In order to study the patterns of reading attitude internalization among gifted learners, the authors administered the Mikulecky Behavioral Reading Attitude Measure (MBRAM) to 399 gifted seventh and eighth grade students. Although the data revealed that the reading attitudes of gifted subjects were generally positive, nearly twice as many subjects were classified at the two lowest stages of attitude internalization (attending and responding) than were classified at the two highest stages (organization and characterization). Nearly 10% of the students did not meet the criterion for even the lowest stage. Differences by sex were statistically significant, (females had better reading attitudes) but differences across stages by grade were not.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AlexanderJ. E.FillerR. C. (1976). Attitudes and reading. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
2.
AskovE. N.FischbachT. J. (1973). An investigation of primary pupils' attitudes toward reading. Journal of Experimental Education, 41, 1–7.
3.
BernsteinM. R. (1972). Right to read evaluation: Mamaroneck public schools, 1971–1972 (Report No. TM-002-187). Mamaroneck, NY: Mamaroneck Public Schools. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 069 735).
4.
BobelJ.Jr. (1981). The attitudes and preferences of thirty-eight gifted intermediate grade readers toward their recreational reading habits and a profile of their preschool reading readiness. Unpublished master's thesis, Kean College, Union, NJ.
5.
BostonB. (1978). Characteristics of the gifted and talented (Report No. EC-121-328). Reston, VA: Council for Exceptional Children. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 179 035).
6.
CooterR. B.Jr.AlexanderJ. E. (1984). Interest and attitude: Affective connections for gifted and talented readers. Reading World, 24, 97–102.
7.
DennyT.WeintraubS. (1966). First graders' responses to three questions about reading. Elementary School Journal, 66, 441–448.
8.
Education Commission of the States. (1981). Reading, thinking and writing: Results from the 1979–80 National Assessment of Reading and Literature (Report No. CS-006-351). Washington, DC: National Institute of Education. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 209 641).
9.
EpsteinI. (1980). Measuring attitudes toward reading (Report No. TM-810-055). Princeton, NJ: ERIC Clearinghouse on Tests, Measurement, and Evaluation. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 196 938).
10.
EstesT. H. (1971). A scale to measure attitudes toward reading. Journal of Reading, 15, 135–138.
11.
FoleyJ. M. (1984). A study of student viewpoints and reading achievement (Report No. CS-007-637). Union, NJ: Kean College. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 244 240).
12.
GoostreeR. C. (1981). A study of the reading interests and attitudes of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade gifted children in the state of Missouri. Unpublished Master's thesis, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield, MO.
13.
GreenbergJ. W.GerverJ. M.ChallJ.DavidsonH. H. (1965). Achievement of children from a deprived environment toward achievement related concepts. Journal of Educational Research, 59, 57–61.
14.
GroffP. J. (1962). Children's attitudes toward reading and their critical reading abilities in four content-type materials. Journal of Educational Research, 55, 313–314.
15.
HansenH. S. (1969). The impact of the home literacy environment on reading attitude. Elementary English, 46, 17–24.
16.
HawkJ. W.RobersonT. G.LeyT. C. (1984). The factor structure of the Mikulecky Behavioral Reading Attitude Measure. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 44, 1059–1065.
17.
HovlandC.RosenbergM. J. (Eds.). (1960). Attitude organization and change. New Haven: Yale University Press.
18.
JohnsonL. G. (1964). A description of organization, methods of instruction, achievement, and attitudes toward reading in selected elementary schools. Dissertation Abstracts, 25, 6433.
19.
KennedyL. D.HalinskiR. S. (1975). Measuring attitudes: An extra dimension. Journal of Reading, 18, 518–522.
20.
KrathwohlD. R.BloomB.MasiaB. (Eds.). (1964). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The affective domain. New York: McKay.
21.
MathewsonG. C. (1976). The function of attitude in the reading process. In SingerH.RuddellR. B. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (2nd ed.), (pp. 655–676). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
22.
MathewsonG. C. (1985). Toward a comprehensive model of affect in the reading process. In SingerH.RuddellR. B. (Eds.), Theoretical models and processes of reading (3rd ed.), (pp. 841–856). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
23.
MikuleckyL. J. (1976). The developing, field testing, and initial norming of a secondary/adult level reading attitude measure that is behaviorally oriented and based on Krathwohl's taxonomy of the affective domain. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
24.
MikuleckyL. J. (1978). Teacher prediction of students' reading attitudes: An examination of teacher judgment compared to student-peer judgement in assessing student reading attitude and habit (Report No. CS-004-538). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 163 429).
25.
PurvesA. C.BeachR. W. (1972). Literature and the reader: Research in response to literature, reading interests, and the teaching of literature. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English.
26.
RansburyM. K. (1973). An assessment of reading attitudes. Journal of Reading, 17, 25–28.
SaulsC. W. (1971). The relationship of selected factors to the recreational reading of sixth grade students. Dissertation Abstracts International, 32, 2558A.
29.
ScottS. A. (1980). An investigation of some characteristics of selected eighth and ninth graders at different stages in reading attitude development (Report No. CS-005-743). Atlanta, GA: Georgia State University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 195 935).
30.
TaylorA. (1982). Between the idea and the reality. (Report No. CS-007-825). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 250 664).
31.
TermanL.LimaM. (1931). Children's reading: A guide for parents and teachers. New York: Appleton.
32.
WittyP. A. (1971). Reading for the gifted and the creative student. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
