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This study conducted 3 experiments to test contrasting predictions of a dual-representation theory and a context availability model of concreteness effects in verbal processing. In Exp I, abstract and concrete sentences with and without a paragraph context were presented to 67 undergraduates. Without context, Ss took longer to read abstract sentences than concrete sentences. With context, the reading times did not differ. A similar result was observed in Exp II with 41 Ss, in which lexical decision times were measured for abstract and concrete words. In the absence of context, lexical decision times for abstract words were longer than for ...

This study conducted 3 experiments to test contrasting predictions of a dual-representation theory and a context availability model of concreteness effects in verbal processing. In Exp I, abstract and concrete sentences with and without a paragraph context were presented to 67 undergraduates. Without context, Ss took longer to read abstract sentences than concrete sentences. With context, the reading times did not differ. A similar result was observed in Exp II with 41 Ss, in which lexical decision times were measured for abstract and concrete words. In the absence of context, lexical decision times for abstract words were longer than for ...

Three experiments investigated how quickly and accurately students could locate information contained in different types of displays. Undergraduates read multiplechoice questions and then searched either texts, outlines, or graphic organizers to find information needed to answer the questions. In Experiments 1 and 2, students who searched either graphic organizers or outlines found answers to fact questions more quickly than those who searched text, and students who searched graphic organizers found answers to comparison questions more quickly than those who searched either outlines or text. In Experiment 3, all three displays contained the same number of words to remove a potential ...

Instructions for operating a control panel were presented in five different formats: flowchart, logical tree, yes/no tree, decision table, and list. Subjects had to choose one out of eight buttons, depending on the settings of the control panel. The results show that the decision table resulted in more errors, and that both the decision table and the list took longer than the three other formats, which did not show mutual differences. It turned out that the subjects valued most the format they had been using, except for those who had worked with the list. It is suggested that the users' ...

Research on the counterintuitive Monty Hall dilemma (MHD) and analogous problems has shown that correct reasoning is rarely observed, even with the help of certain hints. Making the causal structure explicit or presenting probabilities by means of natural frequencies seem to enhance performance, but only to a moderate degree. The present experiments aimed to analyze the usefulness of these hints for solving an analogous MHD in more detail. Results showed that, compared to relative frequencies, natural frequencies improved reasoning, but this effect depended on previous numerical skills. On the other hand, a graph representing the causal structure had no effect, ...

Three experiments investigated how quickly and accurately students could locate information contained in different types of displays. Undergraduates read multiplechoice questions and then searched either texts, outlines, or graphic organizers to find information needed to answer the questions. In Experiments 1 and 2, students who searched either graphic organizers or outlines found answers to fact questions more quickly than those who searched text, and students who searched graphic organizers found answers to comparison questions more quickly than those who searched either outlines or text. In Experiment 3, all three displays contained the same number of words to remove a potential ...

Anecdotal evidence suggests that using a restricted language called Simplified English (SE) to write procedural documents is the best method to accommodate specific audiences. Providing empirical data to prove or disprove this hypothesis is the point of the experiment reported here. This study examined the effect of document type (SE versus non-SE), passage (Procedure A versus Procedure B), and native language (native versus non-native English speakers) on the comprehensibility, identification of content location, and task completion time of procedure documents for airplane maintenance. This research suggests that using SE significantly improves the comprehensibility of more complex documents. Further, readers of ...

The aim of this study was to examine whether locations of objects are encoded and available to the reader at different points in a narrative, depending on their causal relevance. Participants in five experiments read narratives in which the spatial relation between an object and its location either did or did not provide a causal explanation for a later critical event. Object and location target words were presented to the participants immediately before or after the critical event. Speeded recognition response times to target words demonstrated that both locations and objects were reactivated, but only after they became causally relevant. ...

The aim of this study was to examine whether locations of objects are encoded and available to the reader at different points in a narrative, depending on their causal relevance. Participants in five experiments read narratives in which the spatial relation between an object and its location either did or did not provide a causal explanation for a later critical event. Object and location target words were presented to the participants immediately before or after the critical event. Speeded recognition response times to target words demonstrated that both locations and objects were reactivated, but only after they became causally relevant. ...

The aim of this study was to examine whether locations of objects are encoded and available to the reader at different points in a narrative, depending on their causal relevance. Participants in five experiments read narratives in which the spatial relation between an object and its location either did or did not provide a causal explanation for a later critical event. Object and location target words were presented to the participants immediately before or after the critical event. Speeded recognition response times to target words demonstrated that both locations and objects were reactivated, but only after they became causally relevant. ...