Discourse and Text Comprehension
Discourse comprehension studies how readers and listeners integrate information across sentences to build a coherent mental representation of a text or conversation.
Definition
The study of the cognitive processes by which connected discourse is understood and represented in memory as an integrated model.
Scope
This topic covers the levels of representation built during comprehension (surface form, propositional textbase, and situation model), the inferences readers draw to maintain coherence, and the resolution of reference and anaphora across sentences. It describes the cognitive models and findings governing extended comprehension beyond the single sentence.
Core questions
- What levels of representation do comprehenders build from a text?
- Which inferences are drawn automatically during reading, and which are not?
- How is coherence maintained across sentences through reference and connectives?
Key concepts
- textbase
- situation model
- bridging inference
- anaphora resolution
- coherence
Key theories
- Construction-integration model
- Kintsch's model in which a textbase of propositions is constructed and then integrated with prior knowledge into a coherent situation model through a constraint-satisfaction process.
- Minimalist hypothesis of inference
- McKoon and Ratcliff's claim that, absent specific goals, readers draw only those inferences needed for local coherence or readily available from memory, not elaborate bridging inferences.
History
Van Dijk and Kintsch's 1983 strategy model and Kintsch's later construction-integration framework established the multi-level view of comprehension, while McKoon and Ratcliff's 1992 minimalist hypothesis framed the debate over which inferences are automatic.
Debates
- How many inferences are drawn online?
- Whether readers routinely generate rich bridging and predictive inferences during reading, or only the minimal inferences required for local coherence.
Key figures
- Walter Kintsch
- Teun van Dijk
- Gail McKoon
- Roger Ratcliff
Related topics
Seminal works
- vandijkkintsch1983
- kintsch1998
- mckoonratcliff1992
Frequently asked questions
- What is a situation model?
- It is the mental representation of the state of affairs a text describes, integrating textual information with background knowledge, as opposed to a memory of the exact wording.