Interruption-similarity effects during discourse processing

We examined the effect of interruption on reading to determine if discourse processing is susceptible to similarity-based interference. Participants read pairs of passages, either one before the other (in the continuous condition) or with the sentences of the two passages interleaved (in the interruption condition). In addition, the similarity of the types of passages (narrative or expository) in a pair was manipulated. Performance was measured with self-paced reading time of the sentences and with accuracy in answering comprehension questions. In two experiments, interruption slowed the reading of text sentences; this effect of interruption was greatest when the interrupting text was of the same style as the primary text (an interruption-similarity effect). We discuss these results with respect to current models of the role of working memory in discourse processing.     

Age differences in learning from text: Evidence for functionally distinct text processing systems

We investigated the influence of sentence elaboration on self‐regulated learning in order to examine age differences in resource allocation to the construction of textbase‐ and discourse‐level representations. Older and younger adults learned about a topic by reading a series of sentences varying in elaboration (from simple factoids to highly elaborated text) and manner of presentation (progressive change in elaboration vs. random change in elaboration). Younger readers were more likely to recall information from factoids; older adults, from highly elaborated text. Relative to young, older readers showed an advantage in the progressive presentation condition, which minimised frequent changes between textbase‐ and discourse‐level processing. Older adults showed poorer memory monitoring for factoids and less elaborated discourse relative to young, but when passages were highly elaborated or presented progressively, age differences were eliminated. Results support the idea that textbase‐ and discourse‐level encoding arise from functionally distinct systems whose regulation depends on text properties and reader age. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Discourse influences during parsing are delayed.

Subjects read sentences containing either a syntactically ambiguous prepositional phrase attachment or a syntactically ambiguous reduced relative clause. The sentences were embedded in passages of text that were consistent with either the minimal or non-minimal attachment reading. In addition, a discourse factor (i.e., whether or not the target sentence was in the discourse focus) was varied. Subjects' eye movements were recorded as they read the passages of text. Our primary finding was that subjects were garden-pathed even when there was biasing context. However, when the target sentence was in the discourse focus, subjects were able to recover more readily from their initial erroneous parse of the sentence. The data thus support models of sentence parsing that postulate that the parsing of a sentence is based upon structurally based principles and the influence of semantic or pragmatic information makes itself felt only after the initial parsing decision has been made.     

不同阅读能力聋人语篇理解中连接推理的眼动比较

采用记录被试阅读完成后回答问题的正确率、反应时与眼动指标,试图探讨不同阅读能力聋人语篇理解中连接推理的加工特点与效率。结果表明:在语篇局部连贯中断情况下,高低阅读能力聋人在语篇理解过程中的连接推理加工是主动的即时性加工,而非语篇阅读完成后被动的延时性加工;但高阅读能力聋人能有效激活背景知识,所发生的连接推理加工是一个自动化的加工;低阅读能力聋人主动尝试即时激活背景知识、构建句子间的连接推理,但连接推理的加工还未达到自动化程度,推理加工的效率较低。     

中文阅读中的边界效应及其消除：事件持续效应

运用动窗技术探讨中文阅读中的边界效应及其消除的条件,包括3个实验。实验一探讨中文阅读中是否存在边界效应,结果发现,边界效应同样存在于中文阅读中;实验二、三探讨时间切分标记能否消除边界效应以及消除的条件,结果发现,只有当切分标记表示的时间在前一事件持续的时间跨度外时才能消除边界效应,如果切分标记表示的时间仍在前一事件持续的时间跨度内,则不能消除边界效应,本研究称此为事件持续效应。从本研究结果中可以得出,时间切分标记降低了主题转换句子所需要的认知加工能量     

Age differences in resolving anaphoric expressions during reading

One crucial component of reading comprehension is the ability to bind current information to earlier text, which is often accomplished via anaphoric expressions (e.g., pronouns referring to previous nouns). Processing time for anaphors that violate expectations (e.g., 'The firefighter burned herself while rescuing victims from the building') provide a window into how the semantic representation of the referent is instantiated and retained up to the anaphor. We present data from three eye-tracking experiments examining older and younger adults' reading patterns for passages containing such local expectancy violations. Younger adults quickly registered and resolved the expectancy violation at the point at which it first occurred (as measured by increased gaze duration on the anaphor), regardless of whether sentences were read in isolation or embedded in a discourse context. Older adults, however, immediately noticed the violation only when sentences were embedded in discourse context, suggesting that they relied more on situational grounding to instantiate the referent. For neither young nor old did prior disambiguation within the context (e.g., stating the firefighter was a woman) reduce the effect of the local violation on early processing. For older readers, however, prior disambiguation facilitated anaphor resolution by reducing reprocessing. These results suggest that (a) anaphor resolution unfolds serially, such that prior disambiguating context does not 'inoculate' against local activation of salient (but contextually inappropriate) features, and that (b) older readers use the situational grounding of discourse context to support earlier access to the antecedent, and are more likely to reprocess the context for anaphor resolution.     

词切分对印-英双语者阅读影响的眼动研究

以25名印-英双语者为被试,采用EyeLink2000眼动仪,探讨词切分对印-英双语者阅读的影响。实验一要求被试阅读印地语句子,实验二要求被试阅读英语句子,词切分方式有三种：正常条件、无空格隔词加灰条件和无空格条件。结果发现：（1）对印-英双语者阅读自己的两种官方语言来说,空格因素在其阅读中发挥着积极作用,删除空格会明显影响他们的阅读;（2）在无空格隔词加灰条件和无空格条件下,印-英双语者阅读英语时下降的速度显著低于阅读印地语的,这表明空格因素的作用会受语言特点的制约。     

Functional neuroanatomy of the cognitive process of mapping during discourse comprehension

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify brain regions involved in the process of mapping coherent discourse onto a developing mental representation. We manipulated discourse coherence by presenting sentences with definite articles (which lead to more coherent discourse) or indefinite articles (which lead to less coherent discourse). Comprehending connected discourse, compared with reading unrelated sentences, produced more neural activity in the right than left hemisphere of the frontal lobe. Thus, the right hemisphere of the frontal lobe is involved in some of the processes underlying mapping. In contrast, left-hemisphere structures were associated with lower-level processes in reading (such as word recognition and syntactic processing). Our results demonstrate the utility of using fMRI to investigate the neural substrates of higher-level cognitive processes such as discourse comprehension.     

读者追随目标信息建构情境模型

探讨文本阅读中读者追随目标焦点信息建构情境模型的过程。实验1采用“目标启动＋目标整合”的方式,探讨读者在显性焦点情况下的阅读是否会追随目标信息更新情境模型。实验2采用“目标启动＋目标未整合”的方式,探讨显性焦点下对目标信息进行的追随建构,是发生在目标焦点整合后还是在阅读进程中即时进行。实验2a运用动窗技术,实验2b则采用眼动技术来探讨这个问题。实验结果总的表明,在阅读过程中读者会追随目标焦点信息建构情境模型,并且这种建构是即时进行的     

话题结构对语篇情绪累加的影响

在阅读理解的过程中,读者能够自动对语篇中的情绪进行推断。本研究采用自定步速阅读的方法,分别在外显和内隐两种情绪加工的任务下,考察话题结构对语篇情绪累加的影响。结果发现,在实验一的外显情绪判断任务下,话题结构未显示出对语篇情绪累加的明显作用;在实验二的内隐情绪理解任务下,当话题延续时,读者对有两个情绪线索的语篇的阅读时间短于仅有一个情绪线索的语篇,此时情绪的累加促进了当前句的加工,而话题转换时,二者没有显著差异,说明此时读者在新结构下建立当前句的情绪表征,并不在先前情绪的基础上进行累加。     

Age differences in resolving anaphoric expressions during reading

ABSTRACT

One crucial component of reading comprehension is the ability to bind current information to earlier text, which is often accomplished via anaphoric expressions (e.g., pronouns referring to previous nouns). Processing time for anaphors that violate expectations (e.g., ‘The firefighter burned herself while rescuing victims from the building’) provide a window into how the semantic representation of the referent is instantiated and retained up to the anaphor. We present data from three eye-tracking experiments examining older and younger adults' reading patterns for passages containing such local expectancy violations. Younger adults quickly registered and resolved the expectancy violation at the point at which it first occurred (as measured by increased gaze duration on the anaphor), regardless of whether sentences were read in isolation or embedded in a discourse context. Older adults, however, immediately noticed the violation only when sentences were embedded in discourse context, suggesting that they relied more on situational grounding to instantiate the referent. For neither young nor old did prior disambiguation within the context (e.g., stating the firefighter was a woman) reduce the effect of the local violation on early processing. For older readers, however, prior disambiguation facilitated anaphor resolution by reducing reprocessing. These results suggest that (a) anaphor resolution unfolds serially, such that prior disambiguating context does not ‘inoculate’ against local activation of salient (but contextually inappropriate) features, and that (b) older readers use the situational grounding of discourse context to support earlier access to the antecedent, and are more likely to reprocess the context for anaphor resolution.     

话题结构对语篇情绪更新的影响

读者在阅读理解的过程中, 能够推断出故事主角的情绪状态, 并能随着语篇中的情绪变化做出情绪更新。在加工情绪信息的同时, 读者也加工语篇结构方面的信息, 二者皆有可能随着语篇的展开而发生变化。本研究采用自定步速阅读的方法, 分别在外显和内隐两种情绪加工任务下, 考察话题结构对语篇情绪更新的影响。结果发现, 在实验1的外显情绪判断任务下, 话题结构未显示出对语篇情绪更新的作用; 在实验2和实验3的内隐情绪理解任务下, 话题延续时, 情绪转换句的阅读时间长于情绪延续句, 此时情绪更新需要额外的加工时间; 而话题转换时, 二者没有显著差异, 说明此时读者在新结构下建立当前句的情绪表征, 并不受到先前情绪的影响。     

Individual differences in working memory strategies for reading expository text

This study investigated whether individual differences in working memory (WM) span are associated with different WM management strategies during the reading of expository text. In Experiment 1, probe questions were presented on line during reading to determine whether thematic information was maintained in WM throughout comprehension. The data indicated that readers across the range of WM span maintained thematic information in WM throughout the reading of a given passage. In Experiment 2, sentence reading times and accuracy for both topic and detail questions were measured in two conditions: when topic sentences were present and when topic sentences were absent. Subjects performed similarly across the range of WM span in the topic-present condition, but lower span subjects performed more poorly on detail questions in the topic-absent condition. In Experiment 3, the topic-present condition of the second experiment was replicated, except that subjects expected to receive questions about details only. Thematic processing and retention of topic and detail information all increased with span. Taken together, these results suggest that, for more difficult text processing tasks, high- and low-span subjects adopt different WM management strategies and these strategies influence what is learned from reading the text.     

熟悉主题说明文阅读推理加工的认知神经机制

采用功能磁共振成像(Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, fMRI)技术对熟悉主题说明文阅读过程因果推理加工进行研究, 探讨说明文阅读过程中读者是否能够自发进行因果推理加工, 以及阅读焦点的存在是否会对说明文阅读过程中的因果推理加工产生影响。结果表明, 读者在熟悉主题说明文阅读过程中能够自动进行推理加工, 负责推理加工的主要脑区为额叶(尤其是额下回)、顶叶下部及双侧楔前叶等区域。在熟悉主题说明文阅读过程中, 阅读焦点的存在一定程度上使读者的认知加工资源集中在对与焦点相关的推理关系的加工上。     

篇章阅读理解中背景信息的通达

该研究采用实时窗口阅读技术探讨篇章阅读理解中背景信息的通达机制。在该研究所用的阅读材料中,主人公特征与目标句行为分别形成一致、冲突与冲突限制三种关系,其中,冲突限制条件下既描述了主人公与目标行为有所冲突的特征,但这些特征要么是主人公过去具有的、要么是虚假的,在此基础上,阅读材料又提供了主人公当前的、与目标句行为一致的特征描述。结果发现,不论把冲突限制条件下的冲突信息限制在过去发生,还是作为一种虚假的情况来加以描述,都不能完全消除冲突的效应,冲突限制条件下目标句阅读时间总是长于一致条件下的阅读时间,这支持了记忆基础文本加工观,说明在篇章阅读中背景信息通达不是一个更新追随的过程,过去的或虚假的背景信息也会被重新激活并影响当前信息的加工。     

多线索语篇阅读中影响背景信息通达的因素

先前的研究发现,在语篇阅读中,背景信息的通达会受到情景的限制,本研究采用实时窗口阅读技术,通过双人物线索材料,进一步探讨影响这种限制作用的因素。在实验所用材料中,配角只是被提及而未在故事情景中出现,其特征描述与目标句中主角的行为形成冲突关系,以配角特征为探测句,要求被试进行意义判断。结果发现,目标句中主角的行为激活了配角的特征描述,使目标句后探测句的反应时显著短于目标句前的反应时,说明起限制作用的所谓"情景"并非故事所发生的"真实情景",而是读者根据故事所建立的"心理情景"。     

Electrophysiological evidence for the time-course of verifying text ideas

We examined how verb factivity influences the ability of readers to detect and resolve the mismatch of receiving false referents in relation to true referents in discourse contexts. Factive verbs (e.g., know), but not nonfactive verbs (believe), entail the truth of their complements. Recent research by Singer [Singer, M. (2006). Verification of text ideas during reading. Journal of Memory and Language, 54, 574-591] suggests that there are pragmatic costs associated with knowing something that is clearly false and only believing something that is clearly true. However, because Singer measured reading times for full sentences, it could not be determined whether these costs were initiated upon the appearance of the critical target word (i.e., the word that validated or invalidated previous text ideas) or at a later point in the sentences. In the present research we recorded event-related brain potentials while people read the same passages for comprehension and analyzed potentials evoked to the critical target words. Our results demonstrate that the brain distinguishes between true and false target words by at least 200ms after their onset, and that the pragmatic costs identified by Singer lead to interactions between verb factivity and truth in both early (P2) and later occurring brain components (late phase of N400 and late frontal positivity). In general, the results suggest readers had greater difficulty integrating false nouns than true nouns following factive than nonfactive verbs, and that detection of this mismatch also occurred earlier following factive verbs. Our results provide insight into the time-course of the processes that underlie the verification of text ideas, and extend neurocognitive research on anaphoric resolution.     

Event-related responses to pronoun and proper name anaphors in parallel and nonparallel discourse structures.

The present study investigated event-related potential (ERP) effects of pronoun and proper name anaphors in both parallel and nonparallel discourse structures. Thirty-seven students processed 400 semantically different text passages. Each trial consisted of two sentences and a comprehension question. The first sentence introduced a protagonist who was referred to by an anaphoric word in the second sentence. The anaphoric word was either a pronoun or a repetition of the proper name of the protagonist and had either the same or a different syntactic role as its antecedent (subject or object). The sentences were presented word by word as rapid serial visual display. Event-related potentials were recorded from 61 scalp electrodes. In agreement with the parallel function strategy, nonparallel discourse structures required longer decision times and exhibited higher error rates than parallel structures. The ERPs revealed two effects: First, pronoun anaphors evoked a more pronounced negativity than proper name anaphors between 270 and 420 ms latency over the frontal cortex electrodes. Another relative negativity occurred between 510 and 600 ms over the parietal cortex electrodes. Second, anaphors in nonparallel positions were accompanied by a more pronounced negativity over the parietal cortex. These data support the idea that an anaphor in nonparallel position triggers extra processing steps, probably search processes in working memory which integrate currently encountered information with previously activated representations.     

The influence of text legibility on eye movements during reading

Subjects read passages of text on a video monitor as their eye movements were recorded. In Experiment 1, the passages were presented either in a format (ClearType) designed to display smoother, clearer characters on LCD monitors by eliminating pixilation or in standard format (non‐ClearType). The passages were also presented in three different fonts (Times New Roman, Harrington and Script MT bold) which differed in how easy the letters were to encode. While there were no comprehension differences due to ClearType or font, ClearType led to faster reading, fewer fixations, and shorter fixation durations than non‐ClearType. There were also font differences, with Times New Roman leading to faster reading than the other two fonts. In Experiment 2, we replicated the results that ClearType lead to faster reading than non‐ClearType when subjects read single sentences with high or low frequency target words. Across both experiments, word frequency interacted with presentation format. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Singular and Plural Pronominal Reference in Spanish

In two self-paced, sentence-by-sentence reading experiments, we examined the difference in the processing of Spanish discourses containing overt and null pronouns. In both experiments, antecedents appeared in a single phrase (John met Mary) or in a conjoined phrase (John and Mary met). In Experiment 1, we compared reading times of sentences containing singular overt and null pronouns referring to the first or to the second mentioned antecedent. Overt pronouns caused a processing delay relative to null pronouns when they referred to the first antecedent in single but not in conjoined phrases. In Experiment 2, we compared reading times of sentences containing overt and null pronouns referring to singular or plural entities. Plural null pronouns were read faster than their singular counterparts in conjoined conditions. Plural overt pronouns were read more slowly than their null counterparts both in single and conjoined conditions. We explain our findings in a framework based on the notion of balance between processing cost and discourse function in line with the Informational Load Hypothesis.