Fluctuations in the Availability of Information During Reading: Capturing Cognitive Processes Using the Landscape Model

Abstract

In this investigation, we examine the availability of text elements over the course of reading a text. We describe the Landscape model (van den Broek, Young, Tzeng, & Linderholm, 1999) that captures, in one theoretical framework, multiple cognitive processes during reading and the resulting fluctuating activations of text elements. To demonstrate the applicability of the Landscape model, we simulate the availability of text elements in two reading situations. First, the Landscape model is shown to incorporate readers� specific purpose for reading, affecting the availability of text elements as a function of different standards of coherence. Second, the Landscape model is shown to incorporate readers� background knowledge during reading, allowing readers to detect inconsistencies in a text. Theoretical accounts such as the Landscape model extend our understanding of—and to investigate—the process of reading by providing information about the availability of text elements in a unified theoretical framework, thereby extending and complementing behavioral data.