Models of Understanding Text

What is text understanding? It is the dynamic process of constructing coherent representations and inferences at multiple levels of text and context, within the bottleneck of a limited-capacity working memory. The field of text and discourse has advanced to the point where researchers have developed sophisticated models of comprehension, and identified the particular assumptions that underlie comprehension mechanisms in precise analytical or mathematical detail. The models offer a priori predictions about thought and behavior, not merely ad hoc descriptions of data. Indeed, the field has evolved to a mature science. The contributors to this volume collectively cover the major models of comprehension in the field of text and discourse. Other books are either narrow -- covering only a single theoretical framework -- or do not focus on systematic modeling efforts. In addition, this book focuses on deep levels of understanding rather than language codes, syntax, and other shallower levels of text analysis. As such, it provides readers with up-to-date information on current psychological models specified in quantitative or analytical detail.

Bruce K. Britton, Arthur C. Graesser

Contents: Preface. A.C. Graesser, S.S. Swamer, W.B. Baggett, M.A. Sell, New Models of Deep Comprehension. A. Turner, B.K. Britton, P. Andraessen, D. McCutchen, A Predication Semantics Model of Text Comprehension and Recall. S.R. Goldman, S. Varma, N. Coté, Extending Capacity-Constrained Construction Integration: Toward "Smarter" and Flexible Models of Text Comprehension. S. Mannes, M. St. George, Effects of Prior Knowledge on Text Comprehension: A Simple Modeling Approach. C.R. Fletcher, P. van den Broek, E.J. Arthur, A Model of Narrative Comprehension and Recall. P. van den Broek, K. Risden, C.R. Fletcher, R. Thurlow, A "Landscape" View of Reading: Fluctuating Patterns of Activation and the Construction of a Stable Memory Representation. D.L. Long, M.R. Seely, B.J. Oppy, J.M. Golding, The Role of Inferential Processing in Reading Ability. R.W. Gibbs, Jr., Metaphor as a Constraint on Text Understanding. R.A. Zwaan, Toward a Model of Literary Comprehension. N.L. Stein, R.S. Bernas, D.J. Calicchia, A. Wright, Understanding and Resolving Arguments: The Dynamics of Negotiation. M.A. Gernsbacher, The Structure-Building Framework: What It Is, What It Might Also Be, and Why. A. Garnham, J. Oakhill, The Mental Models Theory of Language Comprehension. A.C. Graesser, B.K. Britton, Five Metaphors for Text Understanding.