This paper evaluates associative theories of sentence memory, based on the model of J.R. Anderson and G.H. Bower. A model of Human Associative Memory (HAM) is generalized and defined, and alternative models incorporating configural information are presented. (CK)

It was hypothesized that Ss hearing sentences containing reported utterances would confuse these sentences with new sentences containing illocutionary forces or perlocutionary effects consistent with the original sentences. Predicted effects were found in recall for illocutionary forces and in recognition memory for perlocutionary effects.…

Reports on research on the effect of various encoding and retrieval conditions on sentence recall. (AM)

Verifying simple sentences generally involves a process wherein the meanings of individual words are combined to form the meaning of the entire sentence. Three experiments are described in which the combination process was investigated by asking subjects to decide whether S-V-Adj-O sentences were true or false. (Author/RM)

Three experiments investigated a characteristic of the propositions that underlie sentences. For some of the sentences tested, the same concepts occurred repeatedly across the underlying propositions; for others, concepts were seldom repeated. Repetitions were shown to facilitate sentence processing. (Author/RM)

This study examines the processes whereby new information is integrated with generalized world knowledge. (Author/RM)

Two experiments examined the comprehension of singly and multiply negated sentences. Difficulty of comprehension was measured by the speed and accuracy with which subjects judged the semantic reasonableness of sentences. Marked and negatively prefixed adjectives were a particular focus of the study. (Author/RM)

Recognition memory for statements made during a luncheon discussion group was tested in an incidental learning paradigm after thirty hours. Statements high in interactional content yielded excellent memory for surface form and meaning; statements low in interactional content showed no memory for surface form and less memory for content. (CHK)

Comprehensibility ratings and sentence-by-sentence reading times of three-sentence narratives (triples) were studied as a function of the coherence of a triple. In both experiments, reading times did not differ for first sentences, but were longer for third sentences of unrelated than for related triples. (Author/RM)

An experiment is described that involved presenting sentences to the subject for study and then testing single words for recognition (the subject had to decide whether the test word was in one of the study sentences). A large priming effect was obtained. (Author/RM)

Two experiments examined characteristics of text that determine when a repeated noun has a clearly identified referent. Verbs and article modifiers appeared to influence whether a noun is merely a repeated word in a text, or whether it is redundant at the propositional level. (SW)

Three experiments investigated whether abstract as well as concrete sentences can be processed in a holistic manner. Results suggest that the processing of both types of sentences involves construction of particularized, holistic mental representations that contain information and inferences based on context and knowledge of language and the…