Cognitive Structures in Human Story Comprehension and Memory.

Perry W. Thorndyke

Expert InsightsPublished 1975

Examines the effects of structure and content variables in memory and comprehension of prose passages. A process model for the comprehension of stories is proposed which assumes that stories are encoded in a hierarchical organizational framework which represents the abstract structural relationships of the plot. The implications of the model for the quality and characteristics of subjects' memory for stories is tested in a series of experiments. In general, subjects' recall of a story was found to be a function of the amount of inherent plot structure in the story. In addition, subjects' story summarizations from memory tended to emphasize general structural characteristics rather than specific content. A model for the use of inferences during story comprehension was tested. The general finding was that false recognition rates for implicit inferences from a story was a function of the plausibility of the inferences and their role as organizing and integrating devices for other information in the story. 174 pp. Ref. (A Stanford University doctoral dissertation.) (Author)

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1975
  • Pages: 174
  • Document Number: P-5513

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Thorndyke, Perry W., Cognitive Structures in Human Story Comprehension and Memory. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1975. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P5513.html.
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