Processing person descriptions: How does text coherence influence encoding and retrieval of person information?

Two experiments investigate the processing of person descriptions that consist of a number of statements about the characteristics of a person. In one condition, each statement refers to a single person attribute and in the other condition, causal (e.g., because) and additive (e.g., and) conjunctions are introduced to verbally link the statements. In a free recall experiment, it is found that the introduction of verbal links enhances participants’ memory for the presented information. A self-paced reading-time experiment shows that the comprehension of person information is significantly facilitated by the introduction of verbal links. Furthermore, the results are due to the introduction of causal conjunctions. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for social cognition research and social-psychological issues of language