MOTIVE AND OPPORTUNITY - SOME COMMENTS ON LSA, HAL, KDC, AND PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS

The articles in this special issue describe new, highly quantitative t echniques for exploring readers' mental representations of discourse. These articles make a strong case that these techniques can be used to solve interesting theoretical and applied problems. As a result, rese archers in the area of discourse comprehension and the mental represen tation of discourse should feel motivated to adopt these techniques. I n some cases their ability to do so will be enhanced by the availabili ty of well-documented, easy-to-use computer software, complete with de monstrations and examples. In other cases, they are likely to be stymi ed by the unavailability of software and support.