Multiple Representations and Individual Differences in Generating Mental Models: The Case of Text Comprehension

Dutke, Stephan

doi:10.1007/978-94-011-4373-8_3

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“…Both findings direct attention to how different levels of representation interact in the process of text comprehension. Such interactions between situation model on the one hand and text representation on the other hand have not only been observed in the context of anaphoric reference (Speelman & Kirsner, 1990), but also in the context of individual differences in situation model construction (Dutke, 1999, 2000). On the whole, however, recent text comprehension research has tended to focus either on differentiating between different levels of representation (e.g., Fletcher & Chrysler, 1990; Perrig & Kintsch, 1985; Schmalhofer & Glavanov, 1986) or on exploring representational characteristics within one level of representation, as in the recent literature on the spatial structure of situation models.…”

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confidence: 99%

Anaphor Resolution as a Function of Spatial Distance and Priming: Exploring the Spatial Distance Effect in Situation Models

Dutke

2003

Experimental Psychology

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Anaphor resolution has been found to depend on the spatial distance between the reader's focus of attention and the location of the anaphor referent in a spatially organized situation model (spatial distance effect; Rinck & Bower, 1995). This effect implies that a) the situation model is spatially organized and b) spatial distance has a stronger effect on the resolution of anaphoric reference than the text priming the anaphor referent. In three experiments, adult participants read 12 short narratives about protagonists moving around a building. Mentionning the location of the anaphor referent in text prior to the anaphoric sentence facilitated anaphor resolution. Decreased spatial distance consistently facilitated anaphor resolution, even when priming the anaphor referent affected anaphor resolution more strongly than spatial distance. Results are discussed with regard to the interpretation and reliability of the spatial distance effect and the interaction of different representational levels in the context of multi-level theories of text comprehension.

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