In contrast to expectation-based, predictive views of discourse comprehension, a model is developed in which the initial processing is strictly bottom-up. Word meanings are activated, propositions are formed, and inferences and elaborations are produced without regard to the discourse context. However, a network of interrelated items is created in this manner, which can be integrated into a coherent structure through a spreading activation process. Data concerning the time course of word identification in a discourse context are examined. A simulation of arithmetic word-problem under-standing provides a plausible account for some well-known phenomena in this area. Discourse comprehension, from the viewpoint of a computa-tional theory, involves constructing a representation of a dis-course upon which various computations can be performed, the outcomes of which are commonly taken as evidence for com-prehension. Thus, after comprehending a text, one might rea-sonably expect to be able to answer questions about it, recall or summarize it, verify statements about it, paraphrase it, and SO on.

Abstract not found

this paper states that different levels of processing can work on different pieces of an utterance at the same time. Thus, the phonological encoder can work on the early part of the clause while the syntactic encoder works on filling out what remains. As a result, once the syntactic representation for the sentence is done, its corresponding phonological representation is likely close to complete as well. 29

This research uses fMRI to understand the role of eight cortical regions in a relatively complex information-processing task. Modality of input (visual versus auditory) and modality of output (manual versus vocal) are manipulated. Two perceptual regions (auditory cortex and fusiform gyrus) only reflected perceptual encoding. Two motor regions were involved in information rehearsal as well as programming of overt actions. Two cortical regions (parietal and prefrontal) performed processing (retrieval and representational change) independent of input and output modality. The final two regions (anterior cingulate and caudate) were involved in control of cognition independent of modality of input or output and content of the material. An information-processing model, based on the ACT-R theory, is described that predicts the BOLD response in these regions. Different modules in the theory vary in the degree to which they are modality-specific and the degree to which they are involved in central versus peripheral cognitive processes.

Abstract. The goal of our study is to evaluate the effect on program comprehension of three factors that have not previously been studied in a single experiment. These factors are programmer expertise (expert versus novice), programming task (documentation versus reuse), and the development of understanding over time (phase 1 versus phase 2). This study is carried out in the context of the mental model approach to comprehension based on van Dijk and Kintsch’s model [(1983) Strategies of Discourse Comprehension. New York: Academic]. One key aspect of this model is the distinction between two kinds of representation the reader might construct from a text: (1) the textbase, which refers to what is said in the text and how it is said, and (2) the situation model, which represents the situation referred to by the text. We have evaluated the effect of the three factors mentioned above on the development of both the textbase (or program model) and the situation model in object-oriented program comprehension. We found a four-way interaction of expertise, phase, task and type of model. For the documentation group we found that experts and novices differ in the elaboration of their situation model but not their program model. There was no interaction of expertise with phase and type of model in the documentation group. For the reuse group, there was a three-way interaction between phase, expertise and type of model. For the novice reuse group, the effect of the phase was to increase the construction of the situation model but not the program model.

Abstract not found

which is/are unaval able. 12-1-84 CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF READING Technical Report No. 43

This paper indicates how sentence processing depends upon the active construction of a PERSPECTIVE, which is the way a speaker or a listener becomes actively involved in a sentence. For this reason, the perspective is usually the starting point of the sentence. A number of linguistic and psycholinguistic studies are reviewed in the light of this approach to sentence processing. The speaker uses the first element in the English sentence as a starting point for the organization of the sentence as a whole. Similarly, the listener uses the first element in a sentence as a starting point in comprehension. Both the speaker and the listener seem to use special techniques for attaching the body of the sentence to the starting point. Given the sentence Mary ate the apple, it seems that listeners take Mary as an initial node in processing, and then attach ate the apple to this node Similarly, the speaker takes Mary as what he wants to talk about and then says something about Mary. Recently, both linguists and psychologists have become increasingly interested in where sentences come from. One component of this over-all problem is the question: 'Where do starting points come from?' This paper explores one possible approach to answering this question, which I will call the PERSPECTIVE HYPOTHESIS, hereafter PH. According to this, starting points serve as bases for the

We present Information Foraging Theory as an approach to understanding how strategies and technologies for information seeking, gathering, and consumption are adapted to the flux of information in the cultural environment. The theory is developed within an evolutionary-ecological framework that includes analysis of adaptation, knowledge, and cognition. The theory is applied to field studies, controlled experiments, and technology design. We present the Information Diet Model and Information Patch Residence Time Model as optimization models of information foraging under some strong constraints. These are used to develop a specific production system model called ACT-IF that predicts the fine-grained information seeking and gathering behavior of participants using a sophisticated document browsing system. We also present the Overlapped Patch Foraging with Queueing Model to address situations in which information search and information handling may occur in parallel, the Extreme Variance Rule which deals with information foraging under deadlines and uncertainty, a general class of Dynamic Information Foraging Models, and the Hogg-Huberman Model of the phase space of cost functions for heuristic information search.

Hypertexts present methods to read online texts that are different from those available when reading standard linear texts. Hypertexts give readers more flexibility in choosing paths through the text and in finding relevant information. However, research in hypertext has often shown little or no advantages over the equivalent linear text.