Validation and Comprehension: An Integrated Overview

In this article, I review and discuss the work presented in this special issue while focusing on a number of issues that warrant further investigation in validation research. These issues pertain to the nature of the validation processes, the processes and mechanisms that support validation during comprehension, the factors that influence validation, the role of validation in current theories of reading comprehension, the relation between validation and standards of coherence, and the distinction between validation and updating. Further exploration of these issues will contribute to our understanding of the role of validation in the overall comprehension process and will help push the field of discourse processes even further forward.