Observes (in three experiments) a spatial gradient of accessibility in situation models. Reports that the accessibility of objects contained in the situation model decreased with increasing spatial distance between the object and the focus of attention in the readers' situation model. Investigates a variety of factors that might influence the…

Proposes a typology of verbal-like sequences of thought that spontaneously pass through people's minds, based on the epistemic status (thought, memory, enactment, meta-observation, and control) of the expressions composing such sequences. (SR)

Reviews prior research to stress the functionality of fluidity in making ready information to support comprehension. Explores the fading of ready information, demonstrating how quickly the accessibility of information mutually known to two reunited characters fades when the text engages other topics. Describes a series of phenomena that cohere…

Notes that, since fictional discourse need not reflect prevailing systems of meaning and norms or values, readers gain detachment from their own presuppositions; by constituting and formulating text-sense, readers are constituting and formulating their own cognition and becoming aware of the operations for doing so. (FL)

Tests and confirms two hypotheses about the representation of knowledge in memory: that a person's mental representation of a newly learned body of knowledge has two parts (the information presented, and a product of the person's thinking about it); and that a body of knowledge learned from experience is organized into distinct…

Discusses three experiments conducted to determine whether inferences that function so as to preserve the coherence of a passage are drawn in the course of comprehension. (Author/FL)

Suggests that two components of natural discourse (pragmatic information and knowledge about discourse style) play a role in memory for the surface form of sentences in discourse. Shows that recognition memory increased as a function of information about the speaker's positive and negative attitudes and that substantial verbatim memory was…

Offers a brief overview of the Structure Building Framework, a simple framework for describing the cognitive processes and mechanisms involved in discourse comprehension. Reviews the seminal work on which it is based (the first decade of structure-building research); and recounts the research conducted by the author to test the Structure Building…

Examines private speech utterances to understand children's verbal self-guidance during school task performances. Finds cognitive and metacognitive private speech utterances indicated children's approach to task performance; children with higher metacognitive levels of private speech were better able to self-regulate school tasks; and children's…

States that although the think-aloud method (TAM) is being used with increasing frequency in studying text comprehension, some skepticism of its value remains. Discusses assumptions behind TAM, aspects of comprehension it can reveal, and directions for research using TAM. Argues that TAM is a useful technique for tracking changes in the contents…

Illustrates the existence of meanings in conversation that are not based on the listener's interpretations by analyzing the conversations from a family therapy session. Transcripts of the conversations are appended. (HTH)

Examines the phenomena of isolation and adaptation in the context of two recognition experiments investigating retroactive interference. Results suggest a framework for predicting errors and accuracies in passage memory based on integrative processing. (DF)

Suggests that a factor underlying the complex analysis of prose is amount of elaboration. Reports findings of two experiments supporting this idea. (FL)

Surveys the long-standing, diversified tradition of European research on text and discourse and cites the main sources and overview works in the field. (FL)

Reports on a study of how people create names for individuals characterized by role descriptions. Concludes that context scenarios that involved the individual denoted by a role description elicited names less literally based on the actual role description than did less involving scenarios, and that less literal names appeared to directly…