ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a process model of reading comprehension, as well as a more general theoretical framework to explain why and how reading changes with the task, the text, and the reader. The model focuses on the processes of word encoding, case role assignment, and text integration and tries to account for how long readers spend on various parts of a text. The differences in criteria for the two tasks were apparent only at the integration stage; however, the theory suggests that encoding, case role assignment, integration, and sentence wrap-up may all vary if the reader's goals change sufficiently. Readers in the free-recall condition spent more time integrating details with the superordinate structure than did readers in the verification condition. Readers who had difficulty comprehending a passage would show an unusual pattern of eye fixations because of their cognitive problems.
