Abstract
The authors examined how situation models are updated during text comprehension. If comprehenders
keep track of the evolving situation, they should update their models such that the most current
information, the here and now, is more available than outdated information. Contrary to this updating
hypothesis, E. J. O’Brien, M. L. Rizzella, J. E. Albrecht, and J. G. Halleran (1998) obtained results
suggesting that outdated or incorrect information may still influence the comprehension process. The
authors of the current study demonstrate that the nature of E. J. O’Brien et al.’s materials were the likely
cause of this pattern of results. Hence, the current authors constructed materials that circumvent identified
confounds and in a reading-time experiment obtained evidence supporting the here-and-now hypothesis.
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