LANGUAGE UNDERSTANDING IS RECOGNITION, NOT CONSTRUCTION
Book Review of Gernsbacher on Language-Comprehension

Abstract

Gernsbacher (1990) argues that language processing is founded on general cognitive processes and that memory structures are an important part of language understanding. We agree but claim that Gernsbacher has failed to see two of the ramifications of this view. First, Gernsbacher's experimental paradigm, which uses decontextualized texts referring to nonexistent entities performing unconnected actions, is inconsistent with a memory-based approach. A more appropriate experimental paradigm would focus on texts rich in memory references. Second, Gernsbacher's structure- building metaphor is also inconsistent with the notion that memory underlies understanding. When memory is taken seriously, the foundation of understanding texts becomes the recognition of references to existing memory structures, not structure building.

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References

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