The nature of verbal comprehension

Abstract

We discuss the nature of verbal comprehension, emphasizing in particular the role in verbal comprehension of learning from context. Our discussion is divided into five parts. First, we provide a review of past literature dealing with learning from context. Second, we describe our own developing theory of learning from context, and attempt to relate our ideas to relevant earlier ones. Third, we summarize some empirical data that support our theoretical ideas. Fourth, we attempt to place our theory and data, and those of others, into a broader conceptual framwork for understanding verbal comprehension as a unitary construct. Finally, we discuss some of the psychological and educational implications of our theory and data. © 1982.