Short-Term Storage and the Processing of Cohesion during Reading

Four studies examine the role of short-term storage in the processing of grammatical cohesion devices (reference and conjunction) during reading. They demonstrate that short-term storage carries specific information that resolves reference and conjunction relations demanded by text. They also show that during reading, if short-term storage is unimpaired, these linkages produce smooth, efficient performance. If, however, short-term storage is cleared of its contents with a distractor task, reading is disrupted. The extent of the disruption is determined, in part, by the linkage demands of the text. It is theorized that this occurs because resolution of linkage takes place in short-term storage. Both indirect and direct evidence is also obtained that short-term storage is carrying higher-order thematic information. The first three studies demonstrate that a range of distractor tasks produces the basic results. The fourth study compares the effects of different distractor tasks and permits the specification of different types of information held in short-term storage during reading. A linear model of the process is fitted to the data. It assigns time values to four factors that determine the rate of reading.