Spatial situation models and narrative understanding: Some generalizations and extensions

The generality of effects of situation models on narrative comprehension was investigated. In three experiments, a spatial gradient of accessibility in situation models was observed. The accessibility of objects contained in the situation model decreased with increasing spatial distance between the object and the focus of attention in the readers' situation model. A variety of factors that might influence the spatial gradient effect were investigated: the way the relevant spatial information was acquired (studying a text vs. a layout), the spatial scenario (a research center vs. a day care center), the direction of spatial distance (backward vs. forward on the route), the language used (English vs. German), the manner in which the accessibility of objects was probed (object probe pairs vs. anaphoric sentences), the existence of prior knowledge about the objects (objects learned as part of the scenario vs. unknown objects), and the participants' task (reading narratives vs. imagining their own movements). Despite these variations, a spatial gradient was observed in all three experiments, indicating that the effects of spatial situation models may be generalized to a variety of experimental paradigms and cognitive tasks.