ABSTRACT
In this chapter, a cognitive psychological approach to the processing of narrative films is adopted in which it is assumed that the viewers' specific information-processing mechanisms trigger suspense-inducing effects (see, e.g., Ohler & Nieding, chap. 8, this volume). Typical textual structures and strategics that induce cognitive processes and themselves result in the emotional experience of suspense are the creation of uncertainty in the viewer as to which of two possible outcomes for the protagonist will occur in a scene, the systematic transcendence of viewers' expectations horizons concerning the development of the plot, and the positioning of temporal omissions in the film narration so that viewers have to make uncertain inferences as to its course.
