Cognitive and Affective Responses to Structural Variations of An E. A. Poe Short Story

Abstract

Two experiments studied reader responses to structurally different versions of a short story by E. A. Poe. It was modified by flashback and anticipation to produce four additional versions. In Experiment 1, the following responses were collected: Curiosity, Excitement, Imagery, Impact, Interest, Pleasure, Pleasure at the Ending, Surprise, Surprise at the Ending, Suspense; moreover, readers were asked to judge characteristics of the text, that is Coherence, Facility, and Postdictability. Results show that three dimensions underlie narrative reception: Involvement while Reading, Evaluation of the Outcome, and Cognitive Evaluation. In Experiment 2, at pre-established points, readers were asked to evaluate some responses belonging to the first dimension, namely Curiosity, Interest, Pleasure, and Excitement. The analyses show different trends in text reception according to text structure.