title: Sequential Coherence in Sentence Pairs Enhances Imagery during Comprehension: An Individual Differences Study.
abstract: The present study investigates how sequential coherence in sentence pairs (events in sequence vs. unrelated events) affects the perceived ability to form a mental image of the sentences for both auditory and visual presentations. In addition, we investigated how the ease of event imagery affected online comprehension (word reading times) in the case of sequentially coherent and incoherent sentence pairs. Two groups of comprehenders were identified based on their self-reported ability to form vivid mental images of described events. Imageability ratings were higher and faster for pairs of sentences that described events in coherent sequences rather than non-sequential events, especially for high imagers. Furthermore, reading times on individual words suggested different comprehension patterns with respect to sequence coherence for the two groups of imagers, with high imagers activating richer mental images earlier than low imagers. The present results offer a novel link between research on imagery and discourse coherence, with specific contributions to our understanding of comprehension patterns for high and low imagers.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U846, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Integrative Neuroscience Department, 18 Avenue Doyen Lépine, Bron, France; CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), Villeurbanne, France; Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Bron, France.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Madden-Lombardi
authors.affiliation: INSERM U846, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Integrative Neuroscience Department, 18 Avenue Doyen Lépine, Bron, France; Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Bron, France.
authors.forename: Anne-Lise
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Jouen
authors.affiliation: INSERM U846, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Integrative Neuroscience Department, 18 Avenue Doyen Lépine, Bron, France; CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research), Villeurbanne, France; Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Bron, France.
authors.forename: Peter Ford
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Dominey
authors.affiliation: INSERM U846, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Integrative Neuroscience Department, 18 Avenue Doyen Lépine, Bron, France; Université de Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Bron, France.
authors.forename: Jocelyne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ventre-Dominey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination / Q000502:physiology*; D007206:Individuality; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014956:Writing; D055815:Young Adult