THE GIST OF READING This page intentionally left blank TH E G I S T OF READ I N G Andrew Elfenbein STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS STANFORD, CALIFORNIA Stanford University Press Stanford, California ©2018 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission of Stanford University Press. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Elfenbein, Andrew, author. Title: The gist of reading / Andrew Elfenbein. Description: Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017007207 | ISBN 9781503602564 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781503603851 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781503604100 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Books and reading—Psychological aspects. | Books and reading—History— 19th century. Classification: LCC Z1003 .E46 2017 | DDC 028/.9—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017007207 Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10/14 Minion Pro For Textgroup, past, present, and future This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Interdisciplinarity: I, Too, Dislike It 1 1 Doing What Comes Automatically 17 2 Three Readers Reading 39 3 Reading On- and Offline 83 4 Hard Reading 111 5 Easy Reading 137 6 That’s Entertainment? 165 7 On Influence 191 Conclusion: On Methodology 213 Notes 219 Index 251 This page intentionally left blank ACKNOWLEDGMENTS What interdisciplinarity feels like: traversing the length of campus in subzero weather to meet with your collaborators; writing embarrassed notes to your sta- tistics teacher explaining that you did not notice the last problem on the home- work; resigning yourself to the fact that everyone else in the room will interpret a complex interaction graph more easily than you will; spending a shocking amount on updating SPSS; patiently explaining (again) why psychology can be useful. Luckily for me, I have worked with a remarkable group of psychologists, who made the benefits of interdisciplinarity outweigh its challenges. My first thanks go to Paul van den Broek, who invited me to audit his class when I inquired about reading comprehension in psychology; that was the be- ginning of a long journey and an important friendship. Through Paul I came to know past and present members of Textgroup at the University of Minne- sota, and I dedicate this book to them. Particular thanks go to Sashank Varma, David Rapp, Elaine Auyoung, Brooke Lea, Randy Fletcher, Sid Horton, Mike Mensink, Panayiota Kendeou, Catherine Bohn-Gettler, Reese Butterfuss, Mark Rose, Ben Seipel, Virginia Clinton, Andreas Schramm, Mary Jane White, Mija Van Der Wege, Sarah Carlson, and Katrina Schliesman. Sashank, David, and Brooke offered superb advice about this book and corrected many of my errors. Elaine is a treasured colleague, and being able to discuss this book and her own work has been a joy. As I have presented my work, especially at the Society for Text and Discourse, I have received interest and support from many, especially Walter Kintsch, Ar-