Repository logo
 
Publication

Too dense to comprehend—or perfectly packed? the divergent effects of propositional density on levels of text memory

2025-05-02Journal article Restricted access
Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorHarrag, Chaimae
dc.contributor.authorSabil, Abdelkader
dc.contributor.authorRadvansky, Gabriel A.
dc.contributor.authorConceição, Manuel Célio
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-19T09:52:03Z
dc.date.available2025-05-19T09:52:03Z
dc.date.issued2025-05-02
dc.description.abstractPropositional density, a semantic index, calculates the number of idea units within a sentence. While research has shown that propositional density can influence comprehension, its effects on different levels of memory representation, namely, the surface form, textbase, and situation model, remain unexplored. The current study examined how varying levels of propositional density of the context on which target sentences were embedded affected memory at these different levels of representation. A sample of 120 native English speakers read historical texts with either low or high propositional density and then completed recognition tasks targeting each level. Our results indicated that lower propositional density improved memory for the surface form, while higher density enhanced memory for the textbase. Propositional density had no meaningful effect on the situation model level. These findings suggest a complex relationship between propositional density and memory: Higher density appears to impair memory at the surface form level but may create a desirable difficulty to strengthen memory at the textbase level. However, comprehension, as reflected by the situation model level, remains largely unaffected, suggesting that global comprehension relies more on coherence-building and prior knowledge integration than on local semantic density. These findings inform models of discourse processing and have implications for text design, instructional strategies, and cognitive load management in reading comprehension.eng
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/0163853x.2025.2494964
dc.identifier.eissn1532-6950
dc.identifier.issn0163-853X
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/27131
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherTaylor and Francis Group
dc.relation.ispartofDiscourse Processes
dc.rights.uriN/A
dc.titleToo dense to comprehend—or perfectly packed? the divergent effects of propositional density on levels of text memoryeng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.titleDiscourse Processes
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameHarrag
person.familyNameConceição
person.givenNameChaimae
person.givenNameManuel Célio
person.identifier.ciencia-idC11B-427F-A625
person.identifier.orcid0009-0004-4923-9693
person.identifier.orcid0000-0001-8179-5025
person.identifier.ridB-8079-2018
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationd16bfc92-e2a1-421a-af25-b6d7d3bc49dd
relation.isAuthorOfPublication84572683-d5bf-4184-8866-0f31ab8c7905
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryd16bfc92-e2a1-421a-af25-b6d7d3bc49dd

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
Too dense to comprehend or perfectly packed The divergent effects of propositional density on levels of text memory.pdf
Size:
1.1 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
3.46 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

FCH2-Artigos (em revistas ou actas indexadas)
CAC2-Artigos (em revistas ou actas indexadas)