ABSTRACT
In reading a person translates strings of graphic symbols into meaning by using a variety of processes. The reader decodes letters, forms word percepts, accesses word meanings, parses sentences, integrates sentences, and forms an overall interpretation of the text. Investigators of reading assume that the cognitive load associated with these processes fluctuates with time and that different factors contribute to the fluctuations. The major on-line methods used in current reading research include the eye fixation method, different singleword procedures, and the single-sentence procedure. The stories used in the studies consisted of a Setting and two “episodes” with each episode conforming to the narrative problem solving schema described by Mandler & Johnson. The episode is defined from the point of view of a protagonist who faces a problem and attempts to solve it. In dividing the sentence reading times by the number of words, one is also dividing the intercept of the function.
