On-line processing of links between events in narratives : study of children and adults

Three experiments were conducted in an attempt to determine (a) whether the presence of certain connectives in narrative text has an impact on the speed at which the segment immediately following the connective is read, and if so, (b) where that impact occurs, at the beginning, middle, or end of the segment. Adults and children aged 8 and 10 were given narrative texts with the same beginnings but different endings. The predictability of the endings was controlled. The connection between the beginning first three statements) and ending of a given text was either implicit (with no connective) or explicit (with a connective judged to be appropriate). The texts were presented in variable length segments (statements or phrases) so that the location where the effect took place could be determined. The results showed that in both children and adults, mais (but) and soudain (suddenly) caused an increase in processing speed (reading exposure time) on the next segment, regardless of its size. This increase was not observed when no connective was used, nor with the connective apres (afterwards). These results suggest that connectives perform a procedural function.