ARE MINIMAL INFERENCES AUTOMATIC?
6. In the framework of minimal inferences that preserve local coherence, M&R (pp. 443-445) discussed anaphoric resolution, as well as bridging inferences that specify the links among text ideas. A crucial question is whether these inference are automatic. M&R, in fact, expressed some doubt as whether BRIDGING INFERENCES are automatic. Indeed, local bridging inferences fail two crucial criteria of automatic processing, namely, they are both slow and resource-demanding (van Dijk & Kintsch, 1983, p. 45). This is probably because the reader engages in bridging only after a failed reinstatement search, itself a controlled process (Kintsch & van Dijk, 1978; Lesgold, Roth & Curtis, 1979). 7. The case of ANAPHORIC RESOLUTION is more complex. Of the evidence reviewed by M&R, some (e.g. Swinney & Osterhout, 1990) fits the minimal inference definition well. In contrast, the consistency of the data of Dell, McKoon, and Ratcliff (1983) with the minimalist hypothesis is debatable. This can be demons
