先述参与者的优势及句子不同成分的可提取性

考察了复合句中先述参与者在可提取性上的优势及句子连贯性因素对这种优势现象的影响。同时,采用系列一同时呈现的方式,考察了句子不同成分的可提取性。     

两种空间关系简单句命题表征项目顺序特点

采用改进后的句子―图形匹配实验,通过视、听通道呈现句子,探讨了中国大学生理解空间关系简单句所形成的命题表征中项目顺序特点。实验结果不支持"结构建造框架理论"中以"先提述参与者"作为表征基础的理论假设,在听觉通道呈现句子的实验中发现了支持优先表征参照客体的证据,当参照客体为"先提述参与者"时会促进个体对句子的理解。     

指代者对其先行词可提取性的影响

三个实验,考察了在理解含有指代法表述的句子过程中,指代者对其先行词(即所指者)的可提取性的影响及其与先述参与者可提取性上的优势之间的关系。结果表明：(1)指代者对所指者的激活有促进作用,对非所指者有一定的抑制作用,从而提高了所指者的可提取性;(2)指代者对所指者和非所指者的这种作用有一定的时间进程;(3)指代者对所指者产生作用的时间进程随指代法表述的特性而变化;(4)句子先述参与者在可提取性上的优势是一种较普遍的认知现象。它与指代法表述中所指者的易提取性现象是一种动态的关系,指代法表述或者增强先述参与者可提取性的优势,或者会消除这种优势。     

视觉特征捆绑：基于时间同步还是基于相同空间位置？

通过操纵客体呈现的空间位置和时间顺序,来考察视觉特征捆绑是基于相同空间位置线索还是基于时间邻近线索。在两个实验中,给被试在固定的注视点位置（固定呈现条件）或在注视点上/下位置（变换呈现条件）快速地系列呈现刺激,记录靶子前后各两个时间位置（-2、-1、+1、+2）的错觉性结合（IC）率。结果发现,在固定呈现条件下,IC更多地出现在-1和+1的时间位置上;而在变换呈现条件下,错觉性结合更多地出现在-2和+2时间位置上。为了进一步排除特定实验范式的影响,在实验3中,我们采用特征分离范式,使被分离的刺激特征同时呈现在相同（相同位置同步）或不同（不同位置同步）的空间位置上。结果表明,这两种条件下的IC率无显著差异,这说明错觉性结合不受时间同步模式的影响。综上所述,来自三个实验的结果表明,时间范围内的特征捆绑机制是按空间位置,而不是按时间邻近,线索进行的：若特征的空间位置相同,时间邻近的特征才被捆绑起来;若空间位置不同,即使时间邻近的特征也不能被捆绑到一起。     

汉语句子可继续性对句子理解加工的即时影响

通过操纵动词与后接词的关系,来产生搭配异常并控制句子的可继续性,研究汉语词汇信息在句子加工中的即时作用。实验一利用跨通道技术,发现动一名词搭配异常对目标名词的加工有即时影响,形容词条件下可继续性对目标形容词的加工有即时影响;实验二采用眼动技术,发现名词条件和形容词条件下可继续性均有显著的即时影响。结果显示,语义等多种词汇信息被通达后立即共同参与了汉语句子加工。     

认知失调引起的系列次序错误记忆初探

本实验借鉴认知失调领域自由范式的思路,以系列次序为对象,研究了错误记忆在认知失调影响下的产生特点和机制。结果表明：（1）选择操作对被试的次序回忆产生了显著影响：Z（有选择一无选择）=11．036,p〈0．01;（2）在有选择条件下,接受项目的喜好程度增加（X^2（2）=13．000,P〈0．005）,拒绝项目的喜好程度降低（X^2（2）=9．250．P=0．001）;在无选择的条件下,三种位置的频次分布无显著差异,表明认知失调引发了次序错误记忆;（3）预警变量对于次序回忆的相关程度有显著影响（Z（有提示一无提示）=3．535,P〈0．01）,对于接受项目和拒绝项目的位置回忆无显著影响（接受项目：X^2（2）=0．629,P=0．730;拒绝项目：70（2）=0．180,P=0．914）,表明错误记忆是由认知失调引起,并且难以抑制。     

句首词语音形义变化在判断句义中的作用

通过要求被试判断前后出现的两个句子意思是否一致,探讨句首词语音形义变化对句子阅读的影响,同时验证汉字音形义激活的时间进程。实验结果表明：（1）句首词语音形义变化对句子阅读的影响不一致,字形对句子阅读的影响最大,而字音和字义对句子阅读的影响大小不能得到分离。（2）句首词语首尾变化对句子阅读的影响不一致,词语尾字变化条件下的反应时比词语首字变化条件下的反应时更长。实验结果支持了句首词语字形对句子阅读影响最大、句首词语尾字变化比首字变化对句子阅读影响更大的观点。     

汉语歧义句的加工

通过两个实验,对汉语歧义句多种解释的意义频率和语境位置在句子歧义解析过程中的效应进行了考察。实验结果表明：（１）前语境为被试提供了某种预期信息,它对句子歧义解析的效应大于后语境;（２）在句子歧义解析过程中,不管有语境或无语境,不管是前语境或后语境,被试提取歧义句的主要意思比提取次要意思快;（３）歧义句的多种解释的激活,有一个时间进程,在短延迟间隔条件下,歧义句的主要意思可以被激活并形成表征,但次要意思的激活和表征则需要较长的时间     

字词视觉空间特征在中文阅读眼动控制中的作用

研究采用4（呈现方式：小－小、小－大、大－小、大－大）×2（文本内容：句子、“※”串）的被试内设计,考察了文本字符呈现大小对读者眼跳选择目标和注视持续时间的影响。结果发现：（1）读者在浏览不同呈现方式的“※”串时的眼动模式基本上与阅读相应呈现方式的句子类似;（2）句子完全是由双字词构成,词内的首字和尾字大小不等（‘小－大”和“大－小”呈现条件）严重影响阅读效率;（3）读者在阅读句子时的注视时间高于浏览“※”串时的注视时间。结果说明,视觉呈现方式和词汇加工均影响读者的眼动模式。     

合理性对中文句子阅读影响的眼动研究

研究以眼动仪为工具,以24名大学生为被试,考察了合理性(合理、不合理、异常)对中文句子阅读的影响。结果发现,在异常条件下对目标词存在即时的干扰效应,在不合理条件下没有出现干扰。说明当句子异常时,在早期加工阶段就出现了合理性效应,当句子不合理时,不存在这种效应。     

The advantage of first mention in Spanish

An advantage of first mention—that is, faster access to participants mentioned first in a sentence—has previously been demonstrated only in English. We report three experiments demonstrating that the advantage of first mention occurs also in Spanish sentences, regardless of whether the first-mentioned participants are syntactic subjects, and regardless, too, of whether they are proper names or inanimate objects. Because greater word-order flexibility is allowed in Spanish than in English (e.g., nonpassive object-verb-subject constructions exist in Spanish), these findings provide additional evidence that the advantage of first mention is a general cognitive phenomenon.     

The Advantage of First Mention in Korean The Temporal Contributions of Syntactic,Semantic, and Pragmatic Factors

Using Korean, we investigated how syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic factors influence the representation of a sentence, in particular, the relative accessibility of different components of a sentence representation. In six experiments, participants performed a probe recognition task after reading each of a series of sentences. We manipulated the rate at which each word of the sentence was presented (250 ms and 500 ms) and the interval between the sentence-final word and the probe-recognition test word (immediate, 500 ms delay, and 1000 ms delay). We also manipulated the syntactic position (subject versus object), semantic role (agent versus patient), and order of mention (first-versus second-mentioned participant) of the probed item. Pragmatic factors (the order of mention) strongly influenced accessibility immediately and through the longest delay, whereas syntactic and semantic factors had little effect.     

Reduction and elimination of format effects on recall

Two experiments investigated whether the recall advantage of pictures and spoken words over printed words in working memory (Foos & Goolkasian, 2005; Goolkasian & Foos, 2002) could be reduced by manipulating letter case and sequential versus simultaneous presentation. Participants were required to remember 3 or 6 items presented in varied presentation formats while verifying the accuracy of a sentence. Presenting words in alternating uppercase and lowercase improved recall, and presenting words simultaneously rather than successively removed the effect of presentation format. The findings suggest that when forcing participants to pay attention to printed words you can make them more memorable and thereby diminish or remove any disadvantage in the recall of printed words in comparison with pictures and spoken words.     

The action-sentence compatibility effect in Japanese sentences

The action-sentence compatibility effect (ACE) is a phenomenon in which a reader's response to a sentence is made faster when there is congruity between the action described in the sentence and the action that makes up the response. Previous studies showed the ACE occurs in action-related sentences in several languages. However, all these were SVO (verb-object) languages, in which verbs are placed before object nouns; this order is reversed in SOV languages. Moreover, those studies investigated hand responses. This study assessed the existence of the ACE in Japanese, an SOV language, and in foot responses. 24 female participants judged the sensibility of Japanese sentences that described actions and responded with either their foot or hand as an effector. Reaction times were significantly faster when there was congruity between the effector described in the sentences and the effector actually used for the response. However, sentence dependency was also found in the foot responses.     

Pictures,Words, and Sounds: From Which Format Are We Best Able to Reason?

The effect of presentation format on reasoning was studied with a sentence verification task. Background information was presented in single-format and combined conditions that included pictured, printed, or spoken versions of the stimulus items. In Experiment 1, a test sentence appeared together with the background at varied stimulus onset asynchronies, to study how format influences the acquisition of the stimulus information. In Experiments 2 and 3, however, the test sentence followed the presentation of the background, to test the effect of format on memory. Reaction time responses to the test sentences showed a consistent picture advantage. However, when participants responded to materials stored in memory, both pictured and spoken formats provided quicker responses in comparison to printed words, and the format difference was smaller than when materials were readily available on the screen. Multimedia presentations, when compared with single-format conditions, did not provide additional benefits.     

Pictures, words, and sounds: from which format are we best able to reason?

The effect of presentation format on reasoning was studied with a sentence verification task. Background information was presented in single-format and combined conditions that included pictured, printed, or spoken versions of the stimulus items. In Experiment 1, a test sentence appeared together with the background at varied stimulus onset asynchronies, to study how format influences the acquisition of the stimulus information. In Experiments 2 and 3, however, the test sentence followed the presentation of the background, to test the effect of format on memory. Reaction time responses to the test sentences showed a consistent picture advantage. However, when participants responded to materials stored in memory, both pictured and spoken formats provided quicker responses in comparison to printed words, and the format difference was smaller than when materials were readily available on the screen. Multimedia presentations, when compared with single-format conditions, did not provide additional benefits.     

Embodiment Effects and Language Comprehension in Alzheimer's Disease

It has been shown that when participants are asked to make sensibility judgments on sentences that describe a transfer of an object toward or away from their body, they are faster to respond when the response requires a movement in the same direction as the transfer described in the sentence. This phenomenon is known as the action compatibility effect (ACE). This study investigates whether the ACE exists for volunteers with Alzheimer's disease (AD), whether the ACE can facilitate language comprehension, and also whether the ACE can still be produced if the order of the two events is inverted, that is, whether overt movement can prime comprehension of transfer sentences. In Study 1, participants with AD, younger, and older adults were tested on an adaptation of the ACE Paradigm. In Study 2, the same paradigm was modified to include an arm movement that participants had to perform prior to sentence exposure on screen. In Study 1, young, older adults, and individuals with AD were faster to respond when the direction of the response movement matched the directionality implied by the sentence (ACE). In Study 2, no traditional ACE was found; participants were faster when the direction of the movement immediately preceding the sentence matched the directionality of the sentence. It was found that compatibility effects generated a relative advantage, that transfer schemata are easier to process, and that an ACE‐like effect can be the result of mutual priming between language and movement. Results suggested preservation in AD of the neural systems for action engaged during language comprehension, and conditions under which comprehension in AD can be facilitated in real life may be identified.     

Experiential simulations of negated text information

We investigated the question of whether comprehenders mentally simulate a described situation even when this situation is explicitly negated in the sentence. In two experiments, participants read negative sentences such as There was no eagle in the sky, and subsequently responded to pictures of mentioned entities in the context of a recognition task. Participants' responses following negative sentences were faster when the depicted entity matched rather than mismatched the negated situation. These results suggest that comprehenders simulate the negated situation when processing a negated sentence. The results thereby provide further support for the experiential-simulations view of language comprehension.