Psycholinguistics explains
many journalism caveats
By Katherine C. McAdams
In four years of teaching news
writing, I have taught students many
elementary rules of writing. My
admonitions to keep sentences short
and simple, to make statements
positive and active often are
answered by inquiring students with
the question, "why?" My answers
have ranged from "Because people
read only simple stories," to
"because we need to save space," to
"That's just the wa,y it's done."
In psycholinquistics, I have found
better explanations for journalistic
' caveats. Understanding what is
known about the processes that
underlie language production and
comprehension led me to see that
many principles of journalism are
grounded in psycholinguistic
research. The findings of
psychologists and linguists,
particularly over the past 20 years,
bear out tricks of the journalistic
trade that have been practiced for
most of the 20th century.
Studies illuminate for the student
journalist some of the characteristics
of human witnessing, remembering,
and recounting of events.
The fallibility of memory is a
recurring theme in the literature of
psycholinguistics. '' Reconstructions
from memory are subject to strong
biases," say Clark and Clark.^
Bartlett found that experimental
subjects recounting stories they had
recently heard tended to sharpen
some details to leave out or level out
other details, and to provide
rationalizations for events that were
not present in the original version.^
Journalists should beware of
tendencies to sharpen, level and
rationalize in their recounting of
events — tendencies that may be
exaggerated under limitations of
time, space and newsworthiness.
Fillenbaum found that subjects
asked to paraphrase sentences that
were read to them had a tendency to
normalize unusual sentences. For
example, the sentence, "He dressed
and had a bath," would be normalized
Information gathering
Journalists gather information in to correspond to the usual time
two ways: (1) direct observation of ordering of events: "He had a bath
events or written records and (2) and dressed" or "He undressed and
interviewing people who have had a bath." Some 60 percent of
knowledge based on direct Fillenbaum's subjects normalized
observation. In all information unusual sentences.^
gathering, journalists are taught that
Strohner and Nelson found that
accuracy and objectivity should children who heard a variety of
govern the process.
sentences and were shown pictures
Journalists may be trained to be dealing with a cat, a mouse and a
objective witnesses, but they and the chase — for example, cats chasing
people they interview are likely to be dogs or cats and dogs playing — were
imperfect witnesses. Psycholinguistic most likely to recall any combination
of elements as "The cat chased the
UcAdamt i* a Ueturer ami PKD. stMdeiU ai the School of
mouse," suggesting another form of
Jovmalim at the Vnivertity ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Journalism Educator, Winter 1985
normalization.*
Journalists daily reconstruct
events from memory and are subject
to normalizing and other forms of
altering original occurrences. Even
note-taking is subject to the
weaknesses of short-term memory,
since many quotes take longer to
record than the 40-syllable or
15-second life that short-term
memory is estimated to possess.^
These findings underscore the need
for journalists to develop methods for
taking fast, accurate notes and also
suggests that tape-recording or
videotaping is highly desirable for
coverage of sensitive or fast-moving
events.
Bransford and Johnson found that
background knowledge about a story
or event improves memory for
content.® This suggests that background research prior to covering an
event may help to counteract some
biases that affect memory.
The findings of Bralett,
Fillenbaum, and of Strohner and
Nelson may also serve as cautions to
journalists in dealing with
interviews. The reports of eyewitnesses are likely to undergo
leveling, sharpening, rationalization,
normalization and other biasing
effects. In addition, journalists may
increase distortion by asking certain
kinds of interview questions.
The work of psychologist Elizabeth
Loftus on leading questions has
profound implications for journalists.
Loftus studied both immediate
answers to leading questions and also
their lasting effects on memory for
events.
To study the influence of the
wording of questions, Loftus and
Zanni showed experimental subjects
a film of a car crash. Following
viewing, some subjects were asked,
"Did you see a broken headlight?"
Others were asked, "Did you see the
broken headlight?" In fact, there was
no broken headlight.
Significantly more subjects
answered yes to the question, "Did
you see the broken headlight?" The
same question also yielded more
answers of "I don't know" (if I saw a
headlight). It appears that the mere
presence of the article "the,"
betraying an assumption on the part
of the interviewer that there was a
headlight in the film, at least
confused the subjects, and, in many
cases, misled them entirely.^
In another study, Loftus planted
more definite presuppostitions in
interview questions. Subjects
watched a film of an automobile
accident. After the film, some were
asked the straightforward question,
"How fast was the car going when it
turned right?" Others were asked a
question that contained a false
assumption: "How fast was the car
going when it ran the stop sign?" In
fact, there was no stop sign.
One week later, subjects were
recalled and asked some additional
questions, one of which was "Did you
see a stop sign?" In the group that
heard the misleading question one
week earlier, significantly more
answered "yes."^
In a similar experiment, subjects
viewed a class disruption staged by a
group of eight demonstrators.
Following viewing, half the subjects
were asked the presupposing
question, "Was the leader of the 12
demonstrators male?" Others were
asked, "Was the leader of the four
demonstrators male?" One week
"The findings of psychologists and linguists,... bear
out tricks of the journalistic trade that have been practiced for most of the 20th century."
Journalism Educator. Winter 1985
later subjects returned and were
asked how many demonstrators
appeared in the classroom film.
Those who had been asked the "12"
questions reported an average 8.85
people, while those who had heard
the "four" questions reported an
average of 6.4 people.'
Loftus and Palmer showed afilmof
an automobile accident. Groups of
subjects were asked a question that
was identical for all groups except for
the verb used. The question was
"How fast were the cars going when
they smashed?" — with the words
"collided," "bumped," "contacted"
and "hit" substituted for "smashed"
in various groups. Subjects then were
asked to estimate how fast the cars
were going at the time of the accident. Loftus and Palmer found that
subjects who heard the word
"smashed' consistently answered
with a higher estimated speed. ^°
Implications of the Loftus studies
are obvious: It appears that the
wording of questions may affect what
a person will say in an interview as
well as the person's perception or
memory of what actually happened.
Fillenbaum warns that linguistic
memory is really for "interpretation"
rather than for actual content —
another argument for confirming
information with several sources, for
careful note-taking and for increased
use of tape recording."
Knowing about these psycholinguistic studies will not solve the
problems of journalists striving to be
accurate and objective; human beings
appear to be imperfect observers and
reporters by nature. However, an
awareness of human weaknesses in
reconstructing events may serve as a
guide to careful reporters as they
decide how to take notes, what kinds
of questions to ask, which facts to
check with other sources and what
kinds of information to regard with
healthy skepticism.
Journalism Educator, Winter 1985
Story Construction
Some psycholinguistic advice on
story construction comes from
research on the Given-New Contract.
Clark and Clark define the GivenNew Contract as "an implicit
agreement between speakers and
listeners (a) to use given information
to refer to information listeners can
uniquely identify from what they
already know and (b) to use new
information to refer to information
they believe to be true but is not
already known."^^
An appropriate amount of "given "
information in a communication is an
aid to memory and thus to
understanding, according to Clark
and Haviland. They propose that
given information provides a sort of
"mental address" to the listener,
who from given information can tell
where new information is to be filed
and integrated.'* Cooperation
between speaker and listener (or
writer and reader) along the lines of
the Given-New Contract is therefore
essential to meaning. The work of
Grice suggests that communication
will break down entirely if there is
insufficient "relation" between new
information and ongoing discourse.'*
Considering the Given-New
Contract, the news writer should
construct stories with care, tying
each new element firmly to familiar
information. Providing established
information is called by journalists
'backgrounding," and is a basic
technique of news writers. Readers
presumably will operate as Clark and
Clark hypothesize, both needing and
expecting given information to
precede new information.'^
Bransford and Johnson found that
information received out of a
meaningful context was hard to
understand and remember. In an
experiment, subjects heard a passage
about a spaceship landing. One group
heard the passage and saw an
accompanying photograph, while
other subjects saw no photograph.
The group with the contextual aid of
the picture had better understanding
of and meniory for the passage.^*
In a similar experiment, instructions on how to wash clothes were
given to one group with the title
"Washing Clothes." Another group,
which did not receive the title of the
passage, had more problems
understanding and remembering the
task described in the passage."
These findings suggest that
journalists carefully place new
information in a meanin^ul context,
and place given information before
new information. Although this
lesson at first sounds like a
contradiction to inverted pyramid
form, some veteran news writers
display a subtle understanding of
these concepts daily in such leads as
"A congressman charged Aug. 24
with driving under the influence of
alcohol was acquitted today." Many
times, however,
given-new
considerations are ignored, often to
the detriment of readers.
Sentence construction
Many principles of composition
pertain to the writing of sentences.
The first and second of Gunning's
principles of clear writing are
"Principle One: Keep sentences
short," and "Principle Two: Prefer
the simple to complex. "^^ Some
reasons why short, simple sentences
are more easly understood by readers
are found in recent psycholinquistic
research.
Deese studied 20,000 sentences
taken from what he calls "informed
discourse — people trying to inform
one another." He found that 90
" . . . active sentences
take less time to process
and understand than
passive ones."
percent of the sentences were 10
seconds or less (10 to 15 words,
approximately). One third of the
sentences were single, independent
clauses, upholding the journalistic
assumption that conversational
writing is made up of short
sentences. 1*
Complex sentences contain underlying concepts called "propositions"
by psycholinquists. For example the
sentence, "The old man smoked his
awful cigar," contains three
propositions: The man is old, he
smoked a cigar, and the cigar is
awful. Kintsch and Keenan found
that proposition-loaded sentences
take more time to read and
comprehend, at the rate of
approximately 1.5 additional seconds
per additional proposition. ^^
The literature of good news writing
describes ways to keep sentences
simple and short, and these methods
are supported by psycholinguistic
research.
"Use the active voice" is one of
Strunk and White's elementary
principles of composition and also a
directive in most beginning news
writing texts.^i "Active verbs not
only bring sentences to life, they
shorten them as well," says
Gunning.22 Studies of active and
passive sentences by Gough and by
Slobin reveal that active sentences,
even when they are longer sentences,
take less time to process and
understand
than
passive
sentences. ^^, ^*
In only one case were passive
sentences more quickly processed
than active sentences: when he
object, or the initial noun, was old
information rather than new
information.26 It appears that
adherence to the Given-New Contract should override the desire to
make all sentences active. A lead
such as "The leash law proposed
Wednesday by the mayor was
endorsed by the City Council today,"
Journalism Educator, Winter 1965
even though it is passive, it is a better
choice than he active alternative,
"The City Council today endorsed a
leash law that was proposed
Wednesday by the Mayor."
A second way to keep sentences
short and simple is to keep them in
natural or normal order: subject,
then predicate. Bever notes that
most English sentences have the
order of agent-action-object.''*
Deese, in his research on informed,
naturally occurring language, found
that the most commonly occurring
constructions in informed conversation were (1) single, independent
clauses, (2) subject plus verb and
object complement, (3) subject, verb
and relative clause, and (4)
independent clauses containing
parenthetical expressions.^''
Structuring sentences in natural
order serves also to keep them in line
with the Given-New Contract. Clark
and Clark say that when people talk,
"they have something they want to
talk about and something they want
to say about it. These functions are
conveyed, respectively, by the subject
and the predicate...in most
sentences, the subject is given
information and the predicate new
information. "2*
Additional preferences for
sentence ordering is suggested by
psycholinguistic research. For
example, readers expect the first
clause in a sentence to be the main
clause. Clark and Clark suggest that
the comprehension process assumes
"the first clause to be a main clause
unless it is marked at or prior to the
main verb as something other than a
main clause."^^ Clark and Clark also
conclude that "English speakers also
generally prefer to use sentences
with the main clause before the
subordinate. "^^
Research also suggests that
sentence order correspond to
sequence or order in real time.
Fillenbaum's work discussed earlier
Journalism Educator, Winter 1985
"Research also suggests
that sentence order correspond to sequence of
order in real time."
showed that listeners, paraphrasing
unnaturally ordered sentences, will
re-order these sentences in memory
to correspond to the usual order of
things.^' Clark and Clark noted that
events are normally related in the
order in which they occur, and that
listeners and readers "look for the
first of two clauses to describe the
first of two events, and the second
clause the second event, unless they
are marked otherwise."*^ Thus the
reader of the sentence, "The boy
jumped the fence, and patted the
dog," would assume that the boy first
jumped the fence, then patted the
dog.
Strunk and White give readers a
third tip for keeping sentences
simple: "Put statements in positive
form."** Transformational grammar
suggests that negation always
requires at least one additional
transformation or step in mental
processing. Miller indicates that
additional transformations may be
costly to the reader or listener in
terms of time and energy.**
Research on processing denials also
supports the edict to state things
positively. A number of studies by
Wason involve the verification of
denials.*^ Subjects were given
negative statements, such as "John's
car isn't blue," and were asked to tell
whether the statement was true or
false. Other subjects were given
positive statements. The Wason
studies found that verifying denials
took about a half-second longer than
did judging affirmative statements.
Considering these findings, journalists who seek to speed their
readers on can save both time and
space by keeping statements positive.
"Research on processing
deniais aiso supports the
edict to state things
positiveiy."
Psycholingxiistic research has more
advice for journalistic writers, plus
aids for writing better headlines and
for explaining to student editors why
good writing and good headlines
work as they do. But to exhaust the
topic of journalistic lessons in
psycholinguistics — to build a complete bridge between two approaches
to communication — is a task worthy
of a book, or at least a thesis.
It is satisfying to see that what
journalists have instinctively adopted
as "the best way" to do things is consistent with the findings of researchers in another field of knowledge.
' Herbert H. Clark and Eve V. Clark. Piychology and
Language: An Introduction to PtyehoUnguMict (New York:
Harf&uri Brace JovatwtHch. Inc.. 19771. p. M*' FC Bariletl. Kemembering: An Experimental and
Social Study (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 19Si).
' Samuel Fillenbaum. "On Ccrping with Ordered and
Unordered Corijuncti^v Sentences." Journal of Experimental
Ptychology. 87:90-93 (I97S).
" Clark ami Clark, Op, dt,, p. »i.
•• Herbert H. dark and S.B. Haviland, "Comprthention
and the Given-New Contract," in R,0. Freedle, ed.. Discount
Production and Comprehention (Norwood, NJ.: Ablet
Publishing, 1977), pp. 1-iO.
" H.P. Grice, "Logic and Conversation, "in P. C^le and J.
Morgan, eds.. Syntax and Semantics, Volume I: Speech ^cts,
(New York: Seminar Press, 1975).
" Herbert H. Clark and Eve V. Clark, "Semantic Distinctions and Memory for Complex Sentences." Quarterly Journal
of Experimental Psychology, tO:129-I38 (1968).
'* J.D. Bransford and M.K. Johnson, "Contideraiions of
Some Problems of Comprehension," in W.G. Chase, ed.. Visual
Information Processing (New York: Academic Press, 1973)
pp. 383-i38.
" Ibid,
" Gunning, Op, cit, p. ix.
" J. Deese, "Thought into Speech," American Scientist,
66:3H-3il (1978).
'o IV. Dintsch andJ. Deenan, "Reading Rate ani Retention
as a Function of Propositions in the Base Structure of
Sentences," Cognitive Psychology, 5:i57-t7i (1973).
»' William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of
Style (New York: MacMiUan Publishing Company, tnc.. 1979).
" Gunning, Op. rit, p. lit.
" P.B. Gough, "The Verification of Sentences: TkeEffecUof
Delay of Evidence and Sentence Length," Journal of Verbal
Learning and Verbal Behavior, 5J,9g-i96 (1966).
" D.I. Slobin, "Grammatical Transformations and
Sentence Comprehension in Childhood and Adulthood," Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. 5:il9-it7
(1966).
Ibid.
•• T.G. Bever, "The Cognitive Basis for Linguistic Structures, " in J.R. Hayes, ed.. Cognition and the DevehpmeiU of
' H.Strohner andK.E. Nelson, ••TheYaungCkild'sDevelopLanguage (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1970) pp. t79-3St.
ment of Sentence Comprehension: Influence of Event ProbabUity, Kimverbal Context. Syntactic Form, and Strategies." Child
" Deese, Ibid.
Devetopment. 1,5:567-576 (197ij.
" Clark and Clark, 1977, p. 3i.
' Jackie S. Sachs, "Recognition Memory for Syntactic and
Semantic Aspects of Connected Discourse," Perception and
" Op. cit, p. 68.
Ptychophytia. !:i37-U2 (1967).
" Op, cit, p. 70.
' J.D. Bradford and M.K. Johnson, "Cemiderations of
Some Problems of Comprehension." in W.G. Chajie. «t, Visual
" Fillenbaum, 1971, Ibid,
Information Proctuing (New Yoirk: Academic Press, 197S),
pp. 38s-isa.
" Clark and Clark, 1977, p. 78.
' E.F. Lqftus and G. Zanni, "Eyemtness Testimony: The Influence of the Warding of a Question," Bulletin of the
Ptyehonomie Society, 5:86-98 (1975).
' E.F. Loftut. "Leading (iuestions and the Eyemtness
Report," Cognitive Ptychology, 7:560-571 (1975).
' Ibid,
" E.J. Loflus and J.C. Palmer, "Recomstrvctions of
Automboile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction Between Language and Memory," Journal of Verbal Learning
and Verbal Behavior, 13:585-589 (t97i).
" Samuel Fillenbaum (lectures. University
Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1983).
» StTunk and White, Ibid.
" GA. Miller, "Some Psychological Studies ofGrvmmar,"
American Psychologist, t7.7i8-76t.
» PC. Wason, "The Processing of PostiiveGMlNsgativs Information,"
Quarterly
Journal of
Experiwttntal
Psgehology, tl:9t-m (1959); P.C. Wason, "Response to Affirmative and Negative Binary Statements," Britith Jturtul af
Psychology, St: t3S-Ht (19ei); P.C. Wason, "The Contexts rf
Plausible Denied," The Journal of Verbal Learning and Vtrbal Behavior, i:7-n (IMS).
of North
Joumaliam Educator, Winter 1915