Making inferences

The ability to make inferences is a crucial aspect for the comprehension of texts, through which the reader anticipates details not explicitly expressed and builds a mental representation of the content.  This volume stems from the need for an instrument to strengthen inferential processes through targeted training, to ensure that children who experience difficulties in understanding become more and more skilled in the correct interpretation of a story.
The book contains 18 stories, in order of increasing difficulty, proposed in three modes of administration: cohesive text with illustrations and title, ambiguous text with illustrations and title, ambiguous text without illustrations and title.  At the end of each reading the child will be asked questions that focus on:

• memory (recalling details);
• detection (confirming or negating the reader’s expectations);
• inference of an object (the role that the object had in causing the conclusion);
• inference of intention (the change in the plans of the protagonist of the story);
• self-assessment (the perception of one’s level of comprehension of the text);
• cognitive flexibility (the possible resolution of inconsistency as an alternative to that adopted previously).

Making inferences was designed to help children in the second cycle of primary school who have difficulty understanding the text, or who have a specific learning disability.