DEFINING AND INVESTIGATING AUTOMATICITY IN READING COMPREHENSION

In the literature on reading comprehension, automaticity has traditionally been defined in terms of properties of performance (e.g., speed, effort). Here, I advocate for a more powerful approach based on contemporary theories that conceptualize automaticity in terms of cognitive mechanisms that underlie practice effects on performance. To illustrate the utility of automaticity theories for understanding reading comprehension, the bulk of the chapter focuses on one particular kind of automaticity theory, which states that practice leads to decreasing involvement of algorithmic processing and increasing involvement of memory-based processing. I review evidence from recent studies specifically designed to diagnose memory-based automaticity in reading comprehension and findings from earlier studies that provide indirect evidence for this account. Finally, I consider directions for future research and theory development to address outstanding issues concerning the nature of automaticity in reading comprehension.