A Unified Model for Predictive and Bridging Inferences

Text materials such as those introduced by McKoon and Ratcliff (1986) have been repeatedly used to shape a theoretical understanding of inference processes. Recent resultsofKeefeandMcDaniel (1993)with thesematerialswere intriguingwith respect to the generation and persistence of predictive and bridging inferences. To account for these data, the authors developed a formal model within Kintsch’s (1988, 1998) construction–integration theory. Computer simulations confirmed that the model explains the data well. The model’s key features are that (a) inferences may be generated and represented at the situational level and thereby differ from explicit statements, which may be encoded in a bottom-up fashion at the surface, propositional, and situational levels and (b) the maintenance of inferences and explicit statements depends on the interconnectivity of the multilevel representation rather than on an independent strength value of an individual knowledge unit. Recent data are described that support these theoretical assumptions. On the basis of this theoretical and empirical work, a unified model is proposed for the generation and persistence of predictive and bridging inferences. The implications of this unified model relative to previous theories are discussed, and a general taxonomy of inference processes is outlined. DISCOURSE PROCESSES, 33(2), 105–132 Copyright © 2002, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.