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)

Outlines three basic views of how readers infer causal connections and how they generate causal inferences. Evaluates these three hypotheses with reference to current research in the field. (HB)