The Effect of Focusing on a Sentence in Japanese Reading Span Test

The effect of focusing on a target word during the performance of a Japanese version of the reading span test (J- RST) was investigated. A focus word in RST was defined as the most important word with a core meaning necessary to integrate the sentence. Two kinds of RST were performed, one was focused RST in which the target word to be maintained was a focus word of the sentence. The other was a non-focused RST in which the target word was not a focus word of the sentence, although the sentence did contain a focus word. Script difference between kanji and kana was also examined; half of the target words were kanji nouns and the other half were kana nouns. RST score and total correct response higher for the focused RST than for non- focused RST. This result showed that focusing had an advantage in maintaining the target words and also accelerated the reader’s ability to integrate the sentence. A script difference was found only in non-focused RST and not in focused-RST, suggesting a strategic differences in the maintenance method between high span readers and low span readers. The word length effect is also discussed in relation to the focus effect.