This file states the problem of typed units in one sentence, then the names research and practice give it, then the questions the review answers.
The problem in one sentence
Give each unit of writing a declared type, derived from one base, so that a reader who knows the base form can read every form derived from it.
Terms used in every file
| unit |
a piece of writing read as one thing: a topic, a map, a section, a story episode |
| type |
a named kind of unit with a fixed set of parts in an expected order |
| base type |
the type every other type derives from; it holds the parts all units share |
| derived type |
a type that keeps the base's parts and adds or narrows some of its own |
| derivation |
the rule that makes one type from another; DITA calls it specialization |
| generalization |
reading or processing a derived unit as if it were its base type |
| schema (reader side) |
the reader's knowledge of a type's categories and their order |
What research calls it
| schematic structure, later superstructure |
discourse psychology |
the conventional categories of a text type and their order, used by the reader to build the gist |
Kintsch 1978 |
| story grammar, story schema |
cognitive psychology |
rules that rewrite a story into setting and episodes, and episodes into smaller parts |
Rumelhart 1975; Mandler 1977; Thorndyke 1977; Stein 1975 |
| causal network |
cognitive psychology |
the successor to story grammars: events linked by causes |
Trabasso 1985 |
| text structure, top-level structure |
reading research |
expository patterns (comparison, cause, problem and solution) taught to readers |
Meyer 1975 (linked); Meyer 2001; Hebert 2016 |
| rhetorical structure (in the 1982 sense, not rhetorical structure theory) |
discourse psychology |
the conventional form of an essay, with or without cues |
Kintsch 1982 |
| genre expectation |
discourse psychology |
the reader's belief about a text's genre, which changes how it is processed |
Zwaan 1994 |
| genre, genre knowledge, uptake |
rhetorical genre studies |
genre as a recurring social action; how writers carry genre knowledge to new settings |
Miller 1984; Artemeva 2008 |
| genre awareness, transfer |
applied linguistics, writing studies |
whether knowing one genre helps with another |
Cheng 2007; Brent 2011 |
| information types (procedure, principle, example) |
human factors |
which kind of instruction helps performance, learning or transfer |
Eiriksdottir 2011 |
| minimalism, minimal manual |
human-computer interaction |
task-oriented documentation, the lineage of the task type |
Carroll 1987 |
| component content management (CCM) |
technical communication research |
writing and managing small typed components instead of whole documents |
Andersen 2015 |
What practitioners call it
| information typing, topic type |
DITA (OASIS 2015) |
type of unit |
| specialization and generalization |
DITA (OASIS 2015) |
derivation, and reading a derived unit as its base |
| concept, task, reference |
DITA technical content; Kubernetes 2026b adds tutorial |
derived types |
| Information Mapping, information block, information map |
Horn 1969; Information Mapping 2026 (example only) |
typed blocks inside typed maps |
| structured writing |
Horn 1981; Baker 2018b (example only) |
writing to a declared structure |
| topic-based authoring, modular authoring |
Baker 2013; WSE 2018a |
units read on their own |
| Every Page is Page One (EPPO) |
Baker 2013 |
a topic that conforms to a type and stands alone |
| modules: concept, procedure, reference |
Red Hat 2026b, reviewed in documentation |
derived types |
| data module |
S1000D, named in WSE 2018b |
typed unit in aerospace documentation |
| type hierarchy: CreativeWork, HowTo, Recipe |
SchemaOrg 2026 |
derivation for machine readers |
| story structure, hero's journey, three-act structure |
fiction writers (WSE 2022a; WSE 2020a, example only) |
story grammar, in practice |
- The words differ more than the idea.
- Research says schema: the type lives in the reader's head.
- Practice says type: the type lives in the markup.
- This review keeps the two apart: a declared type helps only if the reader holds a matching schema.
The questions
| Q1 |
Which systems define a base unit and derive types from it, and what does the base hold? |
| Q2 |
Does a typed, predictable structure help readers find, understand or recall, measured? |
| Q3 |
Does knowing one type transfer to another type, or to a derived type? |
| Q4 |
What does practice adopt, with counts? |
| Q5 |
What does typing cost: rigidity, authoring burden, failed fit? |
| Q6 |
Do typed units help a language model as reader, kept apart from vendor claims? |
Search terms tried, three ways
- Academic: information typing, structured authoring, topic-based authoring, story grammar, story schema, superstructure, text structure instruction, genre expectations, genre knowledge, genre awareness and transfer, rhetorical genre studies, component content management, minimal manual, procedural instructions.
- Acronym: DITA, CCM, EPPO, STOP, RAG.
- Author: Horn, Priestley, Day, Baker, Mandler, Thorndyke, Stein, Rumelhart, Black, Kintsch, van Dijk, Meyer, Hebert, Zwaan, Miller, Andersen, Batova, Carroll.
- Zero or near-zero results: "Darwin Information Typing Architecture" on arXiv (0) and "information mapping" with Horn on arXiv (0). The research sits in journals of technical communication and education, not on arXiv; the formal strings were moved there.
Not reviewed here
- The levels effect and rhetorical structure theory: psycholinguistics.
- The four documentation modes of Diataxis: documentation.
- Moves, steps and CARS in research articles: academic-papers.
- Storing, nesting and reusing typed units (DITA maps, conref, schemas): the document-model review.
- Showing a nested tree to a reader: the progressive-disclosure review.