Work

A Working Memory Model of Sentence Processing as Binding Morphemes to Syntactic Positions

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: As they process complex linguistic input, language comprehenders must maintain a mapping between lexical items (e.g., morphemes) and their syntactic position in the sentence. We propose a model of how these morpheme-position bindings are encoded, maintained, and reaccessed in working memory, based on working memory models such as "serial-order-in-a-box" and its SOB-Complex Span version. Like those models, our model of linguistic working memory derives a range of attested memory interference effects from the process of binding items to positions in working memory. We present simulation results capturing similarity-based interference as well as item distortion effects. Our model provides a unified account of these two major classes of interference effects in sentence processing, attributing both types of effects to an associative memory architecture underpinning linguistic computation.

Source: Topics in Cognitive Science

DOI: 10.1111/tops.12780

Authors: Maayan Keshev, Mandy Cartner, Aya Meltzer‐Asscher, Brian Dillon

Institutions: Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Language: English

Topic: Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,300

Funders: National Science Foundation, United States - Israel Binational Science Foundation, Tel Aviv University, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences