In cognitive psychology, how does a reader typically make an inference about a character in a story?

• A. By combining prior knowledge with textual clues to draw conclusions about the character's traits or motives
• B. By ignoring the character's actions and focusing only on the plot events
• C. By relying solely on the character's direct speech without considering context
• D. By memorizing every detail about the character presented in the text

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that making an inference in cognitive psychology involves going beyond the explicit information provided in the text to draw conclusions about a character.
2. Recognize that readers use their prior knowledge—what they already know about human behavior, social norms, and typical character traits—to interpret the story.
3. Identify textual clues such as the character's actions, dialogue, and interactions with other characters, which provide indirect information about the character's personality or motives.
4. Combine these textual clues with prior knowledge to form a coherent understanding or inference about the character, rather than relying solely on direct statements or memorizing details.
5. Avoid focusing only on plot events or direct speech without context, as effective inference requires integrating multiple sources of information to draw meaningful conclusions.