The effects of updating ability and knowledge of reading strategies on reading comprehension

•Reading comprehension correlated with strategy knowledge, reading speed, and vocabulary•The correlates of comprehension were similar across tests•Updating did not relate to comprehension when reading speed and vocabulary are controlled•Standard updating tasks do not capture updating processes during comprehension

Updating ability and reading strategies are considered as important factors in the buildup of a mental model of a text. However, only few studies examined the relation of updating and knowledge of reading strategies with reading comprehension. The aim of the current study was to investigate the specific effects of updating ability and knowledge of reading strategies on reading comprehension, controlling for reading speed, vocabulary, and short-term memory. One-hundred-and-ninety-five Dutch fourth graders were administered two standard Dutch reading comprehension tests, and measures of updating ability, knowledge of reading strategies, reading speed, vocabulary, and verbal short term memory. The results showed that updating ability did not contribute to reading comprehension, when other predictors were controlled, whereas knowledge of reading strategies had an independent effect on reading comprehension. The relations of updating ability and knowledge of reading strategies, as well as those of other predictors, with reading comprehension were similar across the two reading comprehension tests.