Tracking conceptual and semantic processing in the comprehension and production of text and discourse.

Abstract

Current research on text and discourse processing has focussed on the nature of conceptual and semantic representation and processing, and the relationship between conceptual knowledge and the structure and processing of text or discourse. It is now generally recognized that discourse comprehension involves the construction of a conceptual by a listener or reader, that is, a conceptual representation that is appropriate to the content and context of a text or discourse. These constructive processes are based on: (a) propositional information that is encoded in the sentences that comprise a discourse, (b) an individual's prior conceptual knowledge, and (c) other information that is available within the situation within which the text or discourse occurs.Current psychological models of discourse production view discourse processing as a process of translating conceptual knowledge structures into rhetorical discourse structures that are appropriate to a communicative situation and setting. One important component of such translation is the construction of a conceptual situation model to be communicated to a listener or reader. A second is the construction of a propositional text base to specify precisely the semantic content to be expressed through segments of text or discourse. A third is to define a discourse organization that appropriately guides the reader in constructing a conceptual situation model from the text.Discourse, then, is currently viewed as a reflection of complex, multi-layered cognitive processes that involve constructing and operating simultaneously on linguistic, propositional, semantic, and conceptual knowledge representations. While theories of discourse representation and processing have progressed, research and assessment methods have had difficulty keeping up with these theoretical developments. The problem is to advance the development of methods that can enable use to track an individual's conceptual and semantic processing of discourse during reading or other discourse tasks, that is, obtain data on line that reflect the processes that an individual uses to construct a conceptual situation model in comprehending, producing, or using discourse for specific purposes within situations. This is analogous to the methodological problem in research on problem solving in which what is desired is to track the individual's problem solving processes within situations. This is analogous to the methodological problem in research on problem solving in which what is desired is to track the individual's problem solving processes and representations of problem states in real time. In research on problem solving, the solution has been to employ models of procedural knowledge and of problem states to analyze verbal protocols obtained from subject solving problems in a particular domain. Protocol analysis provides a methodology that can be used for monitoring knowledge and cognitive processing in solving problems in particular domains.In research on text comprehension, recall protocols have long been used as an off-line source of information about the conceptual and semantic representations and processing of subjects in comprehending texts. …