Berry, C., Scheffler, A., & Goldstein, C. (1993). Effects of text structure on the impact of heard news. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 7(5), 381-395.

Berry, C.; Scheffler, A.; Goldstein, C.

1993

Berry, C., Scheffler, A., & Goldstein, C. (1993). Effects of text structure on the impact of heard news. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 7(5), 381-395.

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2 experiments with 36 community volunteers and 123 undergraduates are conducted in which audio re-recordings of texts transcribed from TV newscasts were presented to independent groups, one group in each case hearing a bulletin with original text structures (as broadcast), the other with key stories revised in accord with story-grammar notions and restoring chronological sequence in the narrative. Text restructuring improved learning, especially of information central to the main points of stories. Such text revision also affected judgments of bias without altering assessment of writing quality. Attention to assuring more coherent story structures in newscast texts could counter the problems of audiences' poor comprehension and perceived bias that result from production priorities and practices.

As predicted, restructuring of a complex news item on 'story grammar' lines enhanced information gained from a text disrupted by journalistic production considerationsin its original from. The significant background knowledge effect is consistentw ith the notion that larger semantic structures are implicated in the effective registering of news information.

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