What part does memory play in Paragraph Comprehension?
The author believes that what makes understanding difficult is not the length of the sentence but the complexity of the content and syntax of the message. The comprehension of sentences in meaningful contextual material depends on examinees deriving the meaning of what is said or read, not on their memory of specific words. Once they get the gist of a paragraph, they will have little difficulty answering questions about it. The length should not influence their ability to comprehend, but the complexity of the sentences will. Even if a sentence is long, if listeners can decode it and get the gist of it, it will be understood. If individuals cannot understand or remember the paragraph because of the number of sentences in it, they will have the same kind of difficulty in any listening situation where connected speech is used. For a discussion of the content, format, and development issues concerning Paragraph Comprehension, see Chapter 4 of the CASL manual (pages 49-50 for this issue spe
