Abstract
Experiments have shown that compared to fictional texts, readers read factual texts faster and have better memory for described situations. Reading fictional texts on the other hand seems to improve memory for exact wordings and expressions. Most of these studies used a “newspaper” vs. “literature” comparison. In the present study, we investigated the effect of reader's expectation to whether information is true or fictional with a subtler manipulation by labeling short stories as either based on true or fictional events. In addition, we tested whether narrative perspective or individual preference in perspective taking affects reading true or fictional stories differently. In an online experiment, participants (final N = 1,742) read one story which was introduced as based on true events or as fictional (factor fictionality). The story could be narrated in either 1st or 3rd person perspective (factor perspective). We measured immersion in and appreciation of the story, perspective taking, as well as memory for events. We found no evidence that knowing a story is fictional or based on true events influences reading behavior or experiential aspects of reading. We suggest that it is not whether a story is true or fictional, but rather expectations toward certain reading situations (e.g., reading newspaper or literature) which affect behavior by activating appropriate reading goals. Results further confirm that narrative perspective partially influences perspective taking and experiential aspects of reading.
Highlights
The main goal of the present study investigated whether expectations regarding a story being based on true or fictional events alone can drive differences in reading behavior and affective responses during reading
Perspective Taking For the 1st person perspective taking questionnaire item we observe a main effect of perspective (β = −0.24, s.e. = 0.11, t = −2.16, p < 0.05, see Figure 2) meaning that readers are less likely to engage in 1st person perspective taking when reading a story in 3rd person perspective
The only appreciation measure in which we find a difference between 1st and 3rd person stories is on the item “sad.” Here, 3rd person stories were rated as sadder than 1st person stories
Summary
The main goal of the present study investigated whether expectations regarding a story being based on true or fictional events alone can drive differences in reading behavior and affective responses during reading. Zwaan (1994) showed that knowing that a text was taken from a newspaper (factual) or from a novel (fictional) influences reading behavior and memory. In two studies he reported that texts labeled as factual were read faster compared to fictional texts (see Wolfe, 2005; Altmann et al, 2014). Readers showed better performance on situational memory for factual texts, but better memory for the text’s surface structure for fictional texts (Zwaan, 1994).
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