Scripted knowledge packages : implicit and explicit constraints on comprehension and memory

Sammanfattning: The aim of the present thesis was (a) to specify how the use of predictive inferences in comprehension is constrained by scripted knowledge packages, (b) to examine recall for scripted representations, and (c) to specify mechanisms underlying the interplay between script-based constraints on predictive inferences and memory for these generic knowledge representations. In fourteen experiments, lipreading represented a method to detect implicit and explicit constraints on predictive inferences imposed by typicality, abstraction, and temporal order. To compare comprehension and recall, repetition priming constituted an additional approach where implicit memory was assessed by the lipreading task, and explicit memory by a free recall task. Based on the collected data, an implicit-explicit principle is suggested which also summarizes the main core of the SPICER-framework. According to the SPICER, typical and basic scripted representations are supposed to constitute implicit representations with a semantic state of accessibility, strong in predictive power. In contrast, atypical and specific representations are assumed to constitute explicit representations with an episodic state of accessibility, weak in predictive power. In comprehension, an implicit route of script activation always guides predictive inferences at typical and basic levels of representation. In recall, an explicit search for target episodes is always constrained by atypical and specific levels of representation. SPICER also provides potential insights into the use of technical hearing aids and lipreading, memory distinctions and memory disorders, as well as into educational issues.