Thematic Processes in the Comprehension of Technical Prose.

Abstract : This final report summarizes the principal results of a project concerned with how readers identify the important content in technical prose. The theoretical framework for this process is that the important content of a passage is constructed by the reader based on the semantic content of the passage together with details of the surface structure of the passage. Thus, not only is what is said in the passage important, but also how it is said. The experimental results cover several semantic and surface structure properties that are central to the process of identifying important content, and some of the strategies that readers use. Simulation models of the comprehension and main idea identification processes were developed and tested against actual reader behavior. These models represent the general theoretical framework in a highly specific way, and thus summarize the major results of the project. (Author)