2 DECADES OF STRUCTURE BUILDING

During the past decade I have been developing a very simple framework for describing the cognitive processes and mechanisms involved in disc ourse comprehension. I call this framework the Structure Building Fram ework, and it is based on evidence provided during the first decade of discourse processing research. According to the Structure Building Fr amework, the goal of comprehension is to build coherent mental represe ntations or structures. Comprehenders build each structure by first la ying a foundation. Comprehenders develop mental structures by mapping on new information when that information coheres or relates to previou s information. However, when the incoming information is less related, comprehenders shift and attach a new substructure. The building block s of mental structures are memory nodes, which are activated by incomi ng stimuli and controlled by two cognitive mechanisms: suppression and enhancement. In this article, first I review the seminal work on whic h the Structure Building Framework is based (the first decade of struc ture building research); then I recount the research I have conducted to test the Structure Building Framework (the second decade of structu re building research).