Access to prior spatial information.

In six experiments, reading times and probe naming times were measured in order to examine the conditions under which spatial information became accessible and/or reactivated. In Experiments 1-4, reading times were measured for target sentences containing spatial inconsistencies. Spatial inconsistencies did not disrupt processing (Experiment 1) unless there were increases in task demands (Experiment 2), elaboration of the protagonist's location (Experiment 3), or both (Experiment 4). In Experiments 5 and 6, naming times were measured to directly assess the activation of spatial information, specifically objects associated with a protagonist. Spatial information was highly active in memory immediately after being read and less active after four intervening sentences (Experiment 5), but explicit cues (e.g., location or object) as well as references to the current situation model were effective in reactivating previously mentioned spatial information (Experiment 6). The combined results of six experiments are discussed within the context of the RI-Val model.

Processing real-world violations embedded within a fantasy-world narrative.

Fantasy-text is a genre in which events routinely violate rules we know to be true in the real world. In four experiments, we explored the inherent contradiction between unrealistic fictional events and general world knowledge (GWK) to examine these competing information sources within the context of an extended fantasy-narrative. Experiments 1a and 1b demonstrated that fantasy-unrelated inconsistencies caused disruption to comprehension despite an abundance of contextual support for real-world impossible events that violate GWK. Experiment 2a demonstrated that fantasy-related inconsistencies caused disruption when they occurred at the local level and the fantasy-context stood in direct opposition to the target sentence. However, Experiment 2b demonstrated that disruption can be initially eliminated when readers encountered fantasy-related violations at the global level, but delayed-processing difficulty occurred on the spillover sentence, downstream of the target sentence. All four experiments are discussed within the context of the RI-Val model.

Validation of semantic illusions independent of anomaly detection: evidence from eye movements.

Several theorists have argued that readers fail to detect semantic anomalies during reading, and that these effects are indicative of "shallow processing" behaviours. Previous studies of semantic anomalies such as the Moses illusion have focused primarily on explicit detection tasks. In the present study, we examined participants' eye movements as they read true/false statements that were non-anomalous, or contained a semantic anomaly that was either high- or low-related to the correct information. Analyses of reading behaviours revealed that only low-related detected anomalies resulted in initial processing difficulty, but both detected and undetected anomalies, regardless of whether they were high- or low-related, resulted in delayed processing difficulty. The results extend previous findings on semantic anomalies and are discussed in terms of the RI-Val model of text processing.

Persistence pays off: follow-up methods for difficult-to-track longitudinal samples.

OBJECTIVE: Evolving privacy and confidentiality regulations make achieving high completion rates in longitudinal studies challenging. Periodically reviewing the methods researchers use to retain participants throughout the follow-up period is important. We review the effectiveness of methods to maximize completion rates in a 1-year longitudinal study of repeat driving-under-the-influence (DUI) offenders. METHOD: During the course of 21 months, we attempted to follow-up with 704 participants of a licensed residential treatment facility for repeat DUI offenders. High rates of lifetime Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, substance-use disorders (97.6%) and nonsubstance- or nongambling-related psychiatric disorders (44.5%) among the sample made tracking participants difficult. To locate participants and complete follow-up interviews, we obtained baseline information, contacted collaterals, sent mailed reminders, searched Internet databases, and gave a monetary incentive for completing study interviews. RESULTS: We located 608 participants with active telephone numbers (87.4%) and completed interviews with 488 (70.1% of the entire eligible sample and 80.3% of those with active telephone numbers), after an average (SD) of 8.6 (9.1) calls (median = 5.0). Increasing the number of calls continued to yield additional completions at 10, 20, and 30 calls; at approximately 40 telephone calls, the potential return for additional calls did not justify the added effort. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that researchers need to (1) employ more than 10 telephone calls to adequately track difficult-to-follow substance-using populations, and (2) prepare for a subsample of participants who might require more extensive contact. These results highlight the importance of using empirical guidelines to plan estimates for the number of contacts needed to achieve an adequate follow-up completion rate.