Inferences during Reading

Edward J. O'Brien, Anne E. Cook, Robert F. Lorch, Jr

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781107049796
• eBook ISBN: 9781316309155
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Cognitive Psychology & Cognition
• Index: Psychology

Inferencing is defined as 'the act of deriving logical conclusions from premises known or assumed to be true', and it is one of the most important processes necessary for successful comprehension during reading. This volume features contributions by distinguished researchers in cognitive psychology, educational psychology, and neuroscience on topics central to our understanding of the inferential process during reading. The chapters cover aspects of inferencing that range from the fundamental bottom-up processes that form the basis for an inference to occur, to the more strategic processes that transpire when a reader is engaged in literary understanding of a text. Basic activation mechanisms, word-level inferencing, methodological considerations, inference validation, causal inferencing, emotion, development of inferences processes as a skill, embodiment, contributions from neuroscience, and applications to naturalistic text are all covered as well as expository text, online learning materials, and literary immersion.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Table of contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of boxes
• List of contributors
• Preface
• 1 Comprehending implicit meanings in text without making inferences
• 2 Passive activation and instantiation of inferences during reading
• 3 Cognitive theories in discourse-processing research
• 4 Validation of text and discourse inferences - and explicit content
• 5 Inference generation in text comprehension: automatic and strategic processes in the construction of a mental representation
• 6 Emotion inferences during reading: going beyond the tip of the iceberg
• 7 Inference processing in children: the contributions of depth and breadth of vocabulary knowledge
• 8 A general inference skill
• 9 Toward an embodied approach to inferences in comprehension: the case of action language
• 10 The cognitive and neural correlates of individual differences in inferential processes
• 11 Inferences during text comprehension: what neuroscience can (or cannot) contribute
• 12 Causal inferences and world knowledge
• 13 Constructing inferences in naturalistic reading contexts
• 14 Inference generation during online study and multimedia learning
• 15 What about expository text?
• 16 The role of inferences in narrative experiences
• 17 Interpretive inferences in literature
• Index