Britt, M. A., & Larson, A. A. (2003). Constructing representations of arguments. Journal of Memory and Language, 48(4), 794-810.

Britt, M.;Larson, A.

2003

Britt, M. A., & Larson, A. A. (2003). Constructing representations of arguments. Journal of Memory and Language, 48(4), 794-810.

studie 4

Three experiments were conducted to test whether presentation order affects the reading and later recall of simple two-clause arguments. Participants read arguments in a claim-first order or in a reason-first order. Three experiments found that arguments were read faster when claims preceded reasons and this effect was independent of whether the reason began with a subordinating conjunction. Shorter reading times were observed for claims when they occurred in the initial position. Claims were also recalled better than reasons and claim-first arguments were recalled more accurately than reason-first arguments. Experiments 3a and 3b showed that readers identified claims by the presence of markers (e.g., modals and qualifiers) and that arguments with modals are read more quickly and recalled better in a claim-first order. These results suggest that readers use a claim centered argument schema to guide the processing of persuasive prose.

When claims are marked with a modal that clearly identifies it as a claim. Arguments are read more quickly and recalled better in a claim-first order. When the modal is omitted the claim-first advantage is eliminated. Thus, the preference for reading claims first only occurs when there is an unambiguous claim identification process.

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