The effect of illustrative details on the recall of main points in simple fictional and factual passages

Bibliographic Data

ID11272914
AuthorsMaria F Dal Martello (0000-0003-0647-1332, University of Padua, corresponding author)
Year1984
Volume7
Issue4
Pages483-492
Publication date1984-10-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Processes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0163-853X • E-ISSN: 1532-6950
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01638538409544602
OpenAlexW2034133383
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited6

In a passage containing main points and illustrative details, do the details facilitate the memorization of the main points? Previous studies on this question suggest that the answer depends on the nature of the passage: For short simple stories, main points were remembered better as more details were added; for longer, more difficult, factual passages, instead, main points were better conveyed by summaries in which the details had been removed. The aim of the experiment reported here is to find out whether this difference is due to the fact/fiction variable. Six simple two‐paragraph passages were used, each passage existing in three versions (short, medium, long) in which the main points were illustrated by varying numbers of details. The results showed that for fictional and factual passages of this kind, the addition of details improves recall of main points. Some possible explanations of this finding, and of the earlier contrary finding, are suggested

Cognitive psychology · Epistemology · Memorization · Paragraph · Recall · Simple (philosophy · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Natural Language Processing Techniques · Philosophy · Psychology · Reading and Literacy Development · Topic Modeling

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