psy 369: psycholinguistics language comprehension: meaning beyond the word
TRANSCRIPT
Comprehension roadmap This week:
Comprehension of Sentence Meaning Traditional view: Propositions New view: Embodied representations
Comprehension in Discourse
Propositions How do we represent sentence meaning?
Propositions Two or more concepts (arguments) with a relationship
(relations) between them Arguments – particular times, places, people,
objects, etc. (nouns) Relations - May be used for any kind (e.g., actions,
attributes, positions, class memberships) Smallest unit of knowledge that can be judged as true or
false Complex sentences consist of combinations of smaller
propositional units
Propositions
A mouse bit a catbit (mouse, cat)
How do we represent sentence meaning? Propositions
Two or more concepts with a relationship between them
Can represent this within a network framework
mouse
bit
cat
agent
patient
relation
Deriving Propositions More complex example:
Children who are slow eat bread that is cold Slow children Children eat bread Bread is cold
rela
tion
subje
ct
time
relationrela
tion subject
Slow Children
Past Eat
ColdBread
Evidence for propositions Bransford and Franks (1971, 1972)
Study-Recognition Test Task Read sets of sentences, answered a question about each, later
presented sentences and asked whether they were new (not previously presented) or old (previously presented)
The girl broke the window on the porch. Broke what?The hill was steep. What was?
The cat, running from the barking dog, jumped on the table. From what?The tree was tall. Was what?
The old car climbed the hill. Did what?The cat running from the dog jumped on the table. Where?
The girl who lives next door broke the window on the porch. Lives where?…
Evidence for propositions Bransford and Franks (1971, 1972)
Study-Recognition Test Task
All of the sentence came from 4 complex sentences. The full complex sentences were not presented at study.
e.g., The girl who lives next door broke the large window on the porch
…The girl lives next door.
The girl broke the window.The window was on the porch.
The window was large.
Evidence for propositions Bransford and Franks (1971, 1972)
Study-Recognition Test Task
Test:
Old - same sentences that were presented at studyNew - based on the propositions in the complex sentence, but not
presented at study (including the full complex sentences)Noncase - based on new propositions not based on the complex
sentences (mixing of propositions across the different situations)
Evidence for propositions Bransford and Franks (1971, 1972)
Study-Recognition Test Task
Results:• False recognition of sentences
that they were not previously presented with
• Accurate rejections of noncases (different propositions)
• Unable to distinguish between the old and new cases that came from the same complex sentences
Rec
ogni
tion
conf
iden
ce
0
Yes 5
fours threes twos ones
noncases
# of propositions
Yes 4Yes 3
Yes 1Yes 2
No 2No 3No 4
No 1
No 5
★
newold
Evidence for propositions Bransford and Franks (1971, 1972)
Study-Recognition Test Task
Conclusions:
• Participants remembered the basic meaning (propositions)
• Participants spontaneously combined the propositions into larger units
Rec
ogni
tion
conf
iden
ce
0
Yes 5
fours threes twos ones
noncases
# of propositions
Yes 4Yes 3
Yes 1Yes 2
No 2No 3No 4
No 1
No 5
★
newold
Evidence for propositions Ratcliff and McKoon (1978)
Tested 3 hypotheses:1. Sentences stored as single unit
2. Sentences stored as connected propositions
3. Sentences stored verbatim
Evidence for propositions Ratcliff and McKoon (1978)
Study-Recognition Test Task Read sets of 4 unrelated sentences, then presented words (one at a
time) and asked whether the words were in the preceding sentences Dependent Measure: Priming - manipulated the order of the words at
test
The mausoleum that enshrined the tsar overlooked the square.The clutch failed to engage.
The beggar forgave injustice but resented hunger.Satire hurt the incumbent.
hunger Y Saturn N square Y mausoleum Y beetle N
Evidence for propositions Ratcliff and McKoon (1978)
Involves two propositions: P1 [OVERLOOK, MAUSOLEUM, SQUARE] P2 [ENSHRINE, MAUSOLEUM, TSAR].
The mausoleum that enshrined the tsar overlooked the square.The clutch failed to engage.
The beggar forgave injustice but resented hunger.Satire hurt the incumbent.
Evidence for propositions Ratcliff and McKoon (1978)
Predictions (if Hypothesis 2: propositions are the memory representation): If prime word from the same sentence, then should respond faster If prime word from the same proposition, then should respond faster
than if from a different proposition (within the same sentence)
The mausoleum that enshrined the tsar overlooked the square.The clutch failed to engage.
squareclutch
Across sentences Between two propositions in the same sentence
squaretsar
squaremausoleumWithin a single
proposition
Evidence for propositions Ratcliff and McKoon (1978)
Predictions (if Hypothesis 2: propositions are the memory representation): If prime word from the same sentence, then should respond faster If prime word from the same proposition, then should respond faster
than if from a different proposition (within the same sentence)
squareclutch
671 580 560
Across sentences Between two propositions in the same sentence
Within a single proposition
Results
**111 msec**91 msec
squaremausoleum
squaretsar
Evidence for propositions Ratcliff and McKoon (1978)
Predictions (if Hypothesis 2: propositions are the memory representation): If prime word from the same sentence, then should respond faster If prime word from the same proposition, then should respond faster
than if from a different proposition (within the same sentence)
squareclutch
671 580 560
Across sentences Between two propositions in the same sentence
Within a single proposition
Results
**20 msec
squaremausoleum
squaretsar
Evidence for propositions Ratcliff and McKoon (1978)
Predictions (if Hypothesis 2: propositions are the memory representation): If prime word from the same sentence, then should respond faster If prime word from the same proposition, then should respond faster
than if from a different proposition (within the same sentence)
Conclusions Support the hypothesis that propositions are used to organize our
memories of sentences
Inference in comprehension Not all propositions come from the bottom-up
Elaboration - integration of new information with information from long term memory
Memory for the new information improves as it is integrated
Inferences - a proposition (or other representation) drawn by the comprehender
From LTM, not directly from the input
We draw inferences in the course of understanding new events.
The inferences get encoded into our memory of the events.
e.g., drawing inferences of instruments
Bransford, and colleagues (1972, 73)
Inference in comprehension
Saw (or heard): John was trying to fix the birdhouse. He was looking for the nail when his father
came out to watch him and to help him do the work.
Bransford, and colleagues (1972, 73)
Tested: John was using the hammer to fix the birdhouse when his father came out to
watch him and to help him do the work.
Inference in comprehension
was not mentioned in the text, but was inferredResult:
Participants falsely believed that they had heard this sentenceSo memory is not only of propositions in the original sentence, but may also
include additional propositions that may have been inferred
Arguments against propositions Propositions are symbolic and amodal
Referential problem: Disconnected with outside world (symbols referring to
other symbols) Implementation problem:
Has been very difficult to develop a propositional parser Lack of scientific productivity:
More work on what you can do with propositions than is there evidence of the psychological reality of propositions
Lack of a biological foundation: How do biological (or neurological) data constrain
propositions
Subjects are presented with sequences of sentences that create a spatial array, like:
The bear is to the left of the moose. The moose is to the right of the lion. The moose is to the left of the cow. The lion is to the left of the bear.
Array: lion < bear < moose < cow Subjects are asked either to remember the sentences or to
remember the order Afterwards, people asked to remember the array also ‘remember’
sentences they didn’t actually hear, such as: The bear is to the left of the cow
(also faster to verify, Potts, 1974)
Barclay (1973)
More than propositions
Bransford, Barclay, and Franks (1972)
More than propositions
Recognition Task Result: correctly rejected (b) but accepted (a)
(a): The tree is to the left of the chair.
(b): The chair is to the left of the tree.
Hear: There is a tree with a box beside it, and a chair is on top of the box. The box is to the right of the tree. The tree is green and extremely tall.
Mental Models
• These experiments suggested that contexts are not simply lists of propositions, but that these propositions are somehow ‘merged’ to create `world-like’ representations • Johnson-Laird (1983): While processing, humans construct
representations of worlds/situations related (identical with?) those built from perception
Mental model
Hear: There is a tree with a box beside it, and a chair is on top of the box. The box is to the right of the tree. The tree is green and extremely tall.
Embodiment in language Embodied Representations
Many researchers assume that cognition is “embodied” (or “grounded”) rather than “abstract” (e.g., Barsalou, 2008)
Activates representations associated with the body and actions Theoretical proposals from many disciplines
Linguistics: Lakoff, Langacker, Talmy Neuroscience: Damasio, Edelman Cognitive psychology: Barsalou, Gibbs, Glenberg,
MacWhinney, Zwaan Computer science: Steels, Feldman
Embodiment in language Embodied Representations
Much of this work argues that language is embodied (e.g., Barsalou, 2008; Glenberg, 2008; Zwaan & Taylor, 2006)Perceptual and motor systems play a central role in language production and comprehension (and meaning/concepts) Words and sentences are usually grounded to perceptual,
motoric, and emotional experiences. In absence of immediate sensory-motor referents, words and
sentences refer to mental models or simulations of experience
Embodiment in language Embodied Representations
Simulation hypothesis (Gallese, 2008) Simulation exploits some of the same neural structures activated
during performance, perception, imagining, memory… Language gives us enough information to simulate Processing (producing or comprehending) walk involves the
use of representations involved in the act of walking
producing or comprehending
“walk”
Embodiment in language Evidence for Embodied Representations
Stanfied & Zwaan (2001) Presented participants with sentences
John put the pencil in the cup.
John put the pencil in the drawer
Results: faster at saying horizontal pencil with drawer and vertical pencil with cup
See a picture and ask “does this describe what you read about?”
Embodiment in language Evidence for Embodied Representations
Zwaan et al (2004) Presented participants with a sentence
A: The pitcher hurled the softball at you.
B: You hurled the softball at the pitcher.
Results: faster at saying ‘Yes’ when sentence matched the pictures (e.g., sentence A and pictures in A, if the ball is small and then gets big, it is coming towards you)
See two pictures and ask “are these pictures the same object”
A B
Embodiment in language Evidence for Embodied Representations
Hauk et al (2004) Do action words activate the motor cortex? fMRI study
50 words from 3 semantic subcategories
(words matched for freq, length, imageability, etc.)
Rated for whether words reminded them of face, arm, or leg
Movement Comparison: moved their foot, finger, or tongue
Embodiment in language Evidence for Embodied Representations
Hauk et al (2004) Do action words activate the motor cortex? fMRI study
Action words did activate some of the same areas as the movements
Summing up Traditional
Cognition = Computation
Representation by propositions
Propositions are abstract relations
Embodiment of Meaning Cognition is serving perception
and actions Representation = Patterns of
possible bodily interactions with the world (lawfully related to the world)
What an object, event, sentence means for you, is what you can do with the object, event, sentence.
Summing up The results of sentence comprehension are
meaning representations Some debate over what these representations are Whatever they are, they get integrated with each
other and with existing knowledge from LTM
Discourse Psycholinguistics Traditional Psycholinguistics
Determining what happens when we understand sentences
Broader View How we resolve/understand sentences against the
current discourse representation Sentence comprehension is a process that anchors the
interpretation of the sentence to the representation of the prior text
Discourse Psycholinguistics Traditional Psycholinguistics
Determining what happens when we understand sentences Broader View
How we resolve/understand sentences against the current discourse representation
Sentence comprehension is a process that anchors the interpretation of the sentence to the representation of the prior text
Processing Discourse What is discourse?
The ways that we process (i.e., comprehend and remember) units of language larger than a sentence
Lectures, personal narratives, expository discourse Units of analysis larger than a sentence
Applies to both spoken and written forms
Discourse processing is sort of like syntactic processing – a way of organizing/connecting the different pieces in to larger chunks. Here the chunks are larger than sentences.
Bill and Ted traveled through time and space. Bill asked, “Dude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store, but I haven’t found Abe
yet. Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks!”“Excellent! Man, we’ve got to get these dudes back to school before we get there.”
To whom does “him” refer to?
Bill and Ted traveled through time and space. Bill asked, “Dude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store, but I haven’t found Abe
yet. Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks!”“Excellent! Man, we’ve got to get these dudes back to school before we get there.”
To whom does “him” refer? Bach
Bill and Ted traveled through time and space. Bill asked, “Dude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store, but I haven’t found Abe
yet. Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks!”“Excellent! Man, we’ve got to get these dudes back to school before we get there.”
To whom does this “him” refer?
Bill and Ted traveled through time and space. Bill asked, “Dude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store, but I haven’t found Abe
yet. Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks!”“Excellent! Man, we’ve got to get these dudes back to school before we get there.”
To whom does this “him” refer? Bach again
Bill and Ted traveled through time and space. Bill asked, “Dude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store, but I haven’t found Abe
yet. Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks!”“Excellent! Man, we’ve got to get these dudes back to school before we get there.”
To whom does this “him” refer? Bach again
Bill and Ted traveled through time and space. Bill asked, “Dude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store, but I haven’t found Abe
yet. Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks!”“Excellent! Man, we’ve got to get these dudes back to school before we get there.”
Why not Abe?
Huh!?
Bill and Ted traveled through time and space. Bill asked, “Dude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store, but I haven’t found Abe
yet. Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks!”“Excellent! Man, we’ve got to get these dudes back to school before we get there.”
Huh!?
Bill and Ted traveled through time and space. Bill asked, “Dude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store, but I haven’t found Abe
yet. Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks!”“Excellent! Man, we’ve got to get these dudes back to school before we get there.”
Oh yeah, they’re time travelers.
Characteristics of Discourse Local Structure (microstructure):
The relationship between individual sentences Cohesion Coherence
Global Structure (macrostructure): The relationship between the sentences and our
knowledge of the world
Characteristics of Discourse Local Structure (microstructure):
The relationship between individual sentences Cohesion Coherence
Global Structure (macrostructure): The relationship between the sentences and our
knowledge of the world
Local Structure (microstructure): The relationship between individual sentences
Cohesion• Does the discourse “stick together”?• Interpretation of one sentence depends on other sentences?
Coherence• Does the passage make sense?• Logical consistency and semantic continuity?
Characteristics of Discourse
Characteristics of Discourse Cohesion: Interpretation of one sentence
depends on other sentences Referential Cohesion
“Dude, you should hear him play…” Substitution Cohesion
“We’ve got to get these dudes back to …” And many more
Ellipsis, conjunction, lexical cohesion (See pg 160 of textbook for examples)
The relationship between the referring expression and the antecedent create referential cohesion of discourse
Types of Referential Cohesion Anaphoric Reference
Using an expression to refer back to something previously mentioned in discourse
“…Bach was in the music store …”
“Dude, you should hear him play, he rocks.”
Cataphoric Reference Using an expression to refer forward to something that is
coming up in discourseDude, did you find him?” “Yeah, Bach was in the music store...”
Comprehending Anaphoric References
Daneman and Carpenter (1980)
Sitting with Richie, Archie, Walter and the rest of my gang in the Grill yesterday, I began to feel uneasy. Robbie had put a dime in the juke box. It was blaring one of the latest “Rock and Roll” favorites. I was studying, in horror, the reactions of my friends to the music. I was especially perturbed by the expression on my best friend’s face. Wayne looked intense and was pounding the table furiously to the beat. Now, I like most of the things other teenage boys like. I like girls with soft blonde hair, girls with dark curly hair, in fact all girls. I like milkshakes, football games and beach parties. I like denim jeans, fancy T-shirts and sneakers. It is not that I dislike rock music but I think it is supposed to be fun and not taken too seriously. And here he was, “all shook up” and serious over the crazy music.
Task: Reading a passage and answer questions about the referents of pronouns
Question: Who was “all shook up” and serious over the music?
Comprehending Anaphoric References
Daneman and Carpenter (1980)
Sitting with Richie, Archie, Walter and the rest of my gang in the Grill yesterday, I began to feel uneasy. Robbie had put a dime in the juke box. It was blaring one of the latest “Rock and Roll” favorites. I was studying, in horror, the reactions of my friends to the music. I was especially perturbed by the expression on my best friend’s face. Wayne looked intense and was pounding the table furiously to the beat. Now, I like most of the things other teenage boys like. I like girls with soft blonde hair, girls with dark curly hair, in fact all girls. I like milkshakes, football games and beach parties. I like denim jeans, fancy T-shirts and sneakers. It is not that I dislike rock music but I think it is supposed to be fun and not taken too seriously. And here he was, “all shook up” and serious over the crazy music.
Question: Who was “all shook up” and serious over the music?
Task: Reading a passage and answer questions about the referents of pronouns
Reading Span Test Smaller reading spans = smaller working memory capacity
Manipulated how many sentences intervened between the pronoun ‘he’ and the antecedent ‘Wayne’
Comprehending Anaphoric References
Daneman and Carpenter (1980)
Sitting with Richie, Archie, Walter and the rest of my gang in the Grill yesterday, I began to feel uneasy. Robbie had put a dime in the juke box. It was blaring one of the latest “Rock and Roll” favorites. I was studying, in horror, the reactions of my friends to the music. I was especially perturbed by the expression on my best friend’s face. Wayne looked intense and was pounding the table furiously to the beat. Now, I like most of the things other teenage boys like. I like girls with soft blonde hair, girls with dark curly hair, in fact all girls. I like milkshakes, football games and beach parties. I like denim jeans, fancy T-shirts and sneakers. It is not that I dislike rock music but I think it is supposed to be fun and not taken too seriously. And here he was, “all shook up” and serious over the crazy music.
Question: Who was “all shook up” and serious over the music?
Task: Reading a passage and answer questions about the referents of pronouns
Results
Comprehending Anaphoric References
Daneman and Carpenter (1980) Conclusions: The number of intervening sentences don’t
matter for high span people, but does for low span
Characteristics of Discourse Coherence:
Given/new distinction Readers expect speakers to provide cues as to what
information is old (already known by the listener) and what is new (not known)
Making Inferences Filling in missing pieces of information to maintain
coherence
• Haviland and Clark (1974)• Singer, Halldorson, Lear, & Andrusiak (1992)
Developing coherenceHaviland and Clark (1974)
Process of understanding a sentence in discourse context involves 3 stages:
1. Identify the given and new info in the current sentence
2. Find an antecedent in memory for the given information
3. Attach the new information to this spot in memory
Developing coherenceHaviland and Clark (1974)
We got some beer out of the trunk. The beer was warm.
Task: Press a button when you understand the sentence.
Developing coherenceHaviland and Clark (1974)
We got some beer out of the trunk. The beer was warm.
Definite article “The” signals that “The beer” is given information
Task: Press a button when you understand the sentence.
Developing coherenceHaviland and Clark (1974)
We got some beer out of the trunk. The beer was warm.
Definite article “The” signals that “The beer” is given information
Connect the new information “was warm” to the appropriate discourse concept “some beer”
This process is called Direct Matching
Task: Press a button when you understand the sentence.
Task: Press a button when you understand the sentence.
Developing coherenceHaviland and Clark (1974)
We checked the picnic supplies. The beer was warm.
Definite article “The” signals that “The beer” is given information
Connect the new information “was warm” to the appropriate discourse concept “??”
World knowledge
Task: Press a button when you understand the sentence.
Developing coherenceHaviland and Clark (1974)
We checked the picnic supplies. The beer was warm.
Definite article “The” signals that “The beer” is given information
Connect the new information “was warm” to the appropriate discourse concept “picnic supplies”
Need a bridging inference to connect “the warm beer” to “picnic supplies”
World knowledge
Direct Matching
Bridging Inference
Developing coherence
Typical results
Comprehended faster
Takes more time
We checked the picnic supplies. The beer was warm.
We got some beer out of the trunk. The beer was warm.
Haviland and Clark (1974)
World knowledge
Task: Press a button when you understand the sentence. Conclusion: If you don’t know the old information and need to
make an inference, this may slow down comprehension.
“Murray poured water on the fire.”“The fire went out.”
Singer, Halldorson, Lear, & Andrusiak (1992)
“Murray drank a glass of water.”“The fire went out.”
T/F “water extinguishes fire”
T/F “Does water extinguish fire?”
Causal conditionRequires
bridging inference
Temporal conditionNo requiredinference
Developing coherence
Results
Task: Press a button when you understand the sentence, if given a question, answer Yes or No.
Conclusions: Suggests that the bridging inference was made More time consuming to make coherence of temporal than causal
relations
Faster reading time
Faster “T”
Brief summary Local Structure (microstructure):
Discourse is coherent if its elements are easily related. Coherence is achieved with cohesive ties between
sentences. Comprehension is impeded when
There are no antecedents, forcing a bridging inference
The antecedent was not recent, forcing a reinstatement of the antecedent.
Characteristics of Discourse Local Structure (microstructure):
The relationship between individual sentences Coherence Cohesion
Global Structure (macrostructure): The relationship between the sentences and our
knowledge of the world
Characteristics of Discourse Global Structure (macrostructure):
Jill bought a new sweater. Sweaters are sometimes made of wool. Wool production gives some farmers a good livelihood. Farming is a high-risk business. On the news last night, I saw a group of business executives discussing recent trends in the stock market.
The relationship between the sentences and our knowledge of the world
Okay local structure, but each sentence isn’t relevant to an overall topic of discourse
Characteristics of Discourse Global Structure (macrostructure):
Schemas (Scripts) General knowledge structures for common social
situations Genres
Narrative structure Story grammars - extension of idea of grammatical
rules, specify the organization of a story Expository structure
Different structures
Characteristics of Discourse Global Structure (macrostructure):
Schemas (Scripts) General knowledge structures for common social
situations Genres
Narrative structure Story grammars - extension of idea of grammatical
rules, specify the organization of a story Expository structure
Different structures
Effects of world knowledge If the balloons pooped, the sound would not be able to
carry since everything would be too far away from the correct floor. A closed window would also prevent the sound from carrying since most buildings tend to be well insulated. Since the whole operation depends on a steady flow of electricity, a break in the middle of the wire would also cause problems. Of course the fellow could shout, but the human voice is not loud enough to carry that far. An additional problem is that a string could break on the instrument. Then there could be no accompaniment to the message. It is clear that the best situation would involve less distance. Then there would be fewer potential problems. With face to face contact, the least number of things could go wrong.
Bransford & Johnson (1972)
Effects of world knowledge
Rocky slowly got up from the mat, planning his escape. He hesitated a moment and thought. Things were not going well. What bothered him most was being held, especially since the charges against him had been weak. He considered his present situation. The lock that held him was strong but he thought he could break it. He knew, however, that his timing would have to be perfect.
Prison escape OR Wrestling match
Anderson et al (1977)
Effects of world knowledge Schemas (Scripts)
Mental structures of how the world works, acquired through experience
A whole package of information about what we know about the world and events
Generic story of situations A framework with causal information
Used to facilitate comprehension of discourse, as well as to guide recall (and reconstruction)
Effects of world knowledge Schemas (Scripts)
Generic story of situations
Go inside
Go to table
Sit down
Scene 1: Enter Scene 2: Order
Get menu
Read menu
Choose food
Give order
Scene 3: Eat
Get food
Eat food
Scene 4: Pay
Ask for check
Received check
Tip waiter
Pay check
Exit
Restaurant Script
Effects of world knowledge
Bartlett (1932) Task:
Read native American folk tale Write down everything that you can remember
from that story that I read earlier Bartlett had them recall after a longer periods of
time (between 15 mins. Up to 10 years later)
Effects of world knowledge
Bartlett (1932)
Conclusions: We use our Schema to facilitate comprehension of discourse, as well as to guide recall (and reconstruction)
Results: Participants’ memories changed to fit their
existing beliefs (reconstructive memories) Added new details Changed details Deleted details
Effects of world knowledge
Invernizzi & Abouzeid (1995) Read two European tales (cry wolf & stone soup)
2 audiences European North American children Ponam children (New Guinea)
Effects of world knowledge
Invernizzi & Abouzeid (1995) Retelling of boy who cried wolf Ponam children (New Guinea)
Once upon a time Kalai and his family they lived on an island. Kalai’s mother always carried him everywhere. One day Kalai’s mother and father went out fishing. Kalai’s mother said, “Kalai, you are too small to go out fishing in the sea. You should stay home with your grandfather.” Kalai was lonely on the beach. Kalai said, “How could I get my family home?” He sat down and decided to get his family home. He got his red laplap and ran down to the beach and waved his laplap to his family and said, “Fire, fire.” His brother saw his laplap and went home. When they arrived they saw nothing.
Effects of world knowledge
Invernizzi & Abouzeid (1995) Retelling of boy who cried wolf European North American children
Kalai was running up and down the beach yelling “Fire, fire.” Everybody came home. The next day the same thing happened. They came home. The next day came, but the house caught on fire. He ran up and down the beach, but nobody came. Kalai kept waving the flag. Nobody came. Suddenly they saw the flames and the smoke and they came, but it was too late. Everything had burnt down to the ground, and his brother told him if he kept telling lies that nobody will come when you call for help.
Effects of world knowledge
Invernizzi & Abouzeid (1995) Impact of different schemata European North American children
Setting, precipitating events, goal reaching aspects, story resolutions
Ponam children (New Guinea) Recalled factual detail about settings, events, and
outcomes, but leaving out things like consequence, resolution, moral (generally seemed to miss the point)
Conclusions: We use our cultural schemas to facilitate comprehension of discourse, as well as to guide recall
Effects of world knowledge
Smith and Swinney (1992) Task: presented stories (like the “balloons” one)
Collected sentence by sentence reading times Had them recall the sentences Some people were given a title for the story, others not
When do we use the schema? During comprehension or recall?
Results: Overall, reading times were faster with a title that without Stories with titles: More words were recalled and more
“intrusions” (details consistent with the schema but not in the story)
Conclusions: Schemas are used in both on-line comprehension and recall
Effects of world knowledge Summary
We use schemas to Facilitate the comprehension of discourse To guide recall (and reconstruction)
Effects of Genre Not all kinds of discourse follow the same
structure Different effects, purposes, etc.
Expository discourse Convey info about a subject (e.g., textbook, lecture)
Narrative discourse Tell a story: Introduce characters & settings, establish
a goal, etc. APA style Newspaper articles
Expository Structure Reading texts, listening to lectures, etc.
Organized with different relationships (but can still draw a tree structure)
Relationships Collection - ideas or events related on the basis of some commonality Causation - ideas are joined causally so that one idea is identified as
the antecedent and another as the consequence Response - ideas are joined in a problem/solution or question/answer
relationship Comparison - ideas are related by pointing out similarities and
differences Description - general ideas are explained by giving attributes or other
specific details
Narrative structure
Once there was a woman. She saw a tiger’s cave. She wanted a tiger’s whisker. She put food in front of the cave. The tiger came out. She pulled out a whisker.
The story has a structure, a story grammar
Narrative structure Story grammar - can depict with a tree structure
Story
Setting Episode
Event Reaction
Goal Overt Response
Action Consequence
Event Event
Once there was a woman.
She saw a tiger’s cave.
She wanted a tiger’s whisker.
She put food in front of the cave.
The tiger came out. She pulled out a whisker.
Narrative structureThorndyke (1977) Level effect Read more
slowly but are better remembered.
She wanted a tiger’s whisker.
The tiger came out.
High hierarchy statements Lower in the hierarchy.
Comprehensibility and recall were tied to inherent plot structure, independent of passage content
Characteristics of Discourse
Test to see if structure effects whether inferences are made
Task: Think aloud task Read through the story aloud (one sentence at a time) and
talk aloud about their understanding of that sentence
Trabasso & Suh (1993)
Trabasso & Suh (1993)
Sequential version
Once there was a girl named Betty.One day, Betty found that her mother’s birthday was coming soon.Betty really wanted to give her mother a present.Betty went to the department store.
Betty found a pretty purse.Betty bought the purse.Her mother was very happy.
Several days later, Betty saw her friend knitting.Betty was good at knitting.Betty decided to knit a sweater.Betty selected a pattern from a magazine.Betty followed the instructions in the article.Finally, Betty finished a beautiful sweater.Betty pressed the sweater.Betty folded the sweater carefully.
Betty put it in the closet for the next time she was going out.Berry was very happy.
Betty found that everything was too expensive.Betty could not buy anything.Betty felt sorry.
Betty gave the sweater to her mother.Her mother was excited when she saw the present.
Hierarchical version
How does this sentence connect up with the rest of the story?
Trabasso & Suh (1993)
Hierarchical version
Betty was good at knitting.Betty decided to knit a sweater.Betty selected a pattern from a magazine.Betty followed the instructions in the article.Finally, Betty finished a beautiful sweater.Betty pressed the sweater.Betty folded the sweater carefully.Betty gave the sweater to her mother.Her mother was excited when she saw the
present.
SGAAOAAOR
SE
GAOORE
S = SettingE = EventR = ReactionG = GoalO = Overt ResponseA = Action
Once there was a girl named Betty.One day, Betty found that her mother’s birthday
was coming soon.Betty really wanted to give her mother a present.Betty went to the department store.Betty found that everything was too expensive.Betty could not buy anything.Betty felt sorry.Several days later, Betty saw her friend knitting.
Trabasso & Suh (1993)
Once there was a girl named Betty.One day, Betty found that her mother’s birthday
was coming soon.Betty really wanted to give her mother a present.Betty went to the department store.Betty found that everything was too expensive.Betty could not buy anything.Betty felt sorry.Several days later, Betty saw her friend knitting.
Hierarchical version
Betty was good at knitting.Betty decided to knit a sweater.Betty selected a pattern from a magazine.Betty followed the instructions in the article.Finally, Betty finished a beautiful sweater.Betty pressed the sweater.Betty folded the sweater carefully.Betty gave the sweater to her mother.Her mother was excited when she saw the
present.
S E G A O O R
E
SGAAOAAOR
S G A A O
A A O R
SE
GAOORE
Is a superordinate goal that motivates the subgoal of the next episode
Trabasso & Suh (1993)
Once there was a girl named Betty.One day, Betty found that her mother’s birthday
was coming soon.Betty really wanted to give her mother a present.Betty went to the department store.Betty found a pretty purse.Betty bought the purse.Her mother was very happy.Several days later, Betty saw her friend knitting.
Sequential version
Betty was good at knitting.Betty decided to knit a sweater.Betty selected a pattern from a magazine.Betty followed the instructions in the article.Finally, Betty finished a beautiful sweater.Betty pressed the sweater.Betty folded the sweater carefully.Betty put it in the closet for the next time she
was going out.Berry was very happy.
SGAAOAAO
R
SE
GAOORE
S E G A O O R
E S G A A O A A O
The goal is already filled, so not related to the subgoal of the next episode
Trabasso & Suh (1993)
Results
In a think aloud task participants mentioned the superordinate
goal in the hierarchical condition but not the sequential condition
Story grammar structure matters Strongly support the hypothesis that readers do make
global causal connections during reading.
Discourse in memory
Daily Summary: Schemas are used to structure comprehension and
memory Discourses have internal structures that impact
comprehension and memory
Weekly summary: Evidence supports the psychological reality of a number of
different representations Propositions & propositional networks Embodied representations Inferences Schemata and scripts Situation models
Discourse in memory Kintsch’s model
The Construction-Integration Model Discourse occurs in a series of cycles
As each sentence comes in it gets integrated into the discourse
In each cycle Construction phase - activate relevant concepts Integration phase - keep only the most relevant
elaborations Multiple levels of representation formed
Surface form, textbase (propositional), situation model
Discourse in memory Kintsch and colleagues (1990)
Jack scanned the newspaper.Jack looked through the newspaper.Jack looked through the movie ads.Jack looked over some editorials.
It was Friday night and Jack and Melissa were bored, so they decided to catch a movie. Jack scanned the newspaper. He saw that they could just make the nine o’clock showing of the hot new romantic comedy. Off they went.
Did this sentence occur in the paragraph?Read before
Discourse in memory Kintsch’s model
Jack scanned the newspaper.
Jack scanned the newspaper
S
N VP
NPV
Surface form
Jack scanned the newspaper
S
N VP
NPV
Surface form
Discourse in memory Kintsch’s model
Jack scanned the newspaper.
Textbase
Examine
Jack Newspaper
Jack scanned the newspaper
S
N VP
NPV
Surface form
Discourse in memory Kintsch’s model
Jack scanned the newspaper.
Textbase
Examine
Jack Newspaper
Situational Model
Discourse in memory Kintsch and colleagues (1990)
Jack scanned the newspaper.Jack looked through the newspaper.Jack looked through the movie ads.Jack looked over some editorials.
It was Friday night and Jack and Melissa were bored, so they decided to catch a movie. Jack scanned the newspaper. He saw that they could just make the nine o’clock showing of the hot new romantic comedy. Off they went.
Did this sentence occur in the paragraph?Read before
Evidence for surface form
Similar meaning
If Better memory here
Discourse in memory Kintsch and colleagues (1990)
Jack scanned the newspaper.Jack looked through the newspaper.Jack looked through the movie ads.Jack looked over some editorials.
It was Friday night and Jack and Melissa were bored, so they decided to catch a movie. Jack scanned the newspaper. He saw that they could just make the nine o’clock showing of the hot new romantic comedy. Off they went.
Did this sentence occur in the paragraph?Read before
Evidence for Strong textbase
If Better memory here
Adds inference
Infers which section did he scan.
Discourse in memory Kintch and colleagues (1990)
Jack scanned the newspaper.Jack looked through the newspaper.Jack looked through the movie ads.Jack looked over some editorials.
It was Friday night and Jack and Melissa were bored, so they decided to catch a movie. Jack scanned the newspaper. He saw that they could just make the nine o’clock showing of the hot new romantic comedy. Off they went.
Did this sentence occur in the paragraph?
Evidence for Strong situation model
inconsistent
If Better memory here
consistent
Consistent with situation model.