![]() ![]() An alternative version of each story was created using the opposite tense, by changing the tense of the verbs and, if necessary, tense sensitive connectives such as “als” (“when”). Two of these stories (A and B) were originally written in the present tense and used a first-person perspective, whereas the other two (C and D) were originally written in the past tense and used a third-person perspective (C) or first-person perspective (D). All stories have been published in books or literary magazines. For example, such theories would suggest that the small discourse in example (2) is more vivid and exciting than the one in example (3), as the use of the present tense makes the first discourse seem as if the events were happening right in front of us, rather than being described as rounded off events that took place sometime in the past, as in example (3).įour short stories (743–2016 words) were selected from Dutch literature (see Table 1). Similarly, it has been argued that the present tense marks the immediacy of what is described, bringing the events closer to the reader, creating a dramatical effect ( Sanders, 2010). According to traditional analyses (e.g., Fleischman, 1990 for an overview, see Schiffrin, 1981 for a critique, see Fludernik, 1991), the present tense, which has also been called the “historical present” in the context of literary stories, can make a narrative seem more “vivid” or “imaginable” ( Sanders, 2010) as it allows events to be described as if they were happening at the moment of reading, for readers to witness as they occur. Tense is a deictic mechanism that places events on a timeline, relative to the time of speaking (or writing Comrie, 1985). past tense) also influences the effect a story has on readers. Similarly, some scholars have argued that the choice of verb tense (e.g., present vs. ![]() In sum, this study suggests that tense does not play a substantial role in the process of mental simulation elicited by literary stories. However, we were unable to link this effect to any of the offline measures. Unexpectedly, we found a main effect of tense on reading times per word, with past tense stories eliciting longer first fixation durations and gaze durations. Although we did not find a main effect of sensorimotor simulation content on reading times, we were able to link the degree to which subjects slowed down when reading simulation eliciting content to offline measures of attention and transportation, but this effect did not interact with the tense of the story. The eye-tracking data showed a slightly more complex pattern. ![]() We found no influence of tense on any of the offline measures. We recorded eye-movements while subjects read stories in the past or present tense and collected data regarding self-reported levels of mental simulation, transportation and appreciation. Although the present tense is traditionally considered to be more “vivid”, this study is one of the first to experimentally assess this claim. Verbs usually denote the actions and events that take place in narratives and hence it is hypothesized that verb tense will influence the amount of mental simulation elicited in readers. past), on mental simulation during literary reading. Here we investigate the influence of a specific text characteristic, namely verb tense (present vs. While the importance of mental simulation during literary reading has long been recognized, we know little about the factors that determine when, what, and how much readers mentally simulate. ![]()
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