Comprehension: A Paradigm for Cognition

by Walter Kintsch

• ISBN13: 9780521583602
• ISBN10: 0521583608
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1998-01-13
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Walter Kintsch presents a theory of human text comprehension and extends his analysis to related areas. Comprehension is conceptualized as a two-stage process: first, approximate, inaccurate representations are constructed via context-insensitive construction rules, which are then integrated via a spreading activation constraint-satisfaction process. In Part I, the general theory is presented and an attempt is made to situate it within the current theoretical landscape in cognitive science. Part II discusses such questions as: How are word meanings identified in a discourse context, representations of texts, both at the local and global level? How do texts and the mental models readers construct from them represent situations? What is the role of working memory in comprehension? What is the distinction between remembering a text and learning from a text? What are the implications of these findings for how people solve word problems, how they act out verbal instructions, and how they make decisions based on verbal information?

Table of Contents

Preface	xiii	(2)
Acknowledgments	xv
1. Introduction	1	(10)
1.1. Understanding and comprehension	2	(1)
1.2. A paradigm for cognition	3	(2)
1.3. The architecture of cognition	5	(2)
1.4. The goals and scope of the book	7	(4)
I. The theory	11	(110)
2. Cognition and representation	13	(36)
2.1. Multiple representations: How the mind represents the world	13	(19)
2.1.1. Types of mental representation	15	(4)
2.1.2. The evidence for levels of representations	19	(11)
2.1.3. Implications	30	(2)
2.2. Propositional representations: How science represents the mind	32	(17)
2.2.1. Features, semantic nets, and schemas	34	(3)
2.2.2. The predicate-argument schema: Networks of propositions	37	(5)
2.2.3. Encapsulated meaning	42	(2)
2.2.4. Imagery	44	(5)
3. Propositional representations	49	(44)
3.1. The propositional representation of text	49	(24)
3.1.1. The microstructure	50	(14)
3.1.2. The macrostructure	64	(5)
3.1.3. The psychological reality of propositions	69	(4)
3.2. The propositional representation of knowledge	73	(13)
3.2.1. The construction of meaning: Concepts	74	(8)
3.2.2. Emergent structures	82	(4)
3.3. Latent semantic analysis: A vector representation	86	(7)
4. Modeling comprehension processes: The construction-integration model	93	(28)
4.1. Construction and integration	96	(5)
4.2. Processing cycles in text comprehension	101	(2)
4.3. Textbase and situation model	103	(15)
4.3.1. Imagery as a situation model	108	(3)
4.3.2. A script-based situation model	111	(7)
4.4. Earlier versions of the model	118	(3)
II. Models of comprehension	121	(304)
5. Word identification in discourse	123	(44)
5.1. The construction of word meanings	123	(21)
5.1.1. From the retina to working memory	124	(4)
5.1.2. Homographs	128	(2)
5.1.3. Local and global priming in discourse: What words mean	130	(6)
5.1.4. A simulation of priming effects in discourse	136	(8)
5.2. Anaphora	144	(13)
5.2.1. The psycholinguistics of anaphora resolution	144	(5)
5.2.2. Anaphora resolution in the CI model	149	(8)
5.3. Metaphor	157	(10)
6. Textbases and situation models	167	(48)
6.1. Parsing	168	(6)
6.2. Macrostructure formation	174	(14)
6.2.1. Signaling the macrostructure	177	(4)
6.2.2. Dominance of the macrostructure: Contradictions in the text	181	(3)
6.2.3. Macrostructure as vectors in the LSA space	184	(4)
6.3. Inferences	188	(11)
6.3.1. Classification of inferences	189	(4)
6.3.2. Inference generation during discourse comprehension	193	(5)
6.3.3. Time course for constructing knowledge-based inferences	198	(1)
6.3.4. The construction of situation models	198	(1)
6.4. Spatial situation models	199	(5)
6.5. Literary texts	204	(11)
6.5.1. Versification as a source of constraints	206	(3)
6.5.2. Multilevel situation models	209	(2)
6.5.3. Comprehension strategies for literary language	211	(4)
7. The role of working memory in comprehension	215	(32)
7.1. Working memory and skilled memory	217	(4)
7.2. Long-term working memory in text comprehension	221	(3)
7.3. Retrieval structures in the CI model	224	(11)
7.3.1. Episodic text memory during comprehension	224	(3)
7.3.2. The activation of knowledge during comprehension	227	(7)
7.3.3. The short-term memory buffer	234	(1)
7.4. An LSA model of retrieval structures	235	(3)
7.5. Capacity differences in working memory?	238	(9)
8. Memory for text	247	(35)
8.1. Recognition memory	247	(17)
8.1.1. List-learning data and theory	247	(4)
8.1.2. Sentence recognition	251	(13)
8.2. Recall and summarization	264	(18)
8.2.1. Simulations of story recall	268	(9)
8.2.2. Evaluation of summaries	277	(5)
9. Learning from text	282	(50)
9.1. What makes for a good reader?	282	(8)
9.1.1. Decoding skills	282	(2)
9.1.2. Language skills	284	(3)
9.1.3. Domain knowledge	287	(3)
9.2. Learning and memory	290	(5)
9.2.1. Textbase and situation model	291	(2)
9.2.2. Learning	293	(2)
9.3. The measurement of learning	295	(7)
9.4. A simulation of learning with the CI model	302	(5)
9.5. Using coherent text to improve learning	307	(6)
9.6. Improving learning by stimulating active processing	313	(10)
9.7. Matching students with instructional texts	323	(4)
9.8. Educational implications	327	(5)
10. Word problems	332	(39)
10.1. Word arithmetic problems	333	(25)
10.1.1. Schemas for solving word arithmetic problems	334	(5)
10.1.2. Error simulation	339	(6)
10.1.3. Situation models	345	(2)
10.1.4. The CI model for word problem solving	347	(7)
10.1.5. The emergence of schemas	354	(4)
10.2. Word algebra problems	358	(13)
10.2.1. Algebraic schemas	359	(1)
10.2.2. A model for word algebra problems	360	(4)
10.2.3. The ANIMATE tutor for solving word algebra problems	364	(7)
11. Beyond text	371	(54)
11.1. Action planning	372	(22)
11.1.1. Routine actions	372	(9)
11.1.2. Novices and experts	381	(6)
11.1.3. Simulation of errors	387	(7)
11.2. Problem solving, decision, and judgment	394	(15)
11.2.1. The role of comprehension in problem solving and decision making	394	(8)
11.2.2. Impression formation	402	(7)
11.3. The representation of the self in working memory	409	(12)
11.3.1. Evaluative and motivational functions of self representation	413	(6)
11.3.2. Cognition and emotion	419	(2)
11.4. Outlook	421	(4)
References	425	(24)
Name Index	449	(10)
Subject Index	459