Psychological Development and Education ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (5): 651-651.doi: 10.16187/j.cnki.issn1001-4918.2026.05.05

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The Impact of Questioning Level and Timing on Picture Book Reading Comprehension in Preschool Children

ZHANG Wenjie1,2,3, SHI Qiwei1,4, ZHANG Yuanyuan1, DAI Xinyao1, FAN Wei1,2,3   

  1. 1. School of Education Science, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081;
    2. Cognition and Human Behavior Key Laboratory of Hunan Province, Changsha 410081;
    3. Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081;
    4. Hunan College for Preschool Education, Changde 415000
  • Published:2026-09-12

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Abstract: This study systematically examined the impact of adult questioning level and questioning timing on picture book reading comprehension in 4- to 6-year-old children (N = 598, M = 5.69 years, SD = 0.35), as well as the underlying visual processing mechanisms. In Experiment 1, 198 children aged 4~6 years (n = 198, M = 5.23 years, SD = 0.45) were randomly assigned to no questioning, low-demand questioning, or high-demand questioning groups, using a 3 (questioning level: no questioning, low-demand, high-demand)×3 (age: 4, 5, 6 years) between-subjects design. Results revealed that compared to the no questioning condition, questioning significantly enhanced children’s picture book reading comprehension. Specifically, low-demand questioning was more effective than high-demand questioning for 4-year-olds, whereas high-demand questioning was more effective than low-demand questioning for 5- to 6-year-olds. Building on Experiment 1, Experiment 2 randomly assigned 280 children aged 5~6 years (M = 5.87 years, SD = 0.43) to different questioning conditions, adopting a 2 (questioning level: low-demand, high-demand)×3 (questioning timing: pre-reading, during-reading, post-reading) between-subjects design. Results showed that questioning timing moderated the facilitative effect of high-demand questioning on picture book reading comprehension in 5- to 6-year-olds: questioning post-reading yielded significantly better comprehension than questioning during-reading, which was superior to questioning pre-reading. Experiment 3 employed eye-tracking technology to examine the visual processing of 120 children aged 5~6 years (n = 120, M = 5.92 years, SD = 0.44). Results indicated that across all questioning conditions, high-demand questioning increased preschool children’s fixation duration and fixation counts on picture books more than low-demand questioning. These findings indicate that questioning, as an instructional scaffold, can effectively promote preschool children’s reading comprehension, provided that the questioning level is matched to children’s zone of proximal development and the timing of intervention is appropriately selected. Furthermore, high-demand questioning enhances preschoolers’ deep processing and comprehension of picture book information by increasing attentional resource investment.

Key words: reading comprehension, questioning level, questioning timing, preschool children’s picture books

CLC Number: 

  • G442
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