Awards for Distinguished Scientific Contributions.

Discusses contributions of Ursula Bellugi and Edward S. Klima, Walter Kintsch, and K. Warner Schaie, the 1992 recipients of the Awards for Distinguished Scientific Contributions presented by the American Psychological Association. Bellugi and Klima are awarded for their contributions to the neuropsychology of language. Kintsch is recognized for his contributions to the analysis of text memory. Schaie is recognized for enlarging the conception of developmental psychology to include the entire life span and for empirical contributions to adult development and aging. Biographies for each recipient are given. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedent search processes and the structure of text.

Kintsch and van Dijk (1978) assumed that when a reader encounters a reference to a concept no longer available in short-term memory, a search through long-term memory for the original concept is necessary. In the present study, subjects read passages that contained two possible antecedents: one appearing early in the passages and the other appearing relatively late. Reading time differences demonstrated that late antecedents are reinstated more quickly than early antecedents, which is in disagreement with predictions from several search models within the Kintsch and van Dijk framework. The best account of the reinstatement time differences assumes that text is represented as an integrated network accessed by a backward parallel search. Experiment 3 demonstrated that naming time, as used in the current studies, measures only current activation and is not sensitive to differences in long-term memory strength. Experiment 4 provided further support for the assumptions of a backward parallel-search model by showing that concepts appearing between an antecedent and the end of a passage are often accessed during the search for the antecedent. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The function of frame in the comprehension of scientific text.

Children (mean age?=?10 yrs and 1 mo) participated in an experiment to examine how knowledge of the problem frame (C. H. Frederiksen, 1986) affects the construction of the macrostructure (T. A. van Dijk and W. Kintsch, 1983) and enhances text comprehension. Groups of Ss were administered versions of text without annotation, with indication of the nodes of the frame, or with the macrostructure underlined. Ss read a text, wrote a summary, and answered comprehension questions. Performance of good comprehenders and good summarizers improved only when they were provided with macrostructure information. In contrast, poor comprehenders/summarizers benefited from all aids. The data demonstrate the positive role of frames in macrostructure construction and support the model developed by van Dijk and Kintsch. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for Narrative and Expository Text: Independent Influences of Semantic Associations and Text Organization.

The author examined memory for text in terms of the independent influences of semantic knowledge associations and text organization. Semantic associations were operationalized as the semantic relatedness between individual text concepts and the text as a whole and assessed with latent semantic analysis. The author assessed text organization by simulating comprehension with the construction integration model. Text organization consistently accounted for unique variance in recall. Semantic associations strongly predicted expository recall and predicted narrative recall significantly but to a lesser extent, even when the familiarity of the narrative content was manipulated. Results suggest that prior semantic associations and novel associations in the text structure influence memory independently, and that these influences can be affected by text genre. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Memory for referential statements in texts.

Two experiments investigated memory for referential statements in texts. Both experiments found superior recognition for subjects reading original texts as opposed to reversed texts (see Bates, Kintsch, Fletcher, & Giuliani, 1980). However, there was no difference in the choice of targets between original-text and no-text subjects. In both experiments the original-text subjects, but not the reversed text or no-text subjects, showed a recognition bias for explicit over implicit referential statements. Experiment 2 showed a subject preference for noun phrases over pronouns only when the sentence contained a single referent. When the sentence contained a repeated referent, there was a preference for pronouns in all three groups of subjects. These results suggest that observations of verbatim memory depend crucially on the method of testing. When subjects were tested against a reversed-text group, the results of Bates et al. (1980) were replicated. However, when the subjects were tested against a no-text group, which controls for discourse constraints free from memory effects, then verbatim memory was not observed, only reconstruction biases. These results are discussed in the light of more general notions of verbatim memory and in terms of the likely role of referential statements in a discourse. (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)     

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)     

Developing fluent text processing with practice: Memorial influences on fluency and comprehension.

A great deal of research has examined predictors related to the development of reading fluency and reading comprehension. Whilst a number of studies support the relationship between the development of reading fluency and subsequent improvements in reading comprehension, many studies have shown faster and more accurate decoding does not automatically lead to better comprehension. Often overlooked is the role of the text representation that is encoded in memory during reading and its influence on skilled reading comprehension. In this article, the authors review literature that explores the relationship between text representation and fluent reading. Based upon the results of this review, the authors suggest that the type of representation formed during reading is closely related to the development of both skilled reading comprehension and fluent reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Text comprehension in Chinese children: Relative contribution of verbal working memory, pseudoword reading, rapid automated naming, and onset-rime phonological segmentation.

The present study examined the role of verbal working memory (memory span, tongue twister), 2-character Chinese pseudoword reading, rapid automatized naming (letters, numbers), and phonological segmentation (deletion of rimes and onsets) in inferential text comprehension in Chinese in 518 Chinese children in Hong Kong in Grades 3 to 5. It was hypothesized that verbal working memory, together with a small contribution from the other constructs, would explain individual variation in the children's text comprehension. Structural equation modeling and hierarchical multiple regression analyses generally upheld the hypotheses. Though Chinese pseudoword reading did not play an important mediating role in the effect of verbal working memory on text comprehension, verbal working memory had strong effects on pseudoword reading and text comprehension. The findings on the Chinese language support current Western literature as well as display the differential role of the constructs in Chinese reading comprehension. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Facilitating text memory with additional processing opportunities in rapid sequential reading.

Previous research indicates that during conventional reading, readers pause at particular loci within a text, presumably for the purpose of higher level processing and integration. If such pausing is necessary for efficient text comprehension and memory, then providing readers with equivalent processing opportunities with strategically placed pauses in rapid sequential visual presentation (RSVP) text displays should facilitate comprehension and memory. Three experiments are reported in which various time parameters of RSVP displays are manipulated. The results indicate that memory for specific text is facilitated when additional processing time is provided. However, how and where the additional time is distributed within a text, over broad limits, is not important. We use a method of text memory assessment that is not typically used in RSVP research and that is more sensitive to text presentation manipulations than the commonly used multiple-choice questions. The fill-in-the-blank technique also provides evidence that memory representations for texts are structured as meaningful subsentence units. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Semantic memory: Facts and models.

Contends that the database of semantic memory is richer and more consistent internally than indicated by W. Kintsch (1980) and describes major explanatory models of semantic memory in relationship to this database. Findings on category size, typicality, false-relatedness, and false production-frequency effect are presented and reconsidered. Such a systematic reassessment has been lacking in the semantic memory literature, leading to a knowledge base that is difficult to interpret. The main outcome of this review is a restoration of some of the early claims of a category size effect and the establishment of a novel fast-true effect. Current models of semantic memory described in this context are hierarchical-network, predicate-intersections, feature-comparison, marker-search, spreading-activation, and property-comparison. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two procedures to improve instructional text: Effects on memory and learning.

The goal of this study was to compare 2 approaches for improving instructional text. The first was based on the procedure created by B. K. Britton and S. Gülg?z (1991) as derived from W. Kintsch and T. A. van Dijk's theory (1978). It emphasized the reduction of the reader's inferential activity. We created a second method that was inspired by theories of narrative comprehension (P. van den Broek, 1990; A. C. Graesser, M. Singer, & T. Trabasso, 1994). We oriented it toward triggering causal inferences in the reader. Alternative versions of an original passage on history were elaborated for each of the 2 methods. Sixty-four 8th graders read either the original passage or one of the revised versions and were tested on memory (i.e., recall) and learning (i.e., inference questions). Only the 2nd procedure produced benefits on inferential learning, though both procedures had a limited effect on recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-regulated reading in adulthood.

Young and older adults read a series of passages of 3 different genres for an immediate assessment of text memory (measured by recall and true/false questions). Word-by-word reading times were measured and decomposed into components reflecting resource allocation to particular linguistic processes using regression. Allocation to word and textbase processes showed some consistency across the 3 text types and was predictive of memory performance. Older adults allocated more time to word and textbase processes than the young adults did but showed enhanced contextual facilitation. Structural equation modeling showed that greater resource allocation to word processes was required among readers with relatively low working memory spans and poorer verbal ability and that greater resource allocation to textbase processes was engendered by higher verbal ability. Results are discussed in terms of a model of self-regulated language processing suggesting that older readers may compensate for processing deficiencies through greater reliance on discourse context and on increases in resource allocation that are enabled through growth in crystallized ability. (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)     

How prior knowledge, WMC, and relevance of information affect eye fixations in expository text.

This study examined how prior knowledge and working memory capacity (WMC) influence the effect of a reading perspective on online text processing. In Experiment 1, 47 participants read and recalled 2 texts of different familiarity from a given perspective while their eye movements were recorded. The participants' WMC was assessed with the reading span test. The results suggest that if the reader has prior knowledge related to text contents and a high WMC, relevant text information can be encoded into memory without extra processing time. In Experiment 2, baseline processing times showed whether readers slow down their processing of relevant information or read faster through the irrelevant information. The results are discussed in the light of different working memory theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Resilient readers? University students who are poor recoders but sometimes good text comprehenders.

The authors screened 194 university students to determine whether some could comprehend text well despite very poor recoding skills, measured by pseudoword reading. Most of the 17 poorest recoders had never been identified as reading disabled. We classified 6 poor recoders as "resilient readers" because their text comprehension scores were average or above, relative to the sample as a whole. They were indistinguishable from 6 matched typical readers on measures of text comprehension derived from oral-reading think-aloud protocols. There was no evidence that the resilient readers relied on superior verbal ability or working memory to compensate for poor recoding. The resilient readers were poor at spelling, reading isolated words, and reading text rapidly, but they showed adequate phonemic awareness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Interactive Dimensions in the Construction of Mental Representations for Text.

To detail the structure and format of memory for texts, researchers have examined whether readers monitor separate text dimensions for space, time, and characters. The authors proposed that the interactivity between these individual dimensions may be as critical to the construction of complex mental models as the discrete dimensions themselves. In the present experiments, participants read stories in which characters were described as traveling from a start to a final location. During movement between locations, characters engaged in activities that could take either a long or short amount of time to complete. Results indicate that accessibility for the spatial locations was a function of the passage of time. The authors interpret this as evidence that the interactive nature of text dimensions affects the structure of representations in memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

SMS text messages as a prosthetic aid in the cognitive rehabilitation of schizophrenia.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of short message service (SMS) text messages as a compensatory aid to improve independence in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and cognitive deficits. Design: An ABA withdrawal single-case experimental design was used. Eight men diagnosed with schizophrenia took part in the study; all demonstrated memory or planning problems in everyday life. Results: Five participants completed the entire trial. Four were more successful in carrying out daily activities when receiving prompts, whereas 1 did not profit from the intervention. Conclusion: SMS text messages can be effective in compensating for cognitive impairment in some but not all individuals with schizophrenia. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Relationship Between Age, Verbal Working Memory, and Language Comprehension.

A structural modeling approach was used to examine the relationships between age, verbal working memory (vWM), and 3 types of language measures: online syntactic processing, sentence comprehension, and text comprehension. The best-fit model for the online-processing measure revealed a direct effect of age on online sentence processing, but no effect mediated through vWM. The best-fit models for sentence and text comprehension included an effect of age mediated through vWM and no direct effect of age. These results indicate that the relationship among age, vWM, and comprehension differs depending on the measure of language processing and support the view that individual differences in vWM do not affect individuals' online syntactic processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)