Discourse comprehension and memory Flashcards
Local structure
the relationships among the individual sentences
establishing semantic relationships between sentences
Global structure
how well it follows our world knowledge
schema - a mental structure of known information
Reference
Relating current objects with those in the past
- Pronomial
- Demonstrative
- Comparative
Pronomial
Relating object objects with those in the past using a pronoun (it, he, she)
Demonstrative
Relating object objects with those in the past using this/that
Comparative
Relating object objects with those in the past using same/similar/different
Substitution
replaced one word with another (not a synonym)
Ellipsis
Referring to an earlier word without using an explicit term
Lexical
Using the same or similar word
- Reiteration - using the same word
- Synonymy - using a synonym
- Hyponymy - using a subordinate or superordinate name
Conjunction
Using conjunctions to link phrases/sentences (e.g., and, but, so, because, yet, or)
Anaphoric References
Local Structure
relating a current item (anaphor) with a previous item (antecedent)
Cataphoric References
Local Structure
relating a current item (referring sentence) with an upcoming item (referent sentence)
Establishing coherence
- Given info - known info
- Sometimes signaled by words (the, that, again) - New info - unknown info to listener/reader
- Sentences have both given and new info!
Given/New Strategy - Clark & Haviland (1977)
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
Direct matching
the given information directly matches an antecedent - a matching of CONCEPTS, not WORDS
Bridging
the given information matches inferred information
Event schema - global discourse structure - characteristics
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
Event schema - global discourse structure - information contained
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
Discourse memory - there are ___ different levels
Three different levels
1. Surface representation
2, Propositions representation
3. Situational model
Surface representation
Contains the exact words of the discourse; held in the WM just long enough for us to understand the sentence
Propositional representation contains ____ propositions.
2: Explicit and Implicit
Surface representation is held in the ________ just long enough for us to understand the sentence.
Working Memory
Explicit Propositions
basic ideas (ideas that were actually stated)
Implicit Propositions
inferred information (ideas that were inferred)
Propositional representation is stored in _____________.
Long-term memory - LTM
Kintsch (1974) - Discourse Memory
- 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)
Situational Model
Holds the visual model of the discourse (like a ‘mental movie’)
Bransford et al. (1972)
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
Kintsch et al. (1990) studying the strength of these three different memory representations
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
