Time to read semantically related sentences*

Abstract

Ss read sentences specifying relations among concepts, with the sentences related to each other in different hierarchical structures. In the case where sentences had implicative relationships, time to read sentences low in the hierarchy was less if sentences higher in the hierarchy had been read previously, and sentences inconsistent with expectations based on earlier items took longer. However, when structural relations did not involve implication about content, time to read the sentences was not very different regardless of whether related sentences had been read previously.