Albrecht, J. E., & Myers, J. L. (1998). Accessing distant text information during reading: Effects of contextual cues. Discourse Processes, 26(2), 87-107.

Albrecht, J.; Myers, J.

1998

Albrecht, J. E., & Myers, J. L. (1998). Accessing distant text information during reading: Effects of contextual cues. Discourse Processes, 26(2), 87-107.

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In 5 experiments, we investigated conditions under which readers access distant information. Participants read texts containing 2 episodes; the first of which described a goal that was satisfied or unsatisfied. Following the 2nd episode, participants read a statement that reinstated some part of the goal context. Experiments 1 through 3 demonstrated that reactivation of unsatisfied goal information depended on the type of original goal context and whether it was fully reinstated. Experiments 4 and 5 demonstrated that, when the context was associated with both episodes, reinstatement of goal information from the distant target episode was successful only when the context was fully reinstated (Experiment 4). The results are consistent with models of comprehension that assume reactivation of relevant backgrounded information is achieved via a resonance process.

Recent experiments have demonstrated in a number of paradigms that concepts and propositions in text currently being read can reactivate related concepts that had been presented earlier in a at ext but had then been backgrounded by a shift in topic. These experiments have led investigators to argue that the process underlying the activation of information in the text representation has the characteristics of any memory retrieve proves. Within this memory-based framework, the current experiments investigated factors that should influence reactivation of backgrounded episode. The results of the current experiments, together with those of Albrecht and Myers, demonstrate not only that reactivation of backgrounded information requires the presence of contextual cues but also that the form of the original context, the relation of context and cue, and associations of the cue to other parts of the text representation all affect the activation process.

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