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Processing Temporal Relationships in Simple Stories: Effects of Input Sequence. Technical Report No. 84.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Processing Temporal Relationships in Simple Stories: Effects of Input Sequence. Technical Report No. 84.
Authors: Baker, Linda, Illinois Univ., Urbana. Center for the Study of Reading., Bolt, Beranek and Newman, Inc., Cambridge, MA.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 54
Publication Date: 1978
Sponsoring Agency: National Inst. of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.
Document Type: Reports - Research
Descriptors: Cognitive Processes, College Students, Fixed Sequence, Higher Education, Memory, Reading Comprehension, Reading Processes, Reading Research, Recall (Psychology), Serial Ordering, Story Reading
Abstract: Four experiments examined the effect of input sequence on memory for simple stories. After reading stories written in either chronological or flashback sequence, subjects made a decision about the underlying order of occurrence of two events. Responses were consistently faster and more accurate on chronological sequences under three conditions of testing: immediately after reading, after a ten-second unfilled interval, and after a ten-second filled interval. It was also shown that decisions about input order were easier than decisions about underlying order when the stories contained flashbacks. These data indicate that subjects based their responses on a memory representation which preserved the input sequence of events. An additional finding was that decisions were easier when the events in the story had a logical progression rather than an arbitrary ordering, demonstrating an influence of prior knowledge. (Author)
Entry Date: 1978
Accession Number: ED157016
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Four experiments examined the effect of input sequence on memory for simple stories. After reading stories written in either chronological or flashback sequence, subjects made a decision about the underlying order of occurrence of two events. Responses were consistently faster and more accurate on chronological sequences under three conditions of testing: immediately after reading, after a ten-second unfilled interval, and after a ten-second filled interval. It was also shown that decisions about input order were easier than decisions about underlying order when the stories contained flashbacks. These data indicate that subjects based their responses on a memory representation which preserved the input sequence of events. An additional finding was that decisions were easier when the events in the story had a logical progression rather than an arbitrary ordering, demonstrating an influence of prior knowledge. (Author)