A Novel Study: A Situation Model Analysis of Reading Times

Abstract

One of the basic findings on situation models and language comprehension is that reading times are affected by the changing event structure in a text. However, many studies have traditionally used multiple, relatively short texts, in which there is little event consistency across the texts. It is unclear to what extent such changes will be observed when readers are given a longer, more coherent text, such as a novel. The current study discovered that while some of the characteristics of language comprehension found with multiple shorter texts also influence the reading of a novel, such as the introduction of new characters and causal breaks, there are several notable differences. In some cases, factors did not clearly influence comprehension, and a reverse influence was observed as with spatial and temporal shifts. Thus, more work is needed to develop situation model theory that can more readily account for complex, real-world comprehension.

Narrative event boundaries, reading times, and expectation

“…Several studies have found increased reading times accompanying temporal shifts (Radvansky & Copeland, 2010;Radvansky et al, 2001;Rinck & Weber, 2003;Zwaan, Magliano, et al, 1995;. However, other studies have found decreases in reading times for historical texts (Radvansky et al, 2001) and in a novel (McNerney et al, 2011).…”

“…For example, when a story has been centered on John and the narrator begins describing events involving Julia. Generally, shifts along this dimension result in an increase in reading time (McNerney et al, 2011;Rinck & Weber, 2003;, although not exclusively. In at least one case, it led to significantly faster reading times (Radvansky et al, 2001, Exp.…”

“…For example, if a story states that Jimmy wants a new bike, this is a new goal for the character and sets up a new series of events. When a protagonist's intention or goal changes, there is generally an increase in reading time (Radvansky et al, 2001;, although sometimes the effect is only marginal or not significant (McNerney et al, 2011).…”

“…However, other studies have found no difference (Radvansky & Copeland, 2010;Zwaan, Magliano, et al, 1995; or only a marginal reading time increase (Rinck & Weber, 2011). One study found a significant reading-time decrease (McNerney et al, 2011).…”

“…suggests that people track several different event indices as they read a text. Typically, five indices are identified: space, time, protagonist (or entity), intentionality (goals), and causality (see also Kurby & Zacks, 2012;McNerney, Goodwin, & Radvansky, 2011;. By tracking these event dimensions, people can identify event shifts, which could correspond to changes along any of these dimensions.…”