The gist of reading

271 Pages·2018·11.916 MB·English

by  Elfenbein, Andrew

THE GIST OF READING
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TH E G I S T
OF READ I N G
Andrew Elfenbein
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2018 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval
system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Elfenbein, Andrew, author.
Title: The gist of reading / Andrew Elfenbein.
Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017007207 | ISBN 9781503602564 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781503603851 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781503604100 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Books and reading—Psychological aspects. | Books and reading—History—
19th century.
Classification: LCC Z1003 .E46 2017 | DDC 028/.9—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017007207
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10/14 Minion Pro
For Textgroup, past, present, and future
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Interdisciplinarity: I, Too, Dislike It 1
1 Doing What Comes Automatically 17
2 Three Readers Reading 39
3 Reading On- and Offline 83
4 Hard Reading 111
5 Easy Reading 137
6 That’s Entertainment? 165
7 On Influence 191
Conclusion: On Methodology 213
Notes 219
Index 251
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
What interdisciplinarity feels like: traversing the length of campus in subzero
weather to meet with your collaborators; writing embarrassed notes to your sta-
tistics teacher explaining that you did not notice the last problem on the home-
work; resigning yourself to the fact that everyone else in the room will interpret
a complex interaction graph more easily than you will; spending a shocking
amount on updating SPSS; patiently explaining (again) why psychology can be
useful. Luckily for me, I have worked with a remarkable group of psychologists,
who made the benefits of interdisciplinarity outweigh its challenges.
My first thanks go to Paul van den Broek, who invited me to audit his class
when I inquired about reading comprehension in psychology; that was the be-
ginning of a long journey and an important friendship. Through Paul I came
to know past and present members of Textgroup at the University of Minne-
sota, and I dedicate this book to them. Particular thanks go to Sashank Varma,
David Rapp, Elaine Auyoung, Brooke Lea, Randy Fletcher, Sid Horton, Mike
Mensink, Panayiota Kendeou, Catherine Bohn-Gettler, Reese Butterfuss, Mark
Rose, Ben Seipel, Virginia Clinton, Andreas Schramm, Mary Jane White, Mija
Van Der Wege, Sarah Carlson, and Katrina Schliesman. Sashank, David, and
Brooke offered superb advice about this book and corrected many of my errors.
Elaine is a treasured colleague, and being able to discuss this book and her own
work has been a joy.
As I have presented my work, especially at the Society for Text and Discourse,
I have received interest and support from many, especially Walter Kintsch, Ar-