Contextual prerequisites for understanding: Some investigations of comprehension and recall1

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The present paper presents a series of studies showing that relevant contextual knowledge is a prerequisite for comprehending prose passages. Four studies are reported, each demonstrating increased comprehension ratings and recall scores when Ss were supplied with appropriate information before they heard test passages. Supplying Ss with the same information subsequent to the passages produced much lower comprehension ratings and recall scores. Various explanations of the results are considered, and the role of topics in activating cognitive contexts is discussed.

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    1

    This research was supported in part by a Research Foundation of the State University of New York summer research fellowship to the second author. Senior authorship was decided by tossing a coin. We wish to thank Brian O'Callaghan, guidance counselor, and the students of Ward Melville High School, East Setauket, New York, for their cooperation.

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