Examines the influence of interclause connectives on inference generation. Finds that readers incorporate causal knowledge-based inferences in the discourse representations for sentences containing a causal connective, and that connectives elicit inferences that are based on the connective's meaning. (SR)

Describes two experiments showing that experienced readers use text signals to guide their attention to relevant information in a text. Indicates that subjects (1) took longer to read a summary sentence if it was signaled in advance, especially poor readers, and (2) recalled important information better if the information was signaled. (JD)

Investigates the comprehension of combined concepts (such as "peeled apple") in discourse through four experiments by having people verify features that were true of the phrase. Discusses experiments and results. Argues against a compositional model of conceptual combination in which both the modifier and head noun are accessed…

Concludes that, whereas inference processing may be impeded by the relative lack of familiarity of the content of expository text, it is not strictly precluded. Indicates rather that inference processing in the comprehension of expository text is regulated by the information-processing constraints of the reading task and by the discourse and…

Demonstrates that reactivation of unsatisfied goal information depended on the type of original goal context and whether it was fully reinstated and that reinstatement of goal information from the distant target episode was successful only when the context was fully reinstated. Supports models of comprehension that assume reactivation of relevant…

Tests two views of how relevant global information becomes readily available to readers. Demonstrates that backgrounded information became readily available if it shared features in common with the current contents of working memory. Shows that this occurred independently of whether the information was relevant or thematically related;…

Presents results of a study indicating that, over many propositions appearing in passages that vary widely in content and vocabulary difficulty, early and later propositions are better recalled, and that the rated importance of a proposition predicts probability of recall independent of serial position. (HTH)

Tests how well two models of text comprehension (one referential and one causal) predicted the importance ratings and the recall of procedural texts. Finds better predictive power of the causal model for importance ratings; neither model performed well with recall; and neither model was as predictive of procedural text as they were in previous…

Investigates whether individual differences in working-memory (WM) capacity are related to the ways readers use inferences to facilitate text comprehension. Finds several differences between low-memory-span and high-memory-span readers. Notes that readers with adequate WM capacity can keep interpretations open ended and await more information from…

Hypothesizes a resonance process in which concepts and propositions in the discourse resonate in response to related elements in the current sentence, initiating a process that makes available a subset of the information in the representation. Reviews research; presents explicit assumptions about the discourse representation; and describes results…

States that previous research shows that readers who are given multiple perspectives on a domain excel in solving problems using material from that domain. Reports on three experiments that provide online evidence for a reinstatement-and-integration theory hypothesized previously as a possible processing account for problem solving with domain…

Explains how five experiments were conducted to examine readers' access to backgrounded causal information in the absence of a local coherence break. States that participants read surprise-ending stories in which some story actions were explained by information in the preceding context and others were not. Finds that participants receiving prior…

Reports findings of three experiments indicating that story plot unit structure is a good predictor of subjects' thematic judgments about the story, and that subjects are sensitive to a more abstract level of conceptualization than the thematic patterns tested, based on evaluations of the protagonist's plans in the story. (HTH)

Explores the importance of grammatical morphemes for constructing spatially organized situation models, especially how readers infer location in spatial models from prepositions and verb-aspect markers. Shows that grammatical units are as important as lexical units for guiding the construction of situation models during comprehension. (SR)

Concludes that spatial information is available to readers only under very specific conditions. Notes that readers told to focus on spatial details had the information available, but that, when told to read for comprehension, spatial information did not become available. Finds also that spatial information was available only when it was required…