<b>Reading and cognition: do different reading purposes influence inference generation?</b> - DOI: 10.4025/actascilangcult.v30i2.6001

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate whether different reading purposes – for study or entertainment – have influence on inference generation. Data was obtained through the use of Pause Protocols (Cavalcanti, 1989) adapted by (Tomitch, 2003) with six female participants during the reading of two texts: one, aiming at reading for study, taken from Veja magazine, talks about the gun control referendum of 2005 and is titled I will be against; the other text, aiming at reading for entertainment, extracted from the Jornal de Poesia website, is a biography of Cecília Meirelles. Results showed that a larger number of inferences were generated for the text that was read for study purposes. The most frequent inferences for the study document were explanations, evaluations and repetitions; whereas for the entertainment text, explanations, repetitions and evaluations prevailed.