Narrative comprehension and aging: The fate of completed goal information.

Abstract

Previous research has shown that older adults are able to use situation models in a manner similar to younger adults. However, other areas of cognition have shown that older adults are less able to remove irrelevant information from the current stream of processing. Accordingly, the authors tested whether older and younger adults would differ in reducing the availability of information about a completed goal in a situation model during narrative comprehension. In 2 experiments, memory probes tested for the availability of protagonist goal information during reading when it was either failed goal, completed goal, or neutral information. The results for both age groups showed that goal information was most available in the failed goal condition, less available in the completed goal condition, and least available in the neutral condition. No reliable differences between younger and older adults in the pattern of response times were observed. Reading time data were also examined to explore the possibility that older adults engage in a longer wrap-up period after a goal is completed, but no such difference was found. Language comprehension proceeds at many different levels. Most researchers have distinguished among at least three: (a) the surface level, which is composed of the actual words and syntax used, (b) the propositional level, which captures the meaning of an utterance in an abstract form, and (c) the situation model, which captures the gist of the situation described by an utterance (e.g.,

Age differences in tracking characters during narrative comprehension

“…Some have argued, then, that aging brings qualitative differences in reading with the construction of a situation model prioritized over the textbase representation (Radvansky et al, 2001;Radvansky & Dijkstra, 2007;Stine-Morrow et al, 2002). For example, older adults are typically as good as, or better than, younger adults at updating the spatial situation during narrative comprehension (Morrow, Leirer, Al tieri, & Fitzsimmons, 1994;Stine-Morrow et al, 2002) and at updating a character's emotional and motivational state (Radvansky & Curiel, 1998;Soederberg & Stine, 1995). Older adults are more attentive to character shifts during reading.…”

Aging and situation model processing

“…A study by Radvansky and Curiel (1998) examined younger and older adults, using a methodology developed by Suh and Trabasso (1993) and Lutz and Radvansky (1997). In this paradigm, people read texts in which a character goal was introduced (e.g., Jimmy wanted to get a bike).…”

Goal coordination in narrative comprehension

“…To appreciate a story plot, readers must understand how the characters' actions f it their goals Magliano, Zwaan, & Graesser, 1998;Trabasso et al, 1989). There is substantial evidence that such goals are highly accessible during comprehension (Albrecht & Myers, 1995;Goldman & Varnhagen, 1986;Lutz & Radvansky, 1997;Radvansky & Curiel, 1998;Singer & Halldorson, 1996;van den Broek & Lorch, 1993).…”