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Comprehension Of Extended Narrative Text: The Role Of Spontaneous Mental Imagery While Reading Or Listening, Marilyn Anne Winzenz

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

To investigate the cognitive processes involved in language comprehension, this research examined the role of naturally occurring mental imagery in facilitating college students' understanding of lengthy narrative prose. During hour-long individual interviews, 40 undergraduates read silently or listened to a 1700 word short story. Subjects were asked to free recall as much as they could of the story and to answer higher level comprehension questions which involved verbal reasoning strategies such as inference and drawing conclusions regarding character development and motivation, theme, plot, and personal relevance. Subjects were also asked to describe the mental images they experienced, if any, and …