Welcome to the website of the Reading Comprehension Lab at Northwestern University!

Comprehending and learning from texts we read, conversations we participate in, maps we study, and presentations we view requires unlocking the meanings associated with ideas, words, images, icons, and grammar. Research in our laboratory focuses on the nature of such comprehension by describing the activities and processes that comprise it. We also seek to facilitate these activities and processes by understanding comprehension difficulties and, with that knowledge, designing effective learning interventions.

Our work examines human memory and language to (a) identify the underlying cognitive processes that operate in the service of our everyday comprehension experiences, (b) elucidate conditions that influence the likelihood of successful comprehension, and (c) develop interventions to foster comprehension success. The unifying theme of our work is that basic research on cognition can find its application in educational settings, and work in the learning sciences can directly inform theories of comprehension.

Lab News!

Congratulations to Sam Agnoli and Mandy Withall for being published in 2024! Sam’s paper was on “Understanding and supporting thinking and learning with generative artificial intelligence,” and Mandy’s was on “Confidence as a metacognitive contributor to and consequence of misinformation experiences.”

Additional congratulations to Josie Holohan for her publication, “The influence and continued influence of misinformation: A review” with David Rapp and Mandy Withall!

Interested in the lab?

Are you an enthusiastic, driven undergraduate who is interested in cognitive-based research on learning, reading, and memory? Please reach out to Principal Investigator David Rapp (rapp@northwestern.edu) with a resume and inquiries about lab experience opportunities.