Knowledge Activation, Integration, and Validation During Narrative Text Comprehension

Abstract

Previous text comprehension studies using the contradiction paradigm primarily tested assumptions of the activation mechanism involved in reading. However, the nature of the contradiction in such studies relied on validation of information in readers' general world knowledge. We directly tested this validation process by varying the strength of the relation between information presented in a narrative and information in general world knowledge. In Experiment 1, we found that the strength and timing of the inconsistency effect depended on the strength of this relation. Experiments 2 and 3 demonstrated that this was due to differences in the rates at which readers activated, integrated, and validated information in the high- and low-related conditions. The results are explained within the context of a view of reading that incorporates resonance (R), integration (I), and validation (Val) processes during reading—the RI-Val view of comprehension.