Phone: 262.6989
Email: magernsb@facstaff.wisc.edu
Office: 599 Psychology
Sir Frederic C. Bartlett Professor of Psychology
Ph.D. 1983, University of Texas-Austin
My research investigates the general, cognitive processes and mechanisms that underlie language comprehension, using
behavioral methodology and more recently, some functional neural magnetic imaging (FMRI). According to my Structure
Building Framework, the goal of comprehension is to build a coherent, mental representation or "structure". To do this,
comprehenders must first lay a foundation. Next, they develop the structure by mapping on information when that
incoming information is coherent or related to previous information. However, if the incoming information is less coherent
or related, comprehenders shift to initiate a new substructure. These structure building processes are accomplished by two
mechanisms: enhancement, which boosts the activation of some representations, and suppression, which dampens the
activation of other representations.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS
Robertson, D.A., Gernsbacher, M.A., Guidotti, S.J., Robertson, R.W.R., Irwin, W., Mock, B.J., & Campana, M.E. (2000).
FMRI investigation of the cognitive process of mapping during discourse comprehension. Psychological Science.
Gernsbacher, M.A. (1997). Two decades of structure building. Discourse Processes, 23, 265-304.
Gernsbacher, M.A. (1997). Attenuating interference during comprehension: The role of suppression. In D.L. Medin
(Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation (pp. 85-104). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Gernsbacher, M. A. (1994). Handbook of psycholinguistics. NY: Academic Press.
Gernsbacher, M.A. (1990). Language comprehension as structure building. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.