Spatial Inferences in Narrative Comprehension: the Role of Verbal and Spatial Working Memory

IRRAZABAL, N. & BURIN, D.

The Spanish Journal of Psychology

Cambridge University Press

Lugar: Madrid; Año: 2016 vol. 19 p. 1 - 8

During the comprehension of narrative texts, readers keep a mental representation of the location of protagonists and objects; a breach in spatial coherence is detected by longer online reading times (consistency effect). We addressed whether these spatial inferences involve verbal or spatial working memory in two experiments, combining the consistency paradigm with selective verbal and spatial working memory concurrent tasks. The first experiment found longer reading times with a concurrent spatial task under imagery instructions. The second experiment, under comprehension reading instructions, found effects of verbal interference, but not with a spatial secondary task, on reading times and accuracy. This pattern of results suggests that spatial inferences in narrative comprehension rely mainly on verbal resources, and spatial working memory resources are recruited when imagery is required.