ABSTRACT
Explaining how people process text has been an important goal of cognitive psychologists, literary theorists, and others. A variety of models have been proposed. In the first part of this chapter we review some of the more popular models and theories in light of the summary of results from protocol analyses that was presented in chapter 3. On the one hand, the protocol analyses do support the various models of comprehension that have been proposed. That is, the processes specified by each of these models are represented in the think-aloud reports. We expected a degree of congruence between models of text processing and the aggregate findings of think-aloud studies, for think-aloud studies have often been informed and motivated by these models. On the other hand, the verbal report data summarized in chapter 3 does more than provide partial verification of theoretical models. In fact, the verbal report data extend these models, leading to a complex description of reading than specified by any of the previously existing models.
