"Putting things in context": literal and discourse approaches to comprehension assessment

R Paul1

  • 1Department of Communications Disorders, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven 06515, USA.

Related Concept Videos

Framing Effects03:26

Framing Effects

Information is everywhere and its presentation—such as how and when items are presented—can impact our perceptions and decisions surrounding the info. This broad concept umbrellas framing effects—influences that occur due to the way information is framed in its appearance, whether it’s purely the order or the specific wording of a message. Let’s take a look at numerous ways in which two versions of something can objectively say the same thing, yet we respond in different ways based on the...
Social-Contextual Approach01:24

Social-Contextual Approach

The social-contextual approach, grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, emphasizes the influence of cultural and environmental contexts on cognitive development. From birth, caregivers act as mediators of culture, transmitting values, skills, and practices that shape how children grow and learn.Cultural Influences on Caregiving PracticesChild-rearing practices reflect broader cultural ideals about independence and interdependence. In individualistic societies, parents often sleep...
Symbolic Understanding I: Pictorial Competence01:30

Symbolic Understanding I: Pictorial Competence

Symbolic understanding is the ability to use symbols, such as words, gestures, or images, to represent objects, people, and concepts that may not be physically present. An important part of this ability is pictorial competence, or the understanding that a picture represents something other than itself. For example, recognizing a yellow circle with rays as the sun shows pictorial competence.Early Responses to PicturesSome foundations of pictorial understanding appear early in infancy. By about...
Structuralism01:26

Structuralism

Structuralism, an early psychological theory developed by Wilhelm Wundt and his student Edward Bradford Titchener, sought to dissect the human mind into its most fundamental components. Wundt's groundbreaking work in his laboratory set the stage for Titchener to define structuralism's goal as cataloging the "atoms" of the mind—sensations, images, and feelings—akin to how chemists identify elements of matter.
Titchener's approach to structuralism was unique. He employed introspection, a method...