Spatial descriptions and referential continuity

Ehrlich, Kate; Johnson‐Laird, P. N.

doi:10.1016/s0022-5371(82)90626-0

Cited by 196 publications

(111 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…For studies in which the spatial relations were the focus (e.g., Bransford et aI., 1972;Ehrlich & Johnson-Laird, 1982;Radvansky & Zacks, 1991), an explicit understanding of the spatial structure of the situation is needed to perform the task, and thus serves as functional information. When there is extensive prior knowledge about an area or region, subsequent information about spatial shifts is more meaningful (e.g., Morrow et aI., 1987;Rinck & Bower, 1995;Zwaan et aI., 1998).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies seem to suggest that spatial information plays a central role. It has been found that models are easier to construct when the information clearly refers to a common spatial structure (Ehrlich & Johnson-Laird, 1982). Also, information availability may be influenced by its relative orientation to a central entity, such as a protagonist (Franklin & Tversky, 1990).…”

Section: Spatial Information and Situation Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Functionality and spatial relations in memory and language

Radvansky

Copeland

2000

Memory & Cognition

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We examined whether the functionality of spatial relations affects the construction and memory of information in situation models. A functional relationship involves the interaction of entities that is implied by either typical use or contextual demands. Previous research has shown that spatial relations are less likely to be encoded during comprehension unless there is extensive prior knowledge, explicit instructions to attend to spatial information, or a clear emphasis on spatial information. Ifthe construction of a situation model is guided by a need to understand the functional structure of a situation, then functional spatial relations should be more likely to be encoded. The results of our study showed that sentences with functional spatial relations were read faster and remembered better in both recall and recognition tests than sentences with nonfunctional spatial relations.A situation model is a mental representation of a specific situation (Johnson-Laird, 1983;van Dijk & Kintsch, 1983;. In text comprehension, situation models represent the described situation, not the text itself (Glenberg, Meyer, & Lindem, 1987). Thus, these representations serve as working models of the world. The organization of information in situation models not only is relevant for comprehension, but also has implications for the later memory ofthat information (Radvansky & Zacks, 1997). This is important because information that is comprehended is relatively valueless unless it can be usefully retained and retrieved over time. The present study assessed whether the functionality of relational information affects its encoding and memory in a situation model. The particular focus was on spatial relations because they are a situational component that is relatively easy to test in an objective fashion and because spatial information is one of the more heavily studied aspects of situation models. FunctionalityFor our purposes, the term functionality refers to the actual or likely interaction between two or more entities in a situation in which the state of one entity would be affected by a second entity in a meaningful way. There are several aspects of this description that warrant elaboration. First, there is the idea ofan interaction. There is some involvement of the entities with one another in a functional Portions of this research were presented at the 1999 meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago. We thank Laura Carlson-Radvansky and RolfZwaan for their helpful comments during the course of the project. and Kelly Crowhurst, Jackie Curiel. and Bill

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Spatial Information and Situation Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functionality and spatial relations in memory and language

Radvansky

Copeland

2000

Memory & Cognition

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“…Previous research (e.g., Mynatt & Smith, 1977;Oakhill & Johnson-Laird, 1984;Potts, 1972) has shown that reasoning performance is better when the premises are presented in a continuous order (e.g., AB, BC, CD) than when they are presented in a discontinuous (e.g., AB, CD, BC) or in a semi-continuous order (e.g., BC, CD, AB) (but see Ehrlich & Johnson-Laird, 1982). For the discontinuous order, this is due to the fact that up to a certain point (in the example: up to the second premise), no integrated representation can be constructed (e.g., Potts, 1972).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is model construction open to strategic decisions? An exploration in the field of linear reasoning

Dierckx

Vandierendonck

Pandelaere

2003

Thinking & Reasoning

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This paper reports four experiments investigating whether model construction of linear reasoning problems is open to strategic decisions. A reversed choice/nochoice paradigm was used in which reasoners first had to apply two model construction strategies (acronym and rehearsal strategy) to two problem sets. Next, they could choose freely among the two strategies to apply to a new problem set. Experiment 1 showed that reasoners selected the strategy that they experienced as the most accurate one in the no-choice phase. Moreover, in Experiment 2, it was found that reasoners adapted their strategy choice to changing problem features, to use the most suitable strategy for premise encoding. Experiments 3 and 4 generalised these findings to more complex linear reasoning problems with a mixed sentence frame and a semi-continuous presentation of the premises, and to two-model problems. On the basis of these results, we argue that strategic decisions influence model construction in linear reasoning.For a long time, research in deductive reasoning has been driven by intense debates on the nature of the reasoning mechanism underlying all types of deductive reasoning. The heart of this controversy concerned the question of whether reasoning involves the syntactic application of natural deduction rules (mental rule theories; e.g., Rips, 1994) or is based upon the construction and manipulation of mental models representing the

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“…This work was based on a study by Ehrlich and Johnson-Laird (1982) that examined the use of textbase and situation model representations when descriptions of spatial relations were comprehended. In this task, people were given three sentence descriptions of the arrangement of four objects.…”

Section: Exceptions To Age Invariance In Situation Model Processingmentioning

confidence: 99%