring system to improve reading comprehension in middle school students. International Journal of Technology in Teaching and Learning, 2(1), 36-49.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Wijekumar, K. (2007). Web-based tutoring of the structure strategy: Theoretical background, deisgn, and findings. In D. S. McNamara (Ed.), Reading Comprehension Strategies: Theories, Interventions, and Technologies, pp. 347-375. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Pollard, C. (2006). Applied learning and aging: A closer look at reading comprehension. In J. E. Birren & K. Warner Schaie (Eds.), Handbook of the Psychology of Aging (6th ed.), pp. 233-260. New York: Academic Press.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Poon, L. W. (2004). Effects of structure strategy training and signaling on recall of text. In R. B. Ruddell & N. J. Unrau (Eds.), Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (5th ed., pp. 810-851). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Middlemiss, W., & Meyer, B. J. F. (2004). Introducing an intergenerational, internet-based tutoring program, meeting program challenges. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 2, 7-25.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Pollard, C. A. (2003). [Review of] Perspective on human memory and cognitive aging: Essays in honor of Fergus Craik. Contemporary Gerontology, 9(4), 199-201.

Meyer, B. J. F. (2003). Text coherence and readability. Topics in Language Disorders, 23, 204-221.

Meyer, B. J. F., Middlemiss, W., Theodorou, Brezinski, K. L., McDougall, J., & Bartlett, B. J. (2002). Effects of structure strategy instruction delivered to fifth-grade children via the internet with and without the aid of older adult tutors. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 486-519.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Poon, L. W. ( 2001). Effects of structure strategy training and signaling on recall of text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 141-159.

Meyer, B. J. F., Talbot, A. P., Poon, L. W., Johnson, M. M. (2001). Effects of structure strategy instruction on text recall in older African American adults. In J. L. Harris, A. Kamhi, & K. Pollock (Eds.), Literacy in African American communities (pp. 233-263). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Meyer, B. J. F., Talbot, A. P., & Florencio, D. (1999). Reading rate and prose retrieval. Scientific Studies of Reading, 3, 303-329.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1999). The Importance of text structure in everyday reading. In A. Ram & K. Moorman (Eds.), Understanding language understanding: Computational models of reading (pp. 227-252). MIT Press.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Talbot, A. P. (1998). Adult age differences in reading and remembering text and using this information to make decisions in everyday life. In M. C. Smith & T. Pourchot (Eds.), Adult learning and development: Perspectives from educational psychology (pp. 179-200). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Meyer, B. J. F., Talbot, A. P., Stubblefield, R. A., & Poon, L. W. (1998). Interest and strategies of young and old readers differentially interact with characteristics of texts. Educational Gerontology, 24, 747-771.

Johnson, M. M., Elsner, R. J. F., Poon, l. W., Meyer, B. J. F., Yang, B., Smith, G., Noble, C. A., Talbort, A. P., Hetrick, C. J., Stubblefield, R. A., Puskar, D., Edmondson, J., & Shaffer, S. C. (1997). Building a model to test the capacity-speed hypotheses. In C. A. Noble & R. J. F. Elsner (Eds.), An odyssey in aging (pp. 123-141). Athens, GA: University of Georgia Gerontology Center.

Elsner, R. J. F., Johnson, M., Poon, L. W., & Meyer, B. J. F. (1997). Comparison of linear structural equation models and their implications for prose reading retention. In C. A. Noble & R. J. F. Elsner (Eds.), An odyssey in aging (pp. 143-153). Athens, GA: University of Georgia Gerontology Center.

Poon, L. W., Meyer, B. J. F., Johnson, M. M., Elsner, R. J. F. Talbot, A. P., & Hetrick, C. J. (1997). A conceptual introduction: Understanding the contributions of working memory capacity and processing speed in prose memory for young and older adults. In C. A. Noble & R. J. F. Elsner (Eds.), An odyssey in aging (pp. 111-122). Athens, GA: University of Georgia Gerontology Center.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Poon, L. W. (1997). Age differences in efficiency of reading comprehension from printed versus computer-displayed text. Educational Gerontology, 23, 789-807.

Deegan, D. H., Salisbury, J. D., & Meyer, B. J. F. (1997). Curricular decision-making in the first year of medical education: What can it tell us? Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 9, 103-110.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1996). Review of J. Sinnott's Interdisciplinary handbook of lifespan learning. Contemporary Gerontology, 3(1), 31-33.

Meyer, B. J. F., Russo, C., & Talbot, A. (1995). Discourse comprehension and problem solving in an ill-structured domain: Decision about the treatment of breast cancer by women across the life span. Psychology and Aging, 10, 84-103.

Meyer, B. J. F., Marsiske, M., & Willis, S. L. (1993). Text processing variables predict the readability of everyday documents read by older adults. Reading Research Quarterly, 28(1), 235-249.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1992). An analysis of a plea for money. In W. C. Mann & S. A. Thompson (Eds.), Discourse description: Diverse linguistic analyses of a fund raising text (pp. 79-108). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Meyer, B. J. F., Young, C. J., & Bartlett, B. J. (1992). Reading comprehension and the use of text structure across the adult life span. In S. R. Yussen & M. C. Smith (Eds.), Reading across the life span. Springer-Verlag.

Rice, G. E., Meyer, B. J. F., & Miller, D. C. (1989). Using text structure to improve older adults' recall of important medical information. Educational Gerontology, 15, 527-542.

Meyer, B. J. F., Young, C. J., & Bartlett, B. J. (1989). Memory improved: enhanced reading comprehension and memory across the life span through strategic text structure. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Rice, G. E. (1989). Prose processing in adulthood: The text, the reader, and the task. In L. W. Poon, D. C. Rubin, & B. A. Wilson (Eds.), Everyday cognition in adulthood and later life (pp. 157-194). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Rice, G. E., Meyer, B. J. F., & Miller, D. C. (1988). Relation of everyday activities of adults to their prose recall performance. Educational Gerontology, 14, 147-158.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1987). Reading comprehension and aging. In K. W. Schaie (Ed.), Annual review of gerontology and geriatrics (V7, pp. 93-115). New York: Springer.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1987). Following the author's top-level structure: an important skill for reading comprehension. In R. Tierney, J. Mitchell & P. Anders (Eds.), Understanding readers' understanding. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Rice, G. E., & Meyer, B. J. F. (1986). Prose recall: Effects of aging, verbal ability, and reading behavior. Journal of Gerontology, 41, 469-480.

Rice, G. E., & Meyer, B. J. F. (1985). Reading behavior and prose recall performance of young and older adults with high and average verbal ability. Educational Gerontology, 11, 57-72.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1985). Signaling the structure of text. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), The technology of text (pp. 64-89). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1985). Prose analysis: Purposes, procedures, and problems. In B. K. Britton & J. Black (Eds.), Analyzing and understanding expository text (pp. 11-64, 269-304). Hillsdale,NJ: Erlbaum.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Rice, G. E. (1984). The structure of text. In P. D. Pearson (Ed.), Handbook on reading research (pp. 319-352). New York: Longman.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Freedle, R. O. (1984). Effects of discourse type on recall. American Educational Research Journal, 21, 121-143.

Meyer, B. (1984). Organizational aspects of text: Effects on reading comprehension and applications for the classroom. In J. Flood (Ed.), Promoting reading comprehension. Newark, DE: International Reading.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1984). Text dimensions and cognitive processing. In H. Mandl, N. Stein, & T. Trabasso (Eds.), Learning and understanding texts. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Rice, G. E. (1983). Learning and memory from text across the adult life span. In J. Fine & R. O. Freedle (Eds.), Developmental studies in discourse (pp. 291-306). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1983). Text structure and its use in studying comprehension across the adult life span. In B. A. Hutson (Ed.), Advances in reading/language, V1. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

Britton, B. K., Glynn, S., Meyer, B. J. F., & Penland, M. (1982). Use of cognitive capacity in reading text: Effects of variations in surface features of text with underlying meaning held constant. Journal of Educational Psychology, 73, 51-61.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Rice, G. E. (1982). The interaction of reader strategies and the organization of text. Text, Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse, 2, 155-192.

Meyer, B. J. F., & Rice, G. E. (1981). Information recalled from prose by young, middle, and old adult readers. Experimental Aging Research, 7, 253-268.

Walker, C. H., & Meyer, B. J. F. (1980). Integrating different types of information in text. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 19, 263-275.

Meyer, B. J. F., Brandt, D. M., & Bluth, G. J. (1980). Use of the top-level structure in text: key for reading comprehension of ninth-grade students. Reading Research Quarterly, 16, 72-103.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1977). The structure of prose: effects on learning and memory and implications for educational practice. In R. C. Anderson, R. Spiro & W. Montague (Eds.), Schooling and the acquisition of knowledge (pp. 179-200). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Meyer, B. J. F. (1975). The organization of prose and its effects on memory. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

Meyer, B. J. F., & McConkie, G. W. (1973). What is recalled after hearing a passage? Journal of Educational Psychology, 65, 109-117.