Causal coherence and the availability of locations and objects during narrative comprehension

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine whether locations of objects are encoded and available to the reader at different points in a narrative, depending on their causal relevance. Participants in five experiments read narratives in which the spatial relation between an object and its location either did or did not provide a causal explanation for a later critical event. Object and location target words were presented to the participants immediately before or after the critical event. Speeded recognition response times to target words demonstrated that both locations and objects were reactivated, but only after they became causally relevant. The results suggest that the causal structure of a text can influence the availability of spatial information and that at least some spatial relations are encoded during reading and are available to the reader when they are needed to build coherence.