Risposta emotiva e qualità del testo nella lettura del racconto del mistero

Two experiments were carried out to study the responses elicited by the reading of short stories, one by E.A. Poe’ s (Experiment 1) and one by I. Tarchetti (Experiment 2). The following responses to the story were collected at the end of the reading: Curiosity, Excitement, Imagery, Impact, Interest, Pleasure, Pleasure at the Ending, Surprise, Surprise at the Ending, Suspense; moreover, readers were asked to judge some of the characteristics of the text, i.e. Coherence, Facility and Postdictability. Results of both experiments show that three dimensions underlie the fruition of a narrative text: Involvement during the reading, Evaluation of the outcome and Cognitive evaluation.