Script-based inferences: Effects of text and knowledge variables on recognition memory

Two experiments examined the tendency for subjects to falsely recognize script-based concepts after reading incomplete script-based texts. On an immediate recognition test, both the hypothesized position of a concept in the reader's preexperimental knowledge structure (central, peripheral) and the number of times the concept was implied in the text (0, 1, 3, or 5) affected the reader's judgments about whether the concept had been presented in the text. For central concepts, the number of text implications had no significant effect on either error rates or judgment times. For peripheral concepts, error rates and response times were dependent on the number of text implications. These findings were interpreted as evidence for selective activation of concepts within scripts.