Constructing Schemata While Reading Simple Stories

Abstract

Twenty-five undergraduates were timed while they read simple stories about ordered events and while they responded to true-false test questions about the order of the events in the stories. Three different sequences of events were used in the stories—a chronological sequence (1-2-3), and two different flashback sequences (1-3-2 and 2-1-3). The sequence of events in the stories affected the amount of time the subjects took to read the stories, but not the amount of time the subjects took to respond to the test questions, supporting the hypothesis that the subjects constructed an ordered schema while they read the story, rather than while they took the test.