Antecedent search processes and the structure of text

Abstract

Kintsch and van Dijk (1978) assumed that when a reader encounters a reference to a concept no longer available in short-term memory, a search through long-term memory for the original concept is necessary. In the present study, four experiments addressed the nature of this search process. In the first two, subjects read passages that contained two possible antecedents: one appearing early in the passages and the other appearing relatively late. Reading time differences demonstrated that late antecedents are reinstated more quickly than early antecedents, which is in disagreement with predictions from several search models within the Kintsch and van Dijk framework. The best account of the reinstatement time differences assumes that text is represented as an integrated network accessed by a backward parallel search. Experiment 3 demonstrated that naming time, as used in the current studies, measures only current activation and is not sensitive to differences in long-term memory strength. Experiment 4 provided further support for the assumptions of a backward parallel-search model by showing that concepts appearing between an antecedent and the end of a passage are often accessed during the search for the antecedent.