# Tracking the Impact of Age and Dimensional Shifts on Situation Model Updating During Narrative Text Comprehension

## TL;DR

This study uses eye-tracking to compare how young and older adults update mental models while reading narratives with changes in characters or settings.

## Contribution

The study introduces eye-tracking as a novel method to assess situation model updating in relation to age and narrative shifts.

## Key findings

- Younger adults outperformed older adults in recognition tests regardless of narrative shifts.
- Eye-tracking revealed longer fixation times for dimensional shifts and longer reading times in older adults.
- Working memory differences did not affect situation model comprehension.

## Abstract

Studies on the relationship between age and situation model updating during narrative text reading have mainly used response or reading times. This study enhances previous measures (working memory, recognition probes, and comprehension) by incorporating eye-tracking techniques to compare situation model updating between young and older Chilean adults. The study included 82 participants (40 older adults and 42 young adults) who read two narrative texts under three conditions (no shift, spatial shift, and character shift) using a between-subject (age) and within-subject (dimensional change) design. The results show that, while differences in working memory capacity were observed between the groups, these differences did not impact situation model comprehension. Younger adults performed better in recognition tests regardless of updating conditions. Eye-tracking data showed increased fixation times for dimensional shifts and longer reading times in older adults, with no interaction between age and dimensional shifts.