Situation-Based Context and the Availability of Predictive Inferences

Four experiments are reported in which the conditions leading to the activation and potential instantiation of a predictive inference were further explored. In the first two experiments, a constraining context containing few semantic associates to a potential predictive inference was established as part of the active portion of the discourse model. Following a delay of several sentences, a reference back to that context produced activation of a predictive inference, indicating that the constraining context can occur anywhere in a passage as long as it is readily available to the reader. In two additional experiments, further support was provided for the finding that although activated, predictive inferences may not be instantiated into the long-term memory representation of a text. The results of all four experiments are discussed within the memory-based view of text processing.

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