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Sentence Processing: Models
Sentence Processing Research Methods
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Self-Paced Reading Task (on-line)
Eye-tracking (on-line)
ERP (on-line)
Questionnaire (off-line)
Garden-Path Model
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Frazier, Fodor, Kimball, Rayner
Garden Path Model: Deterministic (non-probabilistic) serial / modular model
Syntactic Autonomy; Universal Parsing Mechanism
So-called “Two-stage Model”
a. Initial stage: structural (syntactic) strategies are used only
b. Later: other available resources and strategies are used
5. Mechanisms of Initial Choice (Strategies based on tree structure analyses)
a. Late closure: attach incoming lexical items, when grammatically permissible,
into the phrase being processed
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Tom said that Bill had taken the cleaning out yesterday.
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Jessie put the book Kathy was reading in the library...
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Since Jay always jogs a mile seems like a very short distance to him.
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As soon as he had phoned his wife started to prepare for the journey.
As soon as he had phoned his wife she started to prepare for the journey.
b. Minimal attachment: attach each incoming lexical item into the existing
structure, adding the fewest possible number of nodes to the tree
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The city council argued the mayor’s position forcefully.
The city council argued the mayor’s position was correct.
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The spy saw the cop with a telescope.
The spy saw the cop with a revolver.
6. Evidence supporting autonomy in syntactic processing (for the garden path model)
a. Studies show that semantic information/lexical guidance has no influence in the
initial stage of parsing (i.e. still garden-pathed)
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After the child had visited(,) the doctor prescribed a course of injections.
After the child had sneezed (,) the doctor prescribed a course of
injections.
b. ERP studies
i. Syntactic anomaly: elicited the P600 (e.g. The cats won’t eating the food
that Mary leaves them)
ii. Semantic anomaly: elicited the N400 (e.g. The cats won’t bake the food
that Mary leaves them)
c.f. Normal (nonanomalous) The cats won’t eat the food that Mary leaves them.
Both: The cats won’t baking the food that Mary leaves them (both N400, P600)
Constraint-based Model
1. Tanenhaus, Trueswell, MacDonald, Pearlmutter, Spivey-Knowlton
2. Constraint-based Model: probabilistic serial/weighted parallel/interactive model
3. supports the view that syntax and semantics interact during the comprehension process
Thematic relation:
 The florist sent the flowers was very pleased.
 The performer sent the flowers was very pleased.
Animacy:
 The defendant examined by the attorney turned out to be unreliable.
 The evidence examined by the attorney turned out to be unreliable.
Frequency:
 The defendant examined by the attorney turned out to be unreliable.
 The defendant wanted by the attorney turned out to be dead.
Cross-linguistic studies
Someone shot the servant of the actress who was on the balcony.
Who was on the balcony?
English
Norwegian
Swedish
the actress
Arabic
Romanian
Afrikaans
Dutch
German
Spanish
Japanese
the servant
Croatian
French
Russian
Greek
controversial