Albrecht, J. E., & Myers, J. L. (1995). Role of context in accessing distant information during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21(6), 1459-1468.

Albrecht, J.; Myers, J.

1995

Albrecht, J. E., & Myers, J. L. (1995). Role of context in accessing distant information during reading. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 21(6), 1459-1468.

2

In 3 experiments, the authors investigated factors that influence accessibility of backgrounded goal information. Participants read texts consisting of 2 episodes. In the 1st episode, the goal was satisfied or unsatisfied. Following a statement of goal satisfaction or goal postponement, there was a 2nd unrelated episode. After completion of the 2nd episode, target sentences were presented that were consistent with the 2nd episode but were inconsistent with completion of the earlier unsatisfied goal. Participants noticed the inconsistency only then the conflicting information was separated by a few sentences or when the context of the goal had been reinstated. The results are consistent with the resonance model described by J.E. Albrecht and E.J. O'Brien (1993) and by J.L. Myers, E.J. O'Brien, J.E. Albrecht and R.A. Mason (1994).

The results suggest that the additional overlap provided by the context-reinstatement phrase was successful in reactivating the previously back grounded goal. The results of experiment 1 and 2 suggest that the presence of a phrase that reinstated the context of the goal in the first episode increased the likelihood that the goal information was also accessed and available for processing when the first target sentence was read.

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