Exploratory multidimensional scaling and confirmatory nonparametric procedures were used to represent data from similarity rating and sorting tasks on nine animal names administered prior to and following the reading of two stories using those names as main characters. Changes in structure were related to authors' intent. (Author/JKS)

Multidimensional scaling was used to study the comprehension of prose. Undergraduates rated the similarity of twenty nouns before and after reading passages containing those nouns. Results indicated that the scaling analysis provided an effective valid indicator of prose representation. (Author/JKS)