ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the construction of the Modern Reader, which reflects the fact that the modern era has changed the game for reading literacy. It discusses how the challenges of being a Modern Reader affect the processes specified in the common assumptions of comprehension. Scholars who study discourse comprehension have much to contribute to understanding the Modern Reader, but research questions should be grounded in what we have learned about comprehension thus far in discourse psychology and related fields. The process of constructing a mental model for a specific document leads to comprehension. Mental models are constructed by generating inferences. Inferences involve the use of background knowledge to elaborate upon text content, which are referred to as knowledge-based inferences. Knowledge is activated during reading to support mental model construction. Validation in the context of reading involves evaluating the plausibility of text content against relevant world knowledge.
