From simple agents to information sources : Readers’ differential processing of story characters as a function of story consistency

• Autores: Saux, Gastón; Vibert, Nicolás; Dampuré, Julien; Burin, Débora; Britt, Anne M.; Rouet, Jean-François
• Año de publicación: 2021
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Fuente: Acta Psychologica. 2021, 212
• Materia: MEMORIA; FUENTES DE INFORMACION; COMPRENSION DE TEXTOS; VISION
• Institución: Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina

Fil: Saux, Gastón. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina; Argentina
Fil: Saux, Gastón. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Vibert, Nicolás. Centro de Investigación sobre Cognición y Aprendizaje; Francia
Fil: Dampuré, Julien. Universidad de La Sabana. Facultad de Psicología; Colombia
Fil: Burin, Débora I. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina
Fil: Burin, Débora I. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Britt, Anne M. Universidad del Norte de Illinois; Estados Unidos
Fil: Rouet, Jean-François. Centro de Investigación sobre Cognición y Aprendizaje; Francia
Abstract: The study examined how readers integrate information from and about multiple information sources into a memory representation. In two experiments, college students read brief news reports containing two critical statements, each attributed to a source character. In half of the texts, the statements were consistent with each other, in the other half they were discrepant. Each story also featured a non-source character (who made no statement). The hypothesis was that discrepant statements, as compared to consistent statements, would promote distinct attention and memory only for the source characters. Experiment 1 used short interviews to assess participants’ ability to recognize the source of one of the statements after reading. Experiment 2 used eyetracking to collect data during reading and during a source-content recognition task after reading. As predicted, discrepancies only enhanced memory of, and attention to source-related segments of the texts. Discrepancies also enhanced the link between the two source characters in memory as opposed to the non-source character, as indicated by the participants’ justifications (Experiment 1) and their visual inspection of the recognition items (Experiment 2). The results are interpreted within current theories of text comprehension and document literacy.