Subjective judgments of script structure.

Abstract

The effects of surface structure on subjective judgments about the representation of common event sequences was studied. The scripts used by Bower, Black, and Turner (1979) were used as a guide, and their format and length were varied. The scripts were presented as stories or as phrases, in both short and long versions. Subjective judgments about the division of the scripts into units varied markedly, both in comparisons with the Bower et al. study and among the versions used in the present study. Changes in format produced more disagreements than did changes in length. Evidence is presented that the use of a story format, including full sentences and normal punctuation, severely constrains subjects' judgments. When sentence structure is eliminated and only the basic ideas in each sentential phrase are expressed, variability in structure judgments increases. In the absence of precise theoretical specification, the utility of subjective judgments in determining script structure is called into question.Several years ago, Bower, Black, and Turner (1979) published an extensive study of scripts and the role these knowledge representations play in processing. In their first experiment they asked undergraduates to list the events normally associated with common activities, such as going to a restaurant, getting up in the morning, or going to the^doctor. A high degree of agreement was/found in the descriptions that were generated, suggesting not only that there is consensus about the events making up these activities but also that this knowledge is readily accessible. In their second experiment Bower et al. investigated the constituent structure of these knowledge representations, by assessing the extent to which subjects agree about the division of familiar event sequences into separate units, or "scenes." They wrote 10 simple stories, each of which described the events involved in a script, and asked undergraduates to put slash marks after clauses or sentences that they considered to form natural boundaries within the story. Good agreement was found among subjects about where the boundaries between scenes occurred.

Normative Studies of Sequence Strength and Scene Structure of 30 Scripts

“…The hierarchical model postulates that script actions are organized into scenes and that sequential information is primarily stored at the scene level. An objection has been raised by Mandler and Murphy (1983) concerning a basic assumption of the hierarchical model. Because the model postulates that actions are organized within scenes, it is necessary that the scene be a stable memory construct.…”

Surface information loss in comprehension

“…Of course, a prerequisite for this demonstration was knowledge of the constituent structure of each story. One method of charting constituent structure that has provided reasonably reliable results is simply asking subjects to make subjective judgments about it (Baggett, 1979;Grosjean, Grosjean, & Lane, 1979;Levelt, 1970;Martin, 1970;Mandler, 1980;PollardGott, McCloskey, & Todres, 1979; but see Mandler & Murphy, 1983). That was the purpose of Experiment 3.…”

Time, space, and action: Exploring the narrative structure and its linguistic marking

“…This result confirms the observations by Bower, Black, and Turner (1979) concerning the hierarchical organization of scripts. Moreover, the present study eliminates the possibility that some confounding variables such as the effect of punctuation marks or connectives are sufficient for explaining these results (Fayol & Abdi, 1988;Mandler & Murphy, 1983). As Chafe (1979), Bolz (1992), and Bestgen (1992b) reminded us, such hierarchical organizations have been found in video films of persons carrying out common activities (Newtson, 1973) or engaging in more complex behavior (Dickman, 1963;Massad, Hubbard, & Newtson, 1979).…”