The role of text genre in the construction of generalisation inferences.

Background: Generalisation inferences let readers identify a conceptually superordinate statement to represent multiple subordinate concepts. This study measures text genres' influence on the scope and timing of generalisation inferences. Methods: To measure the scope, or breadth, of generalisation inferences, undergraduates (N = 266) read expository and literary texts containing target sentences that were consistent, inconsistent or off‐topic in relation to the generalisation implied in each paragraph. To test when the generalisations were inferred, target sentences were placed either early or late in each paragraph. Results: Readers drew broad generalisations early in the text and changed to specific generalisations later for exposition. The generalisations inferred from fairy tales were specific regardless of whether tested early or later in the text. Conclusions: Readers construct generalisation inferences while reading both expository and literary texts, although the timing and scope of the inferences vary slightly by genre. Implications for theories of reading comprehension and applications for reading interventions are discussed. Highlights: What is already known about the topic Readers infer superordinate concepts, or generalisations, as they read.Inferring generalisations is important for reading comprehension.Text genre affects reading behaviours, including inference construction. What this paper adds This study investigated how genre affects the scope, or breadth, of generalisation inferences and the timing of those inferences.Readers' inferences for expository texts began as broad but became specific as the text continued but were always specific for literary texts.Readers began drawing the inferences while reading, as opposed to after reading. Implications for theory, policy or practice Although readers often struggle to identify the main point of a text, these results suggest readers begin to find connections between ideas within paragraphs very early in the text.Readers reacted to inconsistent information differently in literary versus expository texts, suggesting continued instruction of genre‐specific reading strategies is appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]