ERIC Number: EJ916001
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1088-8438
EISSN: N/A
Context Strengthens Initial Misinterpretations of Text
Christianson, Kiel; Luke, Steven G.
Scientific Studies of Reading, v15 n2 p136-166 2011
Three self-paced reading experiments examined the effect of context on interpreting subsequent sentences and in the difficulty of revising initial misinterpretations of subsequent temporarily ambiguous sentences. Target sentences containing noun phrase/sentence (NP/S) coordination ambiguities were preceded by contexts that either did or did not support the preferred, incorrect "NP and NP" interpretation. Online reading times and offline comprehension question responses were the dependent variables. Results suggest that when propositional content of incoming text is consistent with propositional content of the context, readers often hang on to the resulting coherent interpretation even when subsequent input contradicts it. Results also suggest that (a) context affects reading times and final interpretation; (b) when context "and" comprehension questions bias readers toward the incorrect interpretation, even unambiguous sentences are regularly misinterpreted; and (c) both semantic content and syntactic form of context influence how the context and subsequent text are integrated in memory. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Comprehension, Sentences, Semantics, Nouns, Figurative Language, Reading, Experiments, Syntax, Eye Movements, Higher Education, Statistical Analysis, Models, Predictor Variables
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Illinois
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A