Comprehension: A Paradigm for Cognition

by Walter Kintsch

Overview

In this book, Walter Kintsch presents a theory of human text comprehension and extends his analysis to related areas. Comprehension is conceptualized as a two-stage process: first, approximate, inaccurate representations are constructed via context insensitive construction rules, which are then integrated via a spreading activation constraint satisfaction process. In Part I, the general theory is presented and an attempt is made to situate it within the current theoretical landscape in cognitive science. The second part addresses many of the topics that are typically found in a cognitive psychology text, including how word meanings are identified in a discourse context; how words are combined to form coherent representations of texts, both at the local and global level; what the role is of working memory in comprehension; how relevant knowledge is activated during reading; and what is the distinction between remembering a text and learning from a text. Researchers in the fields of psychology and linguistics will find this to be a most welcome contribution from one of the discipline's most celebrated scholars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521583602
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/13/1998
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	5.91(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.14(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; Part I. The Theory: 2. Cognition and representation; 3. Propositional representations; 4. Modeling comprehension processes: the construction-integration model; Part II. Models of Comprehension: 5. Word identification in discourse; 6. Textbases and situation models; 7. The role of working memory in comprehension; 8. Memory for text; 9. Learning from text; 10. Word problems; 11. Beyond text; References; Name index; Subject index.

Editorial Reviews

"The text is well written and should be on the "must read" list for cognitive psychologists who are interested in text and discourse processing." Journal of Mathematical Psychology

"The text is well written and should be on the "must read" list for cognitive psychologists who are interested in text and discourse processing." Journal of Mathematical Psychology

From the Publisher