On-line Comprehension Processes Research Articles

Computer programmers show distinct, expertise-dependent brain responses to violations in form and meaning when reading code

As computer programming becomes more central to the workforce, the need for better models of how it is effectively learned has become more apparent. The current study addressed this gap by recording electrophysiological brain responses as 62 Python programmers with varying skill levels read lines of code with manipulations of form (syntax) and meaning (semantics). At the group level, results showed that manipulations of form resulted in P600 effects, with syntactically invalid code generating more positive deflections in the 500–800 ms range than syntactically valid code. Meaning manipulations resulted in N400 effects, with semantically implausible code generating more negative deflections in the 300–500 ms range than semantically plausible code. Greater Python expertise within the group was associated with greater sensitivity to violations in form. These results support the notion that skilled programming, like skilled natural language learning, is associated with the incorporation of rule-based knowledge into online comprehension processes. Conversely, programmers at all skill levels showed neural sensitivity to meaning manipulations, suggesting that reliance on pre-existing semantic relationships facilitates code comprehension across skill levels.

A computational modeling of semantic knowledge in reading comprehension: Integrating the landscape model with latent semantic analysis.

It is a well-accepted view that the prior semantic (general) knowledge that readers possess plays a central role in reading comprehension. Nevertheless, computational models of reading comprehension have not integrated the simulation of semantic knowledge and online comprehension processes under a unified mathematical algorithm. The present article introduces a computational model that integrates the landscape model of comprehension processes with latent semantic analysis representation of semantic knowledge. In three sets of simulations of previous behavioral findings, the integrated model successfully simulated the activation and attenuation of predictive and bridging inferences during reading, as well as centrality estimations and recall of textual information after reading. Analyses of the computational results revealed new theoretical insights regarding the underlying mechanisms of the various comprehension phenomena.

Task-oriented reading of multiple documents: online comprehension processes and offline products

We explored readers’ judgments of text relevance and strategy use while they read about a controversial scientific issue in multiple conflicting documents using a think-aloud methodology and had them write a short essay after reading. Participants were university-level students. There were three main findings. First, readers discriminated between more- and less-relevant information while they read. Second, the frequency with which they used strategies differed while they read more- and less-relevant information. Specifically, while they read more-relevant information, students were more likely to build connections between that information and information in other texts. Third, their judgments of more-relevant segments as relevant and their evaluation of less-relevant information while they read were related to the quality of students’ essays after they read. We discuss how the findings may contribute to the literature on task-oriented reading of multiple documents.

Novice Learners, Longitudinal Designs, and Event‐Related Potentials: A Means for Exploring the Neurocognition of Second Language Processing

Research on the neurobiology of second language (L2) learning has historically focused on localization questions and relied on cross‐sectional designs. Here, we describe an alternative paradigm involving longitudinal studies of adult, novice learners who are progressing through an introductory sequence of classroom‐based L2 instruction. The goal of this paradigm is to determine how much L2 exposure is needed before learners incorporate L2 knowledge into their online comprehension processes, as reflected in scalp‐recorded event‐related brain potentials. Our preliminary studies show that some, but not all, aspects of the L2 (including lexical and morphosyntactic aspects) are incorporated into the comprehension system after remarkably little L2 instruction. We discuss the benefits of this paradigm while acknowledging the limitations and potential difficulties associated with it.

The computational implementation of the landscape model: Modeling inferential processes and memory representations of text comprehension

The complexity of text comprehension demands a computational approach to describe the cognitive processes involved. In this article, we present the computational implementation of the landscape model of reading. This model captures both on-line comprehension processes during reading and the off-line memory representation after reading is completed, incorporating both memory-based and coherence-based mechanisms of comprehension. The overall architecture and specific parameters of the program are described, and a running example is provided. Several studies comparing computational and behavioral data indicate that the implemented model is able to account for cycle-by-cycle comprehension processes and memory for a variety of text types and reading situations.

Inferred goals in narratives: Evidence from self-paced reading, recall, and eye movements.

Three convergent methodologies were used to investigate the generation and reinstatement of goals not explicitly stated in a text. Readers read paragraphs adapted from J. S. Huitema, S. Dopkins, C. M. Klin, & J. L. Myers's (1993) study, which conveyed a character's goal early in the text. The goal was either stated explicitly or implied. An event was described later in the text that was either consistent or inconsistent with the goal. Line-by-line reading data, recall for the narratives, and eye-movement data were collected. Evidence is presented that readers infer a character's goal online at the time the information is presented, and the inferred goal functions like an explicitly stated goal in online comprehension processes and in the resulting memory representation.

Eye movements and on-line language comprehension processes

Abstract Eye movement records have been used profitably to study on-line comprehension processes in reading. We present some basic facts about eye movements during reading, emphasising issues concerning the use of eye movement data to infer cognitive processes that are involved in (1) word processing, (2) syntactic parsing, and (3) higher-order processes. We review research on each of these topics and present new data dealing with word processing and high-order processes. We conclude that the analysis of eye movement records provides a great deal of useful information about on-line processing and that eye movement recording is a good way to study many critical issues concerning language comprehension processes.