Readers' responses while reading a narrative text

This paper examines cognitive and emotional responses produced while reading a short story. The text was presented in the original and in two modified versions, which differed in the presence or absence of anticipations. Readers were presented with a questionnaire concerning their responses. Effects of text version, gender, and type of academic studies were examined. A factorial analysis explored the underlying dimensions of the fifteen variables. Three factors emerged, concerning readers' participation in the story, responses to the violation of their expectations and cognitive evaluation of the textual features that make the story comprehensible. Women scored significantly higher on the first factor and the presence or absence of anticipations significantly influenced the second factor.