Memory‐based processing in understanding causal information

TLDR

Reading depends on both the text and the reader, with propositions matched to prior discourse memory and long‑term knowledge, making memory‑based processing a blend of bottom‑up and top‑down activation. The article examines how cognitive structures, particularly the causal category, shape reader knowledge and influence text processing. Studies show that texts rich in causal categories are processed more readily.

Abstract

Abstract The reading process depends both on the text and on the reader. When we read a text, propositions in the current input are matched to propositions in the memory representation of the previous discourse but also to knowledge structures in long‐term memory. Therefore, memory‐based text processing refers both to the bottom‐up processing of the text and to the top‐down activation of the reader's knowledge. In this article, we focus on the role of cognitive structures in the reader's knowledge. We argue that causality is an important category in structuring human knowledge and that this property has consequences for text processing. Some research is discussed that illustrates that the more the information in the text reflects causal categories, the more easily the information is processed.