Comprehension skill, inference-making ability, and their relation to knowledge

In this study we investigated the relation between young children's compreh ension skill and inference-making ability using a procedure that controlled individual differences in general knowledge (Barnes & Dennis, 1998; Barnes , Dennis, & Haefele-Kalvaitis, 1996). A multiepisode story was read to the children, and their ability to make two types of inference was assessed: co herence inferences, which were essential for adequate comprehension of the text, and elaborative inferences, which enhanced the text representation bu t which were not crucial to understanding. There was a strong relation betw een comprehension skill and inference-making ability even when knowledge wa s equally available to ali participants. Subsidiary analyses of the source of inference failures revealed different underlying sources of difficulty f or good and poor comprehenders.