Problem 6
Learning goals:
Problem A
Discourse comprehension
Discourse- interrelated units of language that are larger than a
sentence
Bartlett- people’s recall of stories becomes more consistent with
their schemas after a long delay
Context helps us to understand sounds, letters and words as well as
larger linguistic units
General background knowledge and expertise helps to facilitate our
conceptual understanding
Inferences- conclusions that go beyond the isolated phrase or
sentence
Forming an integrated representation of the text
Readers must gather information together and remember the
various concepts, so that information is both cohesive and
memorable
Theory of mind- trying to figure out the mental state of others
- Readers may try to figure out the mental state of the people they
read about in a story
Listeners and readers form integrated representations when they
hear spoken language. They remember info and draw inferences
when they are listening.
Skilled readers usually organise and integrate info into a cohesive
story
- Readers realise that a series of sentences forms a cohesive story
if all the sentences begin with ‘the’, but not when they begin with
‘a’
When we form a cohesive representation, we often construct a
mental model of the material we are reading
Readers construct internal representations that include descriptions
of the characters in a story
- This may include info on the character’s occupations,
relationships, emotional states, personal traits, goals and actions
- Readers often need to maintain these internal representations in
long-term memory for many pages of a novel
- Readers often make inferences that go beyond the info supplied
by the writer
Drawing inferences during reading
When we read, we activate mental processes by making inferences
that go beyond the info presented on the page
, When we infer, we use our word knowledge in order to access info
that isn’t explicitly stated in a passage
Ppl combine the info they are reading, together with the info in the
passage
- Then draw a reasonable conclusion based on that combination
Constructivist view of inferences- readers usually draw
inferences about the causes of events and the relationship between
events
- Construct inferences about a character’s motivations, personality
and emotions as well as developing expectations about new plot
developments and the writer’s point of view
- Readers actively construct cohesive explanations when they
integrate the current info with all the previous relevant info in the
text, as well as background knowledge
- People draw inferences, even when related topics are separated
by irrelevant paragraphs
- Huitema- story about dick wanting to go to a beach but instead
going to Alaska.
dependent variable- amount of time ppt took to read the
crucial line about dick’s travel destination (line 8)
inconsistent/far version- several lines of text between the
first sentence (goal) and the inconsistent statement
(Alaska)
inconsistent/near – goal and the inconsistent statement
were adjacent
far/consistent- several lines of text separated the goal and
a consistent statement (plane ticket to Florida)
near/consistent- goal and the consistent statement were in
adjacent sentences
ppt in the near condition read the consistent version
significantly more quickly than the inconsistent version
ppt in the far condition also read the consistent version
significantly more quickly than the inconsistent version,
even though the relevant portions were separated by 4
intervening lines
suggests readers try to connect material within a text
passage and consult info stored in long-term memory
- during discourse processing, we try to construct a representation
of the text that is internally consistent, even when irrelevant
material intervenes
Factors that encourage inferences
some readers fail to activate info that appeared earlier in the
passage
more likely to draw inferences if one has:
- a large working-memory capacity
- good metacomprehension skills- aware they need to search
for connections between 2 seemingly unrelated sentences
Learning goals:
Problem A
Discourse comprehension
Discourse- interrelated units of language that are larger than a
sentence
Bartlett- people’s recall of stories becomes more consistent with
their schemas after a long delay
Context helps us to understand sounds, letters and words as well as
larger linguistic units
General background knowledge and expertise helps to facilitate our
conceptual understanding
Inferences- conclusions that go beyond the isolated phrase or
sentence
Forming an integrated representation of the text
Readers must gather information together and remember the
various concepts, so that information is both cohesive and
memorable
Theory of mind- trying to figure out the mental state of others
- Readers may try to figure out the mental state of the people they
read about in a story
Listeners and readers form integrated representations when they
hear spoken language. They remember info and draw inferences
when they are listening.
Skilled readers usually organise and integrate info into a cohesive
story
- Readers realise that a series of sentences forms a cohesive story
if all the sentences begin with ‘the’, but not when they begin with
‘a’
When we form a cohesive representation, we often construct a
mental model of the material we are reading
Readers construct internal representations that include descriptions
of the characters in a story
- This may include info on the character’s occupations,
relationships, emotional states, personal traits, goals and actions
- Readers often need to maintain these internal representations in
long-term memory for many pages of a novel
- Readers often make inferences that go beyond the info supplied
by the writer
Drawing inferences during reading
When we read, we activate mental processes by making inferences
that go beyond the info presented on the page
, When we infer, we use our word knowledge in order to access info
that isn’t explicitly stated in a passage
Ppl combine the info they are reading, together with the info in the
passage
- Then draw a reasonable conclusion based on that combination
Constructivist view of inferences- readers usually draw
inferences about the causes of events and the relationship between
events
- Construct inferences about a character’s motivations, personality
and emotions as well as developing expectations about new plot
developments and the writer’s point of view
- Readers actively construct cohesive explanations when they
integrate the current info with all the previous relevant info in the
text, as well as background knowledge
- People draw inferences, even when related topics are separated
by irrelevant paragraphs
- Huitema- story about dick wanting to go to a beach but instead
going to Alaska.
dependent variable- amount of time ppt took to read the
crucial line about dick’s travel destination (line 8)
inconsistent/far version- several lines of text between the
first sentence (goal) and the inconsistent statement
(Alaska)
inconsistent/near – goal and the inconsistent statement
were adjacent
far/consistent- several lines of text separated the goal and
a consistent statement (plane ticket to Florida)
near/consistent- goal and the consistent statement were in
adjacent sentences
ppt in the near condition read the consistent version
significantly more quickly than the inconsistent version
ppt in the far condition also read the consistent version
significantly more quickly than the inconsistent version,
even though the relevant portions were separated by 4
intervening lines
suggests readers try to connect material within a text
passage and consult info stored in long-term memory
- during discourse processing, we try to construct a representation
of the text that is internally consistent, even when irrelevant
material intervenes
Factors that encourage inferences
some readers fail to activate info that appeared earlier in the
passage
more likely to draw inferences if one has:
- a large working-memory capacity
- good metacomprehension skills- aware they need to search
for connections between 2 seemingly unrelated sentences
