Situation models in text comprehension: Will emotionally relieving information be automatically activated?

It was tested whether the,,situation model" framework can be applied to res earch on coping processes. Therefore, subjects (N = 80) were presented with short episodes (formulated in re self-referent manner) about everyday situ ations which potentially ended in a negative way (e.g., failures in achieve ment situations; losses etc.). The first half of each episode contained a c ritical sentence with emotionally relieving information. Given a negative e nding, this information should be automatically activated due to its reliev ing effect. A two-factorial design was used. First, a phrase from the criti cal sentence was presented for recognition either after a negative ending, a positive ending, or before the ending. Second, with minor changes a contr ol sentence (with an additionally distressing character) was constructed fo r each potentially relieving sentence. As hypothesized, an interaction emer ged: Given a negative ending, the error rate was significantly lower for re lieving information than for the control version, whereas there was no diff erence if the test phrase was presented before the end or after a positive end.