6. Types of Comprehension

Comprehension involves memory, cognition, and metacognition. Memory is recalling thoughts or feelings we have experienced beforehand and stored in our minds. Cognition refers to the ability of processing, storing, retrieving and retaining of information. Finally, metacognition is a higher thinking process, which includes self-awareness when making a decision or solving a problem. It could also be defined as “thinking about your thinking”. 

Comprehension involves all these three since it requires using our memory, cognition, and metacognition in order to gain an understanding of something. There are three types of comprehension which can be observed or demonstrated through actions or behaviors:

1. Literal comprehension is “fact-based evidence” of comprehension; for instance, “visual learners benefit from using charts, diagrams, and maps, and other visual aids.”   

2. Applied comprehension is “comparison and contrast comprehension”; it is the result of making a connection to our own previous experiences, or read and heard material. For instance, “reading about VAK learning styles, I have come to realize that I am a visual learner rather than an auditory or kinesthetic one.”

3. Implied comprehension is “inferential comprehension”; that is, achieved through inferences from context or material presented in visual, oral or tactile formats. For instance, “reading about VAK learning styles and Neuro-linguistic Programming, I think people are more successful students when they are well-aware of their predominant sensory preference.”

As teachers, we want our students to comprehend and understand, and not to rely on rote memorization or mechanic acquisition of facts that are soon to be forgotten and represent no use. We must aim at comprehension so that meaningful learning can take place.