TY - JOUR
T1 - Visual noise disrupts conceptual integration in reading
AU - Gao, Xuefei
AU - Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A.L.
AU - Noh, Soo Rim
AU - Eskew, Rhea T.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by the National Institute on Aging (Grant R01 AG13935) to whom we are most grateful. We also would like to thank Kiel Christianson, Kara Federmeier, and Matthew Shake for insightful discussions and comments on earlier drafts of this paper. Appreciation also goes to Shoshana Hindin, Micaela Chan and Minerva Dorant for assistance with testing participants and transcribing auditory files. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Xuefei Gao, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, [email protected], or Elizabeth A. L. Stine-Morrow, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Illinois, 226 Education Building, 1310 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL, 61820, [email protected].
PY - 2011/2
Y1 - 2011/2
N2 - The Effortfulness Hypothesis suggests that sensory impairment (either simulated or age-related) may decrease capacity for semantic integration in language comprehension. We directly tested this hypothesis by measuring resource allocation to different levels of processing during reading (i.e.,word vs. semantic analysis). College students read three sets of passages word-by-word, one at each of three levels of dynamic visual noise. There was a reliable interaction between processing level and noise, such that visual noise increased resources allocated to word level processing, at the cost of attention paid to semantic analysis. Recall of the most important ideas also decreased with increasing visual noise. Results suggest that sensory challenge can impair higher-level cognitive functions in learning from text, supporting the Effortfulness Hypothesis.
AB - The Effortfulness Hypothesis suggests that sensory impairment (either simulated or age-related) may decrease capacity for semantic integration in language comprehension. We directly tested this hypothesis by measuring resource allocation to different levels of processing during reading (i.e.,word vs. semantic analysis). College students read three sets of passages word-by-word, one at each of three levels of dynamic visual noise. There was a reliable interaction between processing level and noise, such that visual noise increased resources allocated to word level processing, at the cost of attention paid to semantic analysis. Recall of the most important ideas also decreased with increasing visual noise. Results suggest that sensory challenge can impair higher-level cognitive functions in learning from text, supporting the Effortfulness Hypothesis.
KW - Reading
KW - Resource allocation
KW - Visual noise
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79951858314&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=79951858314&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3758/s13423-010-0014-4
DO - 10.3758/s13423-010-0014-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 21327368
AN - SCOPUS:79951858314
SN - 1069-9384
VL - 18
SP - 83
EP - 88
JO - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
JF - Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
IS - 1
ER -