Identifying the Effects of Specific CHC Factors on College Students’ Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is an important skill for college academic success. Much of the research pertaining to reading in general, and reading comprehension specifically, focuses on the success of primary and secondary school-age students. The present study goes beyond previous research by extending such investigation to the reading comprehension of college-age student participants. Using the Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theoretical model, this study investigates the effects of seven broad factors on the reading comprehension of college-age students. Of the seven broad factors identified within the CHC theoretical model, only crystallized intelligence and visual-spatial thinking demonstrate statistically significant direct effects on reading comprehension. Although crystallized intelligence consistently has been identified as playing an integral role in the reading comprehension of primary and secondary school-age students, this study represents the first time visual-spatial thinking has been found to have a statistically significant direct effect on reading comprehension, in any population. This study provides hypotheses to explain the effects of visual-spatial thinking on college-age students’ reading comprehension and offers instructional strategies to assist faculty in improving student learning in higher education settings.