Coherence is a result of identifying and understanding relationships between elements. Relationships are most likely detected if they are simultaneously the focus of attention for the reader. A relationship is less likely to be identified if two relating concepts are not simultaneously focused on by the reader. 

Coherence in a situation model 

The reader's attention is an important component of comprehension, because if they are not able to maintain their attention, they will miss relationships between elements in the text. Texts will often require more attention than their readers can offer. 

Attention allocation in developing a situation model

A mental representation of concepts and facts from the literature that are connected by relationships. Relationships connect different parts of the text that is read as well as background knowledge. 


San Jose State University

A mental understanding of the concepts and their relationships within a text that is developed by the reader. This is also called a situation model.


Episodic memory representation

Van Den Broek, P. (2010). Using texts in science education: Cognitive processes and knowledge visualization. Science 328(5977), 453-456. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1182594

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