language and reading 3 Flashcards
what are logical inferences?
only depend on the meaning of words
what are bridging inferences?
establish coherence between the current part of the text and preceding text
what are elaborative inferences?
embellish or add details to the text by making use of our world knowledge
what is the constructionist approach to understanding text?
readers typically construct a relatively complete ‘mental model’ of the situation and events referred to in the text
who proposed the constructionist approach?
Bransford, Barclay and Franks
what is an implication of the constructionist approach?
numerous elaborative inferences are drawn while reading
what happened in Bransford, Barclay and Franks’ study?
participants were told
‘Three turtles rested on a floating log, and a fish swam beneath them.’
then given a test sentence
‘Three turtles rested on a floating log, and a fish swam beneath it.’
participants thought that these sentences were the same, suggesting that they inferred the fish swam under the log
who provided supporting research for the constructionist approach?
Bransford, Barclay and Franks
who provided evidence against the constructionist approach?
Dooling and Christiaansen
what happened in Dooling and Christiaansen’s study?
participants read a story about a ruthless dictator
one week later, given a test of recognition memory
just before this, they were told the story was actually about Adolf Hitler
findings showed that participants mistakenly recognised sentences relevant to Hitler that had not appeared in the original story
who proposed the minimalist hypothesis?
Mackoon and Ratcliff
what does the minimalist hypothesis suggest?
inferences are either automatic or strategic
what happens in automatic inferences?
some establish local coherence, others rely on information stated explicitly in the text
what happens in strategic inferences?
formed according to the reader’s goals
how was support found for the minimalist hypothesis?
one group was instructed to read a text for comprehension
another group was told to try and anticipate what might happen next
the text described a boy getting out his wallet after having dinner, and the target word was paid
had to say this word out loud as accurately and fast as possible
group 2 drew more elaborative inferences= number of inferences made by a reader are influenced by whether they have a goal when reading
who provided evidence against the minimalist hypothesis?
Poynor and Morris
what happened in Poynor and Morris’ evidence?
texts were compared where the goal of the main character was implicitly/explicitly stated
later on in the text, there was a sentence which either did or didn’t match the goal of the character
readers took longer to read the sentence for an inconsistent action, regardless of whether the goal was explicit or implicit
therefore the reader inferred the goal in both cases
who proposed the event indexing model?
Zwaan and Radvansky
what are the 5 dimensions in the event indexing model?
the protagonist
temporality
causality
spatiality
intentionality
what is the protagonist?
the central character/actor in the present even compared to the previous one
what is temporality?
the relationship between the times at which the present and previous events occured
what is causality?
the causal relationship of the current event and the previous one
what is spatiality?
the relationship between the spatial setting of the previous one
what is intentionality?
the relationship between the character’s goals and the present event
who provided evidence for the event indexing model?
Claus and Kelter
what happened in Claus and Kelter’s study?
participants presented with passages presented in chronological or non-chronological order
the duration of the second event was either short or long
the accessibility of the first event in memory was tested at the end of the passage
found that the duration of the second event influenced the speed in which the first event could be accessed
event 1 was less accessible if the text implied that it occurred a relatively long time ago
suggests that the readers put the events in the correct chronological order
what is the strength of the event indexing model?
identifies key processes involved in creating and updating situation models
what is the weakness of the event indexing model?
doesn’t suggest the internal representation built by readers and listeners to understand language
what are the three theories of discourse processing?
constructionist approach
minimalist approach
event-indexing model
what are schemas?
mental structures used to organise the world
what are examples of the schemas stored in long term memory?
scripts
frames
what are scripts?
deal with knowledge about particular events and consequences of events
what are frames?
knowledge structures relating to an aspect of the world, consisting of fixed structural information and slots for variable information
what was Bransford and Johnson’s evidence for schemas?
participants could not understanding the meaning of a text about washing clothes until it was given this title
what is the experimental simulations approach?
same sensorimotor representations that are activated while interacting with the environment are re-enacted or simulated when reading about a similar experience
what are the three aspects of the experimental simulations approach?
action
perception
emotion
what is the role of action in the experimental simulations approach?
content of a piece of text can facilitate certain body actions
what is the role of perception in the experimental simulations approach?
content of a piece of text can evoke perceptual simulations or imagery
how does eveidence from neuroimaging support the experimental simulations approach?
brain regions activated by reading about a particular event are the same as those activated by performing the action described
what evidence provides a link between language and emotion?
participants had to judge positive and negative words by pushing or pulling a lever
push responses were faster for negative stimuli
pull responses were faster for positive stimuli
what is the affect movement compatibility effect?
positive emotional stimuli prime approach behaviours
negative emotional stimuli prepare the body to avoid
what is affect?
a word itself can make you experience the emotion that it conveys
this is demonstrated in the activation of certain facial muscles
inducing emotional states can influence language comprehension
what are the strengths of the simulations approach?
provides a framework to explain internal representation from readers to understand language
increasing evidence that perception/action/emotion are involved in language comprehension
what are the weaknesses of the experimental simulations approach?
not known whether the experimental simulations approach applies under all circumstances
