Salmerón 1 Running Head: READING STRATEGIES AND HYPERTEXT Reading Strategies and Prior Knowledge in Learning from Hypertext Correspondence may be sent to:

In two experiments we identified two main strategies followed by hypertext readers in order to select their reading order, the first consisted in selecting the text semantically related to the previously read section (coherence strategy) and the second in choosing the most interesting text delaying less interesting sections (interest strategy). Comprehension data revealed that these strategies distinctly depend on the reader's prior knowledge. For low knowledge readers, the coherence strategy supported better learning of the content. The nature of this effect seems to rely on the improvement of reading order coherence induced by this strategy. By contrast, for intermediate knowledge both the coherence and interest strategy benefited comprehension equally. In both cases, learning was supported through the active processing induced by these strategies. Discussion focuses on resolving inconsistencies in the literature concerning whether hypertext supports better comprehension than traditional linear texts. Salmerón 3 Reading Strategies and Prior Knowledge in Learning from Hypertext Comprehending a text in hypertext format requires the same cognitive processes involved i