Tacit verification of determinate and indeterminate text ideas.

Singer (2006; see record 2006-05124-008) presented evidence that reading time reflects, in part, processes of continuously verifying current clauses with reference to their text antecedents. This study extended that analysis to text ideas of indeterminate truth in their discourse context. For example, having read simply that Norm’s house was destroyed, one might later read that Norm’s cousin believed that Norm’s house was destroyed by a fire. Research concerning people’s reports of not knowing something suggested that the reading of clauses of indeterminate truth would be faster than for false or inconsistent clauses. In two experiments, target sentences varied in their truth, verb entailments, and use of negation with reference to their antecedents. Reading time for indeterminate targets was sometimes distinctly shorter and was never longer than for corresponding false targets. The effects were modulated by the entailments of factive and nonfactive main verbs and by negative expression. All of the conditions that were identical to ones of Singer (2006) replicated the former findings. It was concluded that encountering text ideas of indeterminate truth does not initiate protracted memory searches for comparable concepts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of negation and situational presence on the accessibility of text information.

In 2 experiments, participants read narratives containing a color term that was mentioned either within the scope of an explicit negative or not, and with the described situation being such that the color was either present or not. Accessibility of the color term was measured by means of a probe-recognition task either 500 ms (Experiment 1) or 1,500 ms (Experiment 2) after participants read the sentence mentioning color. After the 500-ms delay, the accessibility of the color term was influenced by the structure of the sentence. After the 1,500-ms delay, the accessibility was influenced by the content of the described situation. These results are consistent with the view that comprehenders construct a linguistic representation of the text as well as a situation model in which only present properties are represented. An alternative account, according to which comprehenders only construct a perceptual simulation of the described situation, is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory-based processing as a mechanism of automaticity in text comprehension.

A widespread theoretical assumption is that many processes involved in text comprehension are automatic, with automaticity typically defined in terms of properties (e.g., speed, effort). In contrast, the authors advocate for conceptualization of automaticity in terms of underlying cognitive mechanisms and evaluate one prominent account, the memory-based processing account, which states that one mechanism underlying automatization involves a shift from algorithm-based interpretation of stimuli to retrieval of prior interpretations of those stimuli. During practice, participants repeatedly read short stories containing novel conceptual combinations that were disambiguated with either their dominant or subordinate meaning. During transfer, the combinations were embedded in new sentences that either preserved or changed the disambiguated meaning. The primary dependent variable was reading time in the disambiguating region of target sentences. Supporting the memory-based processing account, speed-ups with practice were larger for repeated versus unrepeated items of the same type, reading times for subordinate versus dominant meanings of the combinations converged on later trials, and practiced meanings were retrieved when items appeared in a transfer context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trade-offs in Detecting Letters and Comprehending Text.

Critics of the letter detection task have questioned whether findings from that paradigm reflect normal reading processes. The present study addresses these questions using a new computerized version of the letter detection task in which reading rate along with letter detection and comprehension accuracy are examined. Previous letter detection findings were replicated with this new computerized task. Different conditions were compared in which detection and comprehension instructions were manipulated as well as the salience of the target letters. The requirement to comprehend had small effects on letter detection accuracy and reading rate, and letter detection only modestly reduced comprehension. Thus, the procedures developed in this study permit examination of the component processes contributing to performance in the letter detection task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accessibility of potential referents following categorical anaphors.

In 4 experiments, the authors investigated the accessibility of potential antecedents that were either referents or nonreferents of categorical anaphors using several methodologies. In 2 preliminary experiments, using an immediate probe recognition task, the authors replicated previous findings of inhibition for nonreferents following categorical anaphors. In Experiments 1–3, naming times to nonreferent probes were inhibited, but only at a delay and at the end of the sentence. Eye movements were monitored in Experiment 4, and reading times were found to be slower in end-of-sentence regions following the remention of the nonreferent but not on the nonreferent itself. These results suggest that decreases in nonreferent accessibility are due to postanaphoric processes, such as integrating the nonreferent into the discourse structure, and are not due to more immediate changes in activation occurring as part of the resolution process. Further, some inhibition effects may result from the use of probe tasks that require decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Age differences and similarities in the shift from computation to retrieval during reading comprehension.

Previous research has established that 1 mechanism underlying speed-ups in task performance with practice involves a shift from computational processing to retrieval of information encoded earlier in practice. To what extent do young and older adults differ in shifts from computation to retrieval with practice in reading comprehension? Young and older adults read short stories containing an unfamiliar noun–noun combination (e.g., bee caterpillar) followed by disambiguating information indicating the combination’s meaning (either the normatively dominant meaning or an alternative subordinate meaning). Stories were presented either once or repeatedly across practice blocks. In Experiment 1, both age groups shifted from computation to retrieval with practice for the repeated items. However, older adults were slower to shift (e.g., older adults showed slower convergence of reading times for repeated subordinate and dominant items). Results of Experiment 2 suggested that the slower shift was due to age differences in bias against using retrieval rather than associative learning differences. The authors compare age differences in retrieval shifts in reading versus other tasks and discuss implications for age differences in the regulation of reading comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Text comprehension after brain injury: Left prefrontal lesions affect inference processes.

Comprehending language in context requires inferencing, particularly for the establishment of local coherence. In the neurolinguistic literature, an inference deficit after right hemisphere brain damage has been postulated, but clinical observation and imaging data suggest that left-frontal lesions might also result in inference deficits. In the present experiment, 25 nonaphasic patients performed a coherence judgment task requiring them to indicate a pragmatic connection between 2 successively presented sentences. Patients with left-temporal or right-frontal lesions performed the task well. In contrast, patients with left- and bifrontal lesions exhibited the most severe deficit. Both error rates and response times were elevated for coherent trials as compared with incoherent trials. These results confirm that the left-frontal lobe contributes to inference processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accessing Distant Premise Information: How Memory Feeds Reasoning.

According to current psychological models of deduction, people can draw inferences on the basis of information that they receive from different sources at different times. In 3 reading-comprehension experiments, the authors demonstrated that premises that appear far apart in a text (distant) are not accessed and are therefore not used as a basis for logical inferences (Experiment 1), unless the premises are reinstated by a contextual cue (Experiment 2). In Experiment 3, the authors investigated whether these deductions are then integrated into the reader's situation model of the text. The results are interpreted in terms of a collaboration between memory-based text processing and higher level schema-driven logical reasoning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading comprehension: Developmental processes, individual differences, and interventions.

Research on the typical development of reading comprehension, individual differences in comprehension, and reading comprehension interventions is less common than research on word reading. The authors present an overview of research on the development of reading comprehension skills and sources of individual differences in comprehension with reference to cognitive models of comprehension. Methodological issues particular to developmental and individual difference research on comprehension are also described. The article ends with a selective review of research programmes that illustrate effective comprehension interventions for typically developing children and for children who struggle to understand what they read. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Syntactic comprehension in Parkinson's disease: Investigating early automatic and late integrational processes using event-related brain potentials.

Parkinson's disease (PD) has been associated with a general impairment of procedures and with an impairment of syntactic procedures in particular. The present study investigated comprehension processes in PD using event-related brain potentials (ERPs). PD patients and controls listened to sentences that were either correct or syntactically or semantically incorrect. The language-related ERP component correlated with semantic processes (N400) was present in both groups. In the syntactic domain, early automatic processes (early negativity) appeared normal in PD, whereas late integrational processes (P600) were modulated by this disease. The present findings suggest that the basal ganglia primarily do not support early automatic syntactic processes during comprehension but rather support processes of syntactic integration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Walter Kintsch.

Walter Kintsch is cited for his contributions to the analysis of text memory. His seminal research led a generational change from the field of verbal learning and memory to the complex questions of text comprehension and memory. The research proposed a theoretical model that was supported by a spectrum of innovative empirical results and was further developed to illuminate important applications in education and instruction. Kintsch developed the methodological tools for analyzing text content that have been pivotal in allowing other investigators to follow his lead into the area. A biography of Kintsch is provided, along with a selected bibliography of his work. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accessibility Effects on Implicit Social Cognition: The Role of Knowledge Activation and Retrieval Experiences.

Performance on measures of implicit social cognition has been shown to vary as a function of the momentary accessibility of relevant information. The present research investigated the mechanisms underlying accessibility effects of self-generated information on implicit measures. Results from 3 experiments demonstrate that measures based on response compatibility processes (e.g., Implicit Association Test, affective priming with an evaluative decision task) are influenced by subjective feelings pertaining to the ease of retrieving relevant information from memory, whereas measures based on stimulus compatibility processes (e.g., semantic priming with a lexical-decision task) are influenced by direct knowledge activation in associative memory. These results indicate that the mediating mechanisms underlying context effects on implicit measures can differ as a function of the task even when these tasks show similar effects on a superficial level. Implications for research on implicit social cognition and the ease-of-retrieval effect are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factors affecting decision makers' preference for unshared information.

Two experiments examined solicitation of information in a group structured as a judge–advisor system (JAS) with 1 group member designated as the decision maker and the other 2 members as advisors. The decision maker solicited information from 2 advisors. One advisor's information was shared in common with the decision maker, and the other's information was predominantly unshared. In 2 experiments, decision makers asked for more information from the advisor with unshared information and rated this advisor's information as more important and influential than the advisor with only redundant, shared information. When decision makers were not limited in the amount of information they could ask for, decision makers significantly increased requests for information from the advisor with shared information but not the advisor with unshared information. Experiment 2 found that whether or not an advisor agreed with the decision maker did not affect decision makers' preference for the advisor with unshared information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tracking conceptual and semantic processing in the comprehension and production of text and discourse.

Current research on text and discourse processing has focussed on the nature of conceptual and semantic representation and processing, and the relationship between conceptual knowledge and the structure and processing of text or discourse. It is now generally recognized that discourse comprehension involves the construction of a conceptual "situation model" by a listener or reader, that is, a conceptual representation that is appropriate to the content and context of a text or discourse. Current psychological models of discourse production view discourse processing as a process of translating conceptual knowledge structures into "rhetorical" discourse structures that are appropriate to a communicative situation and setting. One important component of such translation is the construction of a conceptual situation model to be communicated to a listener or reader. A second is the construction of a propositional text base to specify precisely the semantic content to be expressed through segments of text or discourse. A third is to define a discourse organization that appropriately guides the reader in constructing a conceptual situation model from the text. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Drawing as a generative activity and drawing as a prognostic activity.

In this study, 9th-grade students (N = 196) with a mean age of 14.7 years read a scientific text explaining the chemical process of doing laundry with soap and water and then took 3 tests. Students who were instructed to generate drawings during learning scored higher than students who only read on subsequent tests of transfer (d = 0.91), retention (d = 0.87), and drawing (d = 2.00). For students who were instructed to generate drawings during learning, those who generated high-accuracy drawings (according to a median split) scored higher than students who generated low-accuracy drawings on subsequent tests of transfer (d = 0.99), retention (d = 0.79), and drawing (d = 1.87); furthermore, drawing-accuracy scores during learning correlated with learning-outcome scores on transfer (r = .57), retention (r = .50), and drawing (r = .82). Results suggest that drawing can serve as a generative activity and as a prognostic activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Expository Text Comprehension in the Primary Grade Classroom.

This study investigates the effectiveness of an instructional program designed to teach 2nd graders how to comprehend compare-contrast expository text. Along with introducing new content (animal classification), the program emphasizes text structure via clue words, a sequence of questions, and a graphic organizer, and via the close analysis of specially constructed exemplar paragraphs. The authors compared the program with (a) more traditional instruction that focused only on the new content and (b) a no instruction control; 128 7- and 8-year-olds participated. Classroom teachers provided the instruction. The program improved students' ability to comprehend compare-contrast texts. Students were able to demonstrate transfer to uninstructed compare-contrast texts though not to text structures other than compare-contrast. Moreover, the text structure instruction did not detract from their ability to learn new content. The results provide evidence, heretofore lacking, that explicit instruction in comprehension is feasible and effective as early as the 2nd grade. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Effects of Readers' Misconceptions on Comprehension of Scientific Text.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of readers' misconceptions on text comprehension. College students with misconceptions in science were asked to read and recall a text that contradicted their misconceptions. Students with no misconceptions served as the control group. Both online (think-aloud, reading times) and offline (recall) measures were obtained. The results suggest that readers' misconceptions often do not affect the online processes themselves but do influence the content of those processes and, consequently, the offline memory representation for the text after reading is completed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading times and the detection of event shift processing.

When people read narratives, they often need to update their situation models as the described events change. Previous research has shown little to no increases in reading times for spatial shifts but consistent increases for temporal shifts. On this basis, researchers have suggested that spatial updating does not regularly occur, whereas temporal updating does. The current study looked more deeply into this reading time pattern for spatial updating. If the prior interpretation is correct, then the absence of a reading time increase reflects a failure to update the situation model. Two experiments evaluated this claim by assessing whether other indicators of updating, namely memory probes, converge on a similar interpretation as that derived from the reading time data. Our results showed that, in contrast to previous accounts, although there was no change in the pattern of reading times, spatial updating was occurring and was extensive. As a comparison, we also looked at temporal updating. Unlike spatial updating, the temporal shifts had an influence on reading time but did not have as extensive an influence on memory probe performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Specifying emotional information: Regulation of emotional intensity via executive processes.

The degree of specificity at which emotional information is activated might determine evoked emotional intensity. However, the nature of this effect remains unclear. Four studies tested (a) whether people hold the na?ve theory that activating specific details of emotional information arouses acute feelings; (b) whether an emotionally distressed population (social phobics) also holds that theory; and (c) whether voluntarily focusing on specific aspects of a distressing situation reduces its emotional impact. Results indicate that control as well as emotionally distressed people hold a na?ve theory that specifying emotion increases its intensity. However, Studies 3 and 4 showed that voluntarily elaborating specific aspects of a distressing situation reduces distress. Results are discussed in terms of voluntary versus automatic processing of emotional information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Beyond event segmentation: Spatial- and social-cognitive processes in verb-to-action mapping.

The present article investigates spatial- and social-cognitive processes in toddlers' mapping of concepts to real-world events. In 2 studies we explore how event segmentation might lay the groundwork for extracting actions from the event stream and conceptually mapping novel verbs to these actions. In Study 1, toddlers demonstrated the ability to segment a novel multiaction event by selecting a single action for behavioral reenactment when prompted. In Study 2, a single action embedded in the event sequence was specified as the referent for a novel verb through cues to support intentional inference. As in Study 1, toddlers spontaneously segmented the sequence. In addition, they mapped a novel label to the embedded action specified by the novel label and intentional cues. These data are consistent with current thinking that suggests a convergence of spatial and social cognition in verb learning. In the present research, toddlers built upon event segmentation skills and used intentional inference when mapping verbs to actions embedded in the motion stream. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)