Cognitive Science and Communication for Reader Understanding

Explains how measuring of readability of texts goes beyond legibility, and algorythms, to user testing, and now neuroscience and cognitive science.

1. Science Supports Plain Language Cheryl Stephens January 14, 2021

2. Who I am Cheryl Stephens is legally-trained and a proponent of plain language. She has contributed to the plain language movement for 30 years. She has taught substantive, structural, and stylistic editing courses through Simon Fraser University. She helped SFU develop its Plain Language Certificate program. #ACESWEB20

3. What we’ll cover The brain and reading Facilitating understanding Fluency and ease of reading #ACESWEB20

4. Brain focus

5. Working together to process sensory data: 1 structures, 2 neural networks, 3 astrocytes 4 oscillating waves 3 & 4 create synaptic harmonies,

6. Reading Process: Understanding requires that reader can The human brain processes language to optimize efficient communication using short cuts.

7. Learn to create readable writing Write for outcomes Edward Fry’s Writeability

8. Speed, efficiency, and recall

9. Choosing words

10. Recognizable words Familiar meaning Known from past encounters and context Shorter words are easier but specificity valuable

11. Speed Negatives Central embedding Passive voice Nominalization of the essence of action Which factors slow the reading down?

12. Cognitive ease Relationships, Causation Expected order of events

13. Cortical Efficiency Cognitive ease Higher thought processes including speech, reading, and decision making Connection Relationships Causation Predictable Expected order of events “In making a decision, a person visualizes the outcome to decide whether it is desirable and worth their effort to do something. “The message must be expressed with clarity and vividness to influence the mental image.” Nck Kolenda, author of The Tangled Mind

14. Speed and efficiency lost when

15. Priming Primacy Connecting new to old Recency

16. How input is processed

17. Reduce cognitive load Make these easier: selecting, organizing, integrating Eliminate redundancy; remove distractions Use visuals and language, spoken or written Minimize extraneous info (not integral or germane) Segment information into chunks, manageable bits Physically connect related information

18. Stages of reading process semantics=meanings

19. Use the more common word--more frequently used in everyday conversations.

20. Word Frequency Google Books Ngram Viewer Check Google’s Ngram to compare that word to other candidates for use . The GitHub list is 10,000 most common English words in order of frequency, as determined by Ngram frequency analysis of the Google’s Trillion Word Corpus.”  https://github.com/first20hours/google-10000-English Canadian Newstand Canadian Newsstand™ has the full text of nearly 300 Canadian newspapers, including their articles, columns, editorials, and features, as far back as the 1970s. Subscription is required; may be available through your library. It is also available through the ProQuest® web interface. Word Frequency Lists https://www.wordfrequency.info/free.asp (pdf files) Use your search to check whether a word is in the top 5,000 or top 10,000 words according to frequency of use. iWeb corpus - English-Corpora.org - BYU https://corpus.byu.edu/iweb/help/iweb_overview.pdf The News On The Web (NOW corpus) 14 billion words from spoken, fiction, popular magazines, newspapers, and academic texts since 2010. A new feature, virtual corpora, lets you create interest-area collections of texts. (PDF overview at https://corpus.byu.edu/iweb/help/iweb_overview.pdf)

21. Context aids meaning Works like auto-correct or predictive text .

22. Phonemes (sounds) grapheme (letters) prediction (guesses) searches memory, semantics (meaning) confirmed

23. Counter-intuitive Unusual meaning or syntactic irregularity. Words that fail to easily integrate Affected by the direction the action moves: or The raft floated down the river sank. Surprise value: if a word cannot be expected given its preceding context Processing difficulty and content complexity even without syntactic errors Passive voice

24. Submit any questions using chat feature A reader anticipates sequence for the order of events. Show cause and effect: consequences. Use an actor or specific idea as the subject and put the action in a verb. Use a predictable chronology or non-fiction story that unfurls. Provide only the necessary information. See handout Inferences

25. Sentence meaning

26. Examples: sentences Conditions This policy shall not be valid unless countersigned by our authorized representative. Fixed This policy becomes valid when signed by their authorized representative. Embedding The process of awarding a Senate seat after a vacancy has become fraught with political peril . Limitations We will pay benefits to you monthly, in arrears, with limitations in the provisions of this policy.

27. S _ V _ O Structural priming

28. Make connections & predictions Link new information to existing knowledge. Start with the known and then introduce the new. Use signal words: words that emphasize, compare or contrast. Or show cause and effect: what happened and why. Use topic strings and transitions between thoughts to make connections or differences obvious. Put key words and terms near the start of sentences. Use keywords and advance organizers (structural elements that guide the reader). See handout Submit any questions using the Q & A feature

29. key stage of reading process Readers use another stage to construct meaning: Building inferences Anticipating scenario These are key to reader literacy.

30. Priming: picture influences interpretation of sewers Morning news An army of volunteer sewers in B.C. has made over 15,000 masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, Architectural news Health warning Unprocessed waste from a local underground sewer has begun to spill out onto Burnyeat Beach making it unfit for human swimming. Distraction Local architect discovers rare …

31. International reading levels Another aspect of inference: making connections Make connections between remote elements

32. U.S. Literacy

33. Fluency is a result of cortical efficiency Engages only fast, superficial Type 1 thinking, avoiding slower, analytic Type 2 We use mental shortcuts. Lower the cognitive load by selecting, organizing, integrating and connecting ideas and information. This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

34. What works?

35. Enhancing recall― Recall can improve without comprehension (mere memorizing) The more emotion involved, the simpler the language must be.