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. 2024 Sep;56(6):6004-6019.
doi: 10.3758/s13428-023-02330-y. Epub 2024 Jan 9.

Some students are more equal: Performance in Author Recognition Test and Title Recognition Test modulated by print exposure and academic background

Marion Hug  1   2 , Julian Jarosch  3   4 , Christiane Eichenauer  4 , Selina Pennella  5 , Franziska Kretzschmar  6 , Pascal Nicklas  7   8
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Some students are more equal: Performance in Author Recognition Test and Title Recognition Test modulated by print exposure and academic background

Marion Hug et al. Behav Res Methods. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

Reading is a key skill for university students. The Author Recognition Test (ART) and the Title Recognition Test (TRT) have both been used for decades to measure print exposure which correlates with reading and other linguistic skills. Given the available evidence for interindividual differences in reading skills, this study addresses three open issues. First, to what extent do ART and TRT scores correlate with individual differences regarding students' study programs? Second, how do these results correlate with the self-reported time spent reading different types of text genres (e.g., fiction, nonfiction) per week? And third, this study compares ART and TRT to one another. We tested students from six study programs in the humanities and (medical) sciences which vary in the amount and kind of reading material required for study success. We found that students perform significantly differently in the ART and the TRT depending on their field of study. Students in a study program focusing on fiction and literature perform best overall. We also replicated the well-known effect of age on ART and TRT scores: older students have better scores. We did not find reliable effects of reading time on test performance, whereas individual creative writing habits did positively predict ART/TRT test results. These results raise a number of important questions regarding the ART/TRT in general and regarding interindividual differences in personal reading and writing habits and the change in reading habits in times of media convergence.

Keywords: Author recognition test; Individual differences; Print exposure; Reading; Title recognition test.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Boxplot d′ per field of study for ART
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Boxplot d’ per field of study for TRT
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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