HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Cited by other online articles Google Scholar Articles by Stine-Morrow, E. A. L. Articles by Leno, R. Articles citing this Article PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Stine-Morrow, E. A. L. Articles by Leno, R., III

Aging and the Representation of Spatial Situations in Narrative Understanding

^a Department of Psychology, University of New Hampshire, Durham

Elizabeth A. L. Stine-Morrow, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 210 Education Building MC-708, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820-6990 E-mail: eals{at}uiuc.edu.

Decision Editor: Margie E. Lachman, PhD

Age differences in the construction of the situation model during text understanding were investigated. Situation model processing was measured in terms of the distance effect, the tendency for readers to process information about objects in a narrative more quickly when the objects are spatially closer to the protagonist than when they are farther away. To examine readers' ability to construct the model directly from the text, the distance effect was contrasted for objects that were either presented in a layout of the narrative setting prior to reading (learned objects) or introduced in the narrative itself (new objects). Both younger and older readers showed strong distance effects for learned objects. When objects had not been learned but were only introduced in the text, however, younger adults did not show a reliable distance effect. Older adults with high levels of comprehension did, lending support to the position that older readers differentially rely on the situation model for effective narrative understanding.

This article has been cited by other articles: (Search Google Scholar for Other Citing Articles)

				K. L. Bopp and P. Verhaeghen Aging and Verbal Memory Span: A Meta-Analysis J. Gerontol. B. Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci., September 1, 2005; 60(5): P223 - P233. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]