SPATIAL SITUATION MODELS AND NARRATIVE UNDERSTANDING - SOME GENERALIZATIONS AND EXTENSIONS

The generality of effects of situation models on narrative comprehensi on was investigated. In three experiments, a spatial gradient of acces sibility in situation models was observed. The accessibility of object s contained in the situation model decreased with increasing spatial d istance between the object and the focus of attention in the readers' situation model. A variety of factors that might influence the spatial gradient effect were investigated: the way the relevant spatial infor mation was acquired (studying a text vs. a layout), the spatial scenar io (a research center vs. a day care center), the direction of spatial distance (backward vs. forward on the route), the language used (Engl ish vs. German), the manner in which the accessibility of objects was probed (object probe pairs vs. anaphoric sentences), the existence of prior knowledge about the objects (objects learned as part of the scen ario vs. unknown objects), and the participants' task (reading narrati ves vs. imagining their own movements). Despite these variations, a sp atial gradient was observed in all three experiments, indicating that the effects of spatial situation models may be generalized to a variet y of experimental paradigms and cognitive tasks.