Discourse comprehension and memory

Question 1

Local structure

Answer 1

the relationships among the individual sentences

establishing semantic relationships between sentences

Question 2

Global structure

Answer 2

how well it follows our world knowledge

schema - a mental structure of known information

Question 3

Reference

Answer 3

Relating current objects with those in the past

1. Pronomial
2. Demonstrative
3. Comparative

Question 4

Pronomial

Answer 4

Relating object objects with those in the past using a pronoun (it, he, she)

Question 5

Demonstrative

Answer 5

Relating object objects with those in the past using this/that

Question 6

Comparative

Answer 6

Relating object objects with those in the past using same/similar/different

Question 7

Substitution

Answer 7

replaced one word with another (not a synonym)

Question 8

Ellipsis

Answer 8

Referring to an earlier word without using an explicit term

Question 9

Lexical

Answer 9

Using the same or similar word

1. Reiteration - using the same word
2. Synonymy - using a synonym
3. Hyponymy - using a subordinate or superordinate name

Question 10

Conjunction

Answer 10

Using conjunctions to link phrases/sentences (e.g., and, but, so, because, yet, or)

Question 11

Anaphoric References

Answer 11

Local Structure

relating a current item (anaphor) with a previous item (antecedent)

Question 12

Cataphoric References

Answer 12

Local Structure

relating a current item (referring sentence) with an upcoming item (referent sentence)

Question 13

Establishing coherence

Answer 13

1. Given info - known info
   - Sometimes signaled by words (the, that, again)
2. New info - unknown info to listener/reader
3. Sentences have both given and new info!

Question 14

Given/New Strategy - Clark & Haviland (1977)

Answer 14

Based on Maxim of relevance
What a listener expects: given info, new info
If someone presents ‘given’ info as ‘new,’ it sounds weird
Very young kids assume that most info they knew is ‘given’ info - they learn over time what info is ‘new’ to certain people

Question 15

Direct matching

Answer 15

the given information directly matches an antecedent - a matching of CONCEPTS, not WORDS

Question 16

Bridging

Answer 16

the given information matches inferred information

Question 17

Event schema - global discourse structure - characteristics

Answer 17

Contains knowledge about events
Gained through experience
Has the most important characteristics of the event
Specifies the expected arrangement (by TIME, not importance)
Guides our recognition and understanding of situations

Question 18

Event schema - global discourse structure - information contained

Answer 18

Individual experiences may differ, but, within a given culture, event schemas will be similar (schema violations cause confusion)
When we can’t recognize a schema, comprehension and memory for the discourse is poor
-Bransford & Johnson (1972) - subjects read passage
Condition: topic before reading vs. no topic
Write down what you remember - how well did they understand the topic
Comprehension and recall was much bettr if they have the topic

Question 19

Discourse memory - there are ___ different levels

Answer 19

Three different levels
1. Surface representation
2, Propositions representation
3. Situational model

Question 20

Surface representation

Answer 20

Contains the exact words of the discourse; held in the WM just long enough for us to understand the sentence

Question 21

Propositional representation contains ____ propositions.

Answer 21

2: Explicit and Implicit

Question 22

Surface representation is held in the ________ just long enough for us to understand the sentence.

Answer 22

Working Memory

Question 23

Explicit Propositions

Answer 23

basic ideas (ideas that were actually stated)

Question 24

Implicit Propositions

Answer 24

inferred information (ideas that were inferred)

Question 25

Propositional representation is stored in _____________.

Answer 25

Long-term memory - LTM

Question 26

Kintsch (1974) - Discourse Memory

Answer 26

• Subjects read sentences
• Explicit condition - “A carelessly discarded burning cigarette started a fire. The fire destroyed many acres of virgin forest”
• Implicit condition - “A burning cigarette was carelessly discarded. The fire destroyed many acres of virgin forest”
• After reading –> asked:T/F - a discarded cigarette started the fire
• Subjects were either asked immediately after reading or after a delay
• -> Tested immediately after, people were faster to respond in the explicit condition (because the words were still in WM)
• -> After delay, there was no difference between the explicit and implicit conditions (because implicit and explicit propositions were stored together in LTM)

Question 27

Situational Model

Answer 27

Holds the visual model of the discourse (like a ‘mental movie’)

Question 28

Bransford et al. (1972)

Answer 28

Subjects read sentences
A. “Three turtles rested on a floating log, and a fish swam beneath them”
B. “Three turtles rested beside a floating log and a fish swam beneath them”
Later –> subjects asked if they read each sentence (recognition test) - “A fish swam beneath a floating log.” (T/F)
People who read sentence A were more likely to make a mistake and think they had read this sentence because the situational models for the sentences matched

Question 29

Kintsch et al. (1990) studying the strength of these three different memory representations

Answer 29

Subjects read the discourse and then later took a recognition test
Four options
1. The answer
2. Surface change
3. Propositional change
4. Situational change
Subjects were tested immediately, 40 minutes after, 2 says after, or 4 days after reading the discourse
Results for response of “No - that was not the sentence I read”
-With no delay - memory is high at all levels
-After a delay - surface and propositional memory gets worse
-Over time - situational model remains strong
-Text memory (surface) is the weakest