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Cited by 5,298Reading and Literacy DevelopmentNeurobiology of Language and BilingualismVisual and Cognitive Learning Processes

Toward a model of text comprehension and production.

Kintsch, Walter, van Dijk, Teun A.·1978·Psychological Review
DOI 10.1037/0033-295x.85.5.363
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Abstract

The semantic structure of texts can be described both at the local microlevel and at a more global macrolevel. A model for text comprehension based on this notion accounts for the formation of a coherent semantic text base in terms of a cyclical process constrained by limitations of working memory. Furthermore, the model includes macro-operators, whose purpose is to reduce the information in a text base to its gist, that is, the theoretical macrostructure. These opera-tions are under the control of a schema, which is a theoretical formulation of the comprehender's goals. The macroprocesses are predictable only when the control schema can be made explicit. On the production side, the model is con-cerned with the generation of recall and summarization protocols. This process is partly reproductive and partly constructive, involving the inverse operation of the macro-operators. The model is applied to a paragraph from a psycho-logical research report, and methods for the empirical testing of the model are developed. The main goal of this article is to describe the system of mental operations that underlie the processes occurring in text comprehension and in the production of recall and summariza-tion protocols. A processing model will be outlined that specifies three sets of operations. First, the meaning elements of a text become

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  • Kintsch and Van Dijk's theory proposes that understanding can involve repeated application of inference rules that create increasingly abstract macrostructure representations of a passage.

    “They argue that the understanding process may involve the iterative application of a set of inference rules that generate increasingly abstract “macrostructure” representations of a prose passage.”

    From Analogical problem solving (1980) · cites this paper as Kintsch and Van Dijk (1978)

  • The three inference rules of deletion, generalization, and construction proposed by Kintsch and Van Dijk are readily applicable to the story analogies used in this work.

    “While much remains to be learned about how this process operates, the three specific inference rules proposed by Kintsch and Van Dijk (which they term “deletion,” “generalization,” and “construction”) would seem readily applicable to the type of story analogies we are considering here.”

    From Analogical problem solving (1980) · cites this paper as Kintsch and Van Dijk (1978)

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Authors
Kintsch, W., & van Dijk, T. A.
Affiliations
University of Colorado System (US)
Venue
Psychological Review
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
1978-09
Volume
85
Issue
5
Pages
363-394
ISSN
  • 0033-295X (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1471
DOI
10.1037/0033-295x.85.5.363
OpenAlex
W2039107287
Cited by
5,298
References
45
Citations by year
2026: 100 · 2025: 127 · 2024: 123 · 2023: 158 · 2022: 131 · 2021: 188 · 2020: 205 · 2019: 157 · 2018: 180 · 2017: 162 · 2016: 143 · 2015: 199 · 2014: 197 · 2013: 148 · 2012: 172
FWCI
78.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Psychological Review (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Reading and Literacy Development
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
Keywords
text comprehension, text production, text summarization, recall protocols, macrostructure, working memory limitations, schemas, macro-operators, gastrointestinal stromal tumor, mental operations

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