CAPS ReReader Simulation Model User's Manual Version 1.0

Abstract : CAPS ReReader is a computer program that simulates the process and products of reading comprehension. The input to ReReader is a representation of a text plus the representation of some minimal knowledge that a human would need for the comprehension of the text. A simulation run of ReReader produces traces of the reading behavior of a hypothetical reader and outputs a set of long term memory strengths for the text information. The results of the traces can be analyzed and compared with reading behavior and recall data collected from human subjects reading the same text. ReReader currently runs on a VAX workstation running under the VMS operating system. ReReader Version 1.0 uses two User interfaces: One permits the User to set the parameters for a simulation run; the other is for specifying different data report forms. This User Manual has four sections plus appendices of technical information: Section 1 describes ReReader's text processing model. Section 2 explains how to run a ReReader simulation. Section 3 explains how to obtain and interpret the output of a ReReader simulation with the help of the ReReader Report interface. Advanced features of the ReReader simulator are described in section four. Computational modeling, Text Comprehension.