Chapter 3
A predictive coding approach to Text World Theory
Text World Theory offers a beneficial tool for the analysis of texts and the structures of fictional worlds. A significant and fascinating topic is the cognitive and psychological reality behind the text-world structures identified by an expert researcher of literature and if they are experienced when read by a given individual for pleasure. Using a neurological model of perceptual processing called Predictive Coding, this chapter sets out to examine how a text might be processed in real time by a reader. This process must also be sensitive to readers’ prior knowledge in keeping with Text World Theory, and whether it is the first time the text is read or not. It will be shown that while the analyses provided by Text World Theory are valid and useful for describing fictional constructions, it is possible to be even more precise when describing the formation of text-worlds in a real-time reading process.
Article outline
- 3.1Introduction
- 3.2Predictive Coding
- 3.3Predictive Coding, texts and text-worlds
- 3.4A text-world analysis
- 3.5A Predictive Coding analysis
- 3.6Conclusion
-
References
References
Clark, A.
2013 Whatever next? Predictive brains, situated agents, and the future of cognitive science.
Behavioral and Brain Science 36(3): 181–204.
Croft, W., Cruse, D. A.
2004 Cognitive Linguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Egner, T., Monti, J. M., and Summerfield, C.
2010 Expectation and Surprise Determine Neural Population Responses in the Ventral Visual Stream.
Journal of Neuroscience 30(49): 16601–16608.
Friston, K.
2005 A theory of cortical responses. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B
Biological Sciences 360(1521): 815–836.
Friston, K.
2002 Beyond Phrenology: What Can Neuroimaging Tell Us About Distributed Circuitry? Annual Review of Neuroscience 25(1): 221–250.
Garrod, S., Gambi, C. and Pickering, M. J.
2014 Prediction at all levels: forward model predictions can enhance comprehension.
Language, Cognition and Neuroscience 29(1): 46–48.
Gavins, J.
2007 Text World Theory: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Halliday, M. A. K. and Matthiessen, C. M. I. M.
2013 Halliday’s Introduction to Functional Grammar. 4th edn. London: Routledge.
von Helmholtz, H.
1962 Helmholtz’s Treatise on Physiological Optics, Volume 3,
J. P. C. James P. C. Southall (ed). New York: Dover.
Hohwy, J.
2007 Functional Integration and the Mind.
Synthese 159(3): 315–328.
Hohwy, J., Roepstorff, A., and Friston, K.
2008 Predictive coding explains binocular rivalry: An epistemological review.
Cognition 108(3): 687–701.
Jack, B. N. and Hacker, G.
2014 Predictive Coding Explains Auditory and Tactile Influences on Vision during Binocular Rivalry.
Journal of Neuroscience. 34(19): 6423–6424.
Lahey, E.
2004 All the World’s a Subworld: Direct Speech and Subworld Creation in ‘After’ by Norman MacCaig.
Nottingham Linguistic Circular 18: 21–28.
Langacker, R. W.
2009 Investigations in Cognitive Grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Langacker, R. W.
1986 An Introduction to Cognitive Grammar.
Cognitive Science 10: 1–40.
Lewis, D.
1973 Causation.
The Journal of Philosophy 70(17): 556–567.
Park, H.-J. and Friston, K.
2013 Structural and Functional Brain Networks: From Connections to Cognition.
Science 342: 1238411.
Rahnev, D., Lau, H. and de Lange, F. P.
2011 Prior Expectation Modulates the Interaction between Sensory and Prefrontal Regions in the Human Brain.
Journal of Neuroscience 31(29): 10741–10748.
Rescher, N.
1999 How Many Possible Worlds Are There? Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59: 403–420.
Sanderson, B.
2014 Words of Radiance: The Stormlight Archive Book Two. London: Gollancz.
Sanford, A. J. and Emmott, C.
2012 Mind, Brain and Narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Squire, L. R.
(ed) 2008 Fundamental Neuroscience. 3rd edn. Burlington, MA; London: Academic Press.
Summerfield, C., Trittschuh, E. H., Monti, J. M., Mesulam, M.-M. and Egner, T.
2008 Neural repetition suppression reflects fulfilled perceptual expectations.
Nature Neuroscience 11(9): 1004–1006.
Werth, P.
1999 Text Worlds: Representing Conceptual Space in Discourse. London: Longman.
Zwaan, R. A.
1994 Effect of Genre Expectations on Text Comprehension.
Journal of Experimental Psychology 20(4): 920–933.
Cited by
Cited by 3 other publications
Cushing, Ian
2020.
A textured and sensory grammar for the experience of reading.
English in Education 54:2
► pp. 131 ff.
Norledge, Jessica
2020.
BuildingThe Ark: Text World Theory and the evolution of dystopian epistolary.
Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 29:1
► pp. 3 ff.
Statham, Simon
2020.
The year’s work in stylistics 2019.
Language and Literature: International Journal of Stylistics 29:4
► pp. 454 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 22 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.