Work

The use of context in resolving syntactic ambiguity: structural and semantic influences

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: Verb bias facilitates parsing of temporarily ambiguous sentences, but it is unclear when and how comprehenders use probabilistic knowledge about the combinatorial properties of verbs in context. In a self-paced reading experiment, participants read direct object/sentential complement sentences. Reading time in the critical region was investigated as a function of three forms of bias: structural bias (the frequency with which a verb appears in direct object/sentential complement sentences), lexical bias (the simple co-occurrence of verbs and other lexical items), and global bias (obtained from norming data about the use of verbs with specific noun phrases). For reading times at the critical word, structural bias was the only reliable predictor. However, global bias was superior to structural and lexical bias at the post-critical word and for offline acceptability ratings. The results suggest that structural information about verbs is available immediately, but that context-specific, semantic information becomes increasingly informative as processing proceeds.

Source: Language Cognition and Neuroscience

DOI: 10.1080/23273798.2019.1622750

Authors: Kathryn Bousquet, Tamara Y. Swaab, Debra L. Long

Institution: University of California, Davis

Language: English

Topic: Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: Prediction in Older Adults during Reading and Spoken Language Comprehension, G1437782045, G6591344436, G9000328785