Situation models and text comprehension - Findings and problems

Recent theories of text comprehension assume that readers build a represent ation of the situation described by a text additon to a representation of t he text itself. This level of representation, the situation model, is consi dered tantamount to deep comprehension of the text. This paper gives an ove rview of the empirical results concerning the role of situation models in t ext comprehension. The description is guided by a number of questions, name ly, what information is represented in situation models, and what the preco nditions for building a situation model are, Moreover, effects of situation models on processes involved in text comprehension as well as the represen tational format of situation models are discussed. Finally, problems and op en questions regarding research on situation models are mentioned, and dire ctions for further research are suggested.