Referential Coherence and Structural Height in Text Processing

Two explanations of the levels effect in text memory were examined in two experiments. The structural height account emphasizes the height of an idea in a text structure as the major determinant of the idea’s memorability. The referential coherence explanation focuses on the nature of the cognitive processes that occur during comprehension. Undergraduate students read one of four versions of a text which varied the height of target paragraphs and the referential coherence of text subsequent to the target paragraphs. Free recall protocols were scored for the presence of propositions from the target paragraph. The results from Experiments 1 and 2 supported the predictions of the referential coherence formulation and failed to support the structural height account.