McCown, R. R., & Miller, R. B. (1986). Referential coherence and structural height in text processing. American Educational Research Journal, 23(1), 77-86.

McCown, R.; Miller, R.

1986

McCown, R. R., & Miller, R. B. (1986). Referential coherence and structural height in text processing. American Educational Research Journal, 23(1), 77-86.

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Two studies examined 2 explanations of the levels effect in text memory. The structural height account emphasizes the height of an area in a text structure as the major determinant of the idea's memorability. The referential coherence explanation focuses on the nature of the cognitive processes that occur during comprehension. 144 undergraduates read 1 of 4 versions of a text that varied the height of target paragraphs and the referential coherence of text subsequent to the target paragraphs. Free-recall protocols were scored for the presence of propositions from the target paragraph. Results support the predictions of the referential coherence formulation and fail to support the structural height account.

Neither the structural position factor nor the interaction was significant. Hence, when the target paragraph was followed by information that was referentially related, recall of the target information was better than when the target paragraph was followed by information that was not referentially related. The findings of both experiments support the coherence determination account while contradicting the basis prediction of height explanations. In both experiments only the manipulations of the referential relationship between the target and subsequent paragraphs produced any significant changes in recall of target propositions. The identical patterns of significance in both experiments diminish the possibility of passage effects.

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