Discourse Processing Flashcards
What is the integration stage of Kintsch’s (1988) discourse model?
Involves the third type of mental model: the situation model. This involves comprehending ideas the text is presenting. A network of interrelated propositions are integrated into a coherent structure. Any contradictions or incorrect inferences are then solved.
What is the situation model?
It describes how comprehenders construct a model as they go along to represent what they hear and read. The models represent different types of information about situations described in discourse. They are dynamically updated as the discourse is processed.
Describe Bransford, Barclay and Franks (1972) experiment on spatial representation
Participants were required to read one of 4 sentences then later had to decide which of two sentences they had read.
1) three turtles rested on a log and the fish swan beneath them
2) three turtles rested on a log and the fish swam beneath it
3) three turtles rested beside a log and a fish swam beneath them
4) three turtles rested beside a log and a fish swam beneath it
Retrieval rate was greater for sentences 3&4. The evidence concluded that people don’t maintain the surface form of a sentence, only a situation model
What is a Moses illusion?
It shows us that people don’t notice anomalies in sentences. It suggests that situation specific real world knowledge is automatically activated during comprehension.
What is the construction stage of Kintsch’s (1988) discourse model?
The construction stage involves two stages of mental representations.
1) the surface model: involves word meanings and syntactic parsing
2) the text base: involves comprehending propositions and inferences
