A possible source for added material in a sentence repetition task: Situation models in language
development
A popular view in the embodiment tradition is the one whereby speakers create situation models
when processing language material (Kintsch, 1988; 1998; Zwaan, 2004; 2005; 2009; Zwaan &
Madden, 2004; 2005). It is assumed that such models arise as the result of mental simulations of the
situations that underlie sentences and language constructions. An interesting research question is
whether situation models can be enriched and arise through combination from a number of sources,
e.g., between independent constructions/language expressions, independent visual stimuli
(pictures). We provide evidence from a simple sentence repetition task which we administered to 6
year-old children who were native speakers of English. We observed that, while nearly all of the
children (N= 15) repeated accurately all experimental sentences, some added language material in
their repetitions, which was not present in the original stimulus. This material was adequately
integrated in the structure of the sentence, and constituted either adverbial modifiers of verbs (e.g.,
X did s.th. fast), modifiers of nouns (little, as in “the little boy”) or involved a modification of the
grammatical construction used (e.g., replacing “The children's dog always sleeps on the floor" with
"The children's dog is always sleeping on the floor”). We explore an account in terms of these
children building enriched models of the situations described by the stimulus sentences through the
addition of conceptual and linguistic material. The source of this enrichment is arguably conceptual
combination arising from certain stereotypical conceptualizations or language use, such as frequent
collocations or specialized grammaticalised ways of referring to situations out in the world, e.g.,
using a progressive construction to emphasize repetitive states. We link this account to usage-based
models of language development (Tomasello, 2003).
References:
Kintsch, W. (1988). The role of knowledge in discourse comprehension construction-integration
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Kintsch, W. (1998) Comprehension: A paradigm for cognition. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Tomasello, M. (2003). Constructing a Language: A Usage-Based Theory of Language Acquisition.
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Zwaan, R.A. (2004). The immersed experiencer: toward an embodied theory of language
comprehension. In B.H. Ross (Ed.) The Psychology of Learning and Motivation (pp 35-62). Academic
Press, New York.
Zwaan, R.A. (2005). Situation Model. In D. Herman, M. Jahn & M.L. Ryan (Eds.) Routledge
Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory. Routledge, London.
Zwaan, R.A. (2009). Mental simulation in language comprehension and social cognition. European
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Zwaan, R.A. & Madden, C.J. (2004). Updating situation models. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
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Zwaan, R.A. & Madden, C.J. (2005). Embodied sentence comprehension. In Pecher, D. & Zwaan, R.A.
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