Frame
Problem in one sentence: given a body of linked material, which part does a reader take first, how deep do they go, and what tells them to stop?
Rule of method: the field's name for a thing is the search term; the author's own name for it is only the name of a method.
Names the field uses
| Habit | Field name | Source |
|---|---|---|
| One topic to the depth required, then the next | topical sequencing | Reigeluth and Stein 1983 |
| Basics of every topic, then return deeper | spiral sequencing | Harden and Stamper 1999 |
| General to detailed, one level at a time | zoom-lens sequencing (the epitome) | Reigeluth and Stein 1983; Van Patten 1986 |
| An abstract frame read before the text | advance organizer | Mayer 1979; Luiten 1980 |
| Being told what matters before reading | relevance instructions, goal-focusing | McCrudden and Schraw 2007 |
| Accepting the first result that is good enough | satisficing | Duggan and Payne 2011 |
| Leaving a source when its gain rate drops | patch leaving (information foraging) | Pirolli and Card 1999 |
| Following the most related next section | coherence-based reading order | Salmerón 2005 |
| Reading sections in a fixed hierarchy order | learning hierarchy, prerequisite order | Gagné 1968 |
| Study time given to what is nearly learned | region of proximal learning | Metcalfe and Kornell 2005 |
| Depth limit set by the task, goal test as the stop | iterative deepening | Korf 1985 |
Notes on the names
- No paper names the combination of overview-first order, goal-set depth and a stop test.
- Iterative deepening is the standard name from search algorithms (Korf 1985): search to depth 1, then 2, and so on, stopping when a goal test passes.
- Used here only as an analogy for reading, not as a result from reading research.
Synonyms and acronyms for searching
- Academic: sequencing of instruction, elaboration theory, hypertext navigation, study-time allocation, self-regulated learning.
- Acronyms: SQ3R (survey, question, read, recite, review), 4C/ID (four-component instructional design), JIT (just-in-time information).
- Authors to chase forward: Reigeluth, Salmerón, McCrudden, Metcalfe, Pirolli, Rittle-Johnson.
Names practitioners use
| Practitioners' name | Tradition | Field's name |
|---|---|---|
| BLUF, bottom line up front | military and business writing | relevance instruction, advance organizer (McCrudden and Schraw 2007) |
| Pyramid Principle, governing thought | consulting | advance organizer plus hierarchical outline |
| Inverted pyramid | journalism | importance order, a different construct from an organizer |
| Executive summary, structured abstract | industry, journals | outline given with a text (Ponce 2023); it tests outlines, not summaries or structured abstracts |
| Direct or indirect order | business communication research | conclusion first or explanation first |
| Scannable text, front-loading | web usability | satisficing, patch leaving (Pirolli 1999) |
| Relevant, findable, understandable, usable | plain language | reader analysis (interviews, surveys); evaluation with readers (ISO 2023) |
The inverted pyramid orders by importance. An advance organizer orders by structure, so a test of one does not test the other.