What is this gibberish? This is not a logic issue. No need for Ps, Qs, etc. This is a research question. Does the existing knowledge of the reader matter when attempting to comprehend? I am not certain what Downes is suggesting. I just do not want people to be misled or confused. What a reader knows has a tremendous influence on comprehension – more important in some cases than reading skill.
Here is a reference – Recht, D. & Leslie, L. (1988) Effect of prior knowledge on good and poor readers’ memory of text. JEdP, 80, 16-20. The tite – and the data – say it all.
