{"id":{"repo_id":"unh-thes","oai_identifier":"oai:scholars.unh.edu:dissertation-2371"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/unh-thes/oai:scholars.unh.edu:dissertation-2371","repository":{"repo_id":"unh-thes","name":"University of New Hampshire","base_url":"https://scholars.unh.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Overcoming Violations of Real-World Knowledge in a Fantasy-World Text","abstract":"Fantasy-text is a genre in which events routinely violate the rules we know to be true in the real-world. In six experiments I explored the inherent conflict between unrealistic fictional events and general world knowledge (GWK) to examine these competing sources of information within the context of extended fantasy-narrative. Experiments I-III demonstrated that fantasy-unrelated violations caused measurable disruption to the comprehension of an extended fantasy narrative despite an abundance of contextual support for real-world impossible events that violate GWK. Experiments IV and V demonstrated that fantasy-related violations caused measurable disruption when they occurred at the local level and the fantasy-context stood in direct opposition to the target sentence. However, Experiment VI demonstrated that measurable disruption can be initially eliminated when readers encountered fantasy-related violations at the global level; but delayed processing difficulty occurred on the spillover sentence, downstream of the target sentence. All six experiments are discussed within the context of the RI-Val model.","abstract_html":"Fantasy-text is a genre in which events routinely violate the rules we know to be true in the real-world. In six experiments I explored the inherent conflict between unrealistic fictional events and general world knowledge (GWK) to examine these competing sources of information within the context of extended fantasy-narrative. Experiments I-III demonstrated that fantasy-unrelated violations caused measurable disruption to the comprehension of an extended fantasy narrative despite an abundance of contextual support for real-world impossible events that violate GWK. Experiments IV and V demonstrated that fantasy-related violations caused measurable disruption when they occurred at the local level and the fantasy-context stood in direct opposition to the target sentence. However, Experiment VI demonstrated that measurable disruption can be initially eliminated when readers encountered fantasy-related violations at the global level; but delayed processing difficulty occurred on the spillover sentence, downstream of the target sentence. All six experiments are discussed within the context of the RI-Val model.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Walsh, Erinn K."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Edward J. O'Brien","Anne E. Cook","Karla A. Lassonde"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:23:15Z","subjects":["comprehension","fantasy text","memory","narrative text","RI-Val","validation","Cognitive psychology"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1372","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Edward J. O'Brien","Anne E. Cook","Karla A. Lassonde"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Walsh, Erinn K."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["comprehension","fantasy text","memory","narrative text","RI-Val","validation","Cognitive psychology"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1372"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Fantasy-text is a genre in which events routinely violate the rules we know to be true in the real-world. In six experiments I explored the inherent conflict between unrealistic fictional events and general world knowledge (GWK) to examine these competing sources of information within the context of extended fantasy-narrative. Experiments I-III demonstrated that fantasy-unrelated violations caused measurable disruption to the comprehension of an extended fantasy narrative despite an abundance of contextual support for real-world impossible events that violate GWK. Experiments IV and V demonstrated that fantasy-related violations caused measurable disruption when they occurred at the local level and the fantasy-context stood in direct opposition to the target sentence. However, Experiment VI demonstrated that measurable disruption can be initially eliminated when readers encountered fantasy-related violations at the global level; but delayed processing difficulty occurred on the spillover sentence, downstream of the target sentence. All six experiments are discussed within the context of the RI-Val model."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Overcoming Violations of Real-World Knowledge in a Fantasy-World Text"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Edward J. O'Brien","Anne E. Cook","Karla A. Lassonde"],"dc:creator":["Walsh, Erinn K."],"dc:description.abstract":["Fantasy-text is a genre in which events routinely violate the rules we know to be true in the real-world. In six experiments I explored the inherent conflict between unrealistic fictional events and general world knowledge (GWK) to examine these competing sources of information within the context of extended fantasy-narrative. Experiments I-III demonstrated that fantasy-unrelated violations caused measurable disruption to the comprehension of an extended fantasy narrative despite an abundance of contextual support for real-world impossible events that violate GWK. Experiments IV and V demonstrated that fantasy-related violations caused measurable disruption when they occurred at the local level and the fantasy-context stood in direct opposition to the target sentence. However, Experiment VI demonstrated that measurable disruption can be initially eliminated when readers encountered fantasy-related violations at the global level; but delayed processing difficulty occurred on the spillover sentence, downstream of the target sentence. All six experiments are discussed within the context of the RI-Val model."],"dc:identifier":["https://scholars.unh.edu/dissertation/1372"],"dc:subject":["comprehension","fantasy text","memory","narrative text","RI-Val","validation","Cognitive psychology"],"dc:title":["Overcoming Violations of Real-World Knowledge in a Fantasy-World Text"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:23:15Z"}