Making psycholinguistics musical: Self-paced reading time evidence for shared processing of linguistic and musical syntax

Linguistic processing, especially syntactic processing, is often considered a hallmark of human cognition; thus, the domain specificity or domain generality of syntactic processing has attracted considerable debate. The present experiments address this issue by simultaneously manipulating syntactic processing demands in language and music. Participants performed self-paced reading of garden path sentences, in which structurally unexpected words cause temporary syntactic processing difficulty. A musical chord accompanied each sentence segment, with the resulting sequence forming a coherent chord progression. When structurally unexpected words were paired with harmonically unexpected chords, participants showed substantially enhanced garden path effects. No such interaction was observed when the critical words violated semantic expectancy or when the critical chords violated timbral expectancy. These results support a prediction of the shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis (Patel, 2003), which suggests that music and language draw on a common pool of limited processing resources for integrating incoming elements into syntactic structures. Notations of the stimuli from this study may be downloaded from pbr.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.     

Individual differences in bridging inference processes

The role of individual differences in bridging-inference processing was studied. Students (n = 135) read passages of short to moderate length. After each one, they answered corresponding questions about inferences that bridged causally related ideas that were either near or far apart in the text. The main hypothesis was that local bridging-inference processing is facilitated by the reader's predisposition to access pertinent knowledge during comprehension. Regression analyses provided support for this proposal and indicated that greater working-memory capacity and vocabulary knowledge promote inference processing. The following relationships between the predictors and inference processing were proposed: Knowledge access promotes the co-occurrence in working memory of the text ideas and knowledge needed to compute the bridge. Working-memory capacity enhances the likelihood that needed antecedent ideas will be available to the bridging processes. Vocabulary knowledge may promote inference processing because unfamiliar word meanings place more demands on working-memory resources than do familiar meanings.     

The influence of sentential position on noun phrase structure priming

This article explores the interaction between global sentence context and local syntactic decision making. Specifically, four noun phrase (NP) structural priming experiments investigated whether the position of an NP within a sentence increased speakers' tendency to repeat primed structure. We crossed the position of the NP with the structure of the NP, such that NPs could be sentence initial or final in prime sentences. We further manipulated whether the to-be-modified target NP was sentence initial or final. Structural persistence effects were consistently observed, but there was no influence of parallel position. Rather, sentence-initial NP primes had a stronger influence on subsequent syntactic decisions than sentence-final primes, suggesting a primacy effect. Sentence-initial target NPs contributed to this primacy effect, while sentence-final target NPs did not. We argue that this primacy effect arises as the result of greater processing demands and resources for early than for late sentence constituents as well as deeper encoding and more focused attention when processing the beginnings of sentences.     

The influence of sentential position on noun phrase structure priming

This article explores the interaction between global sentence context and local syntactic decision making. Specifically, four noun phrase (NP) structural priming experiments investigated whether the position of an NP within a sentence increased speakers' tendency to repeat primed structure. We crossed the position of the NP with the structure of the NP, such that NPs could be sentence initial or final in prime sentences. We further manipulated whether the to-be-modified target NP was sentence initial or final. Structural persistence effects were consistently observed, but there was no influence of parallel position. Rather, sentence-initial NP primes had a stronger influence on subsequent syntactic decisions than sentence-final primes, suggesting a primacy effect. Sentence-initial target NPs contributed to this primacy effect, while sentence-final target NPs did not. We argue that this primacy effect arises as the result of greater processing demands and resources for early than for late sentence constituents as well as deeper encoding and more focused attention when processing the beginnings of sentences.     

Thematic roles assigned along the garden path linger

In the literature dealing with the reanalysis of garden path sentences such as While the man hunted the deer ran into the woods, it is generally assumed either that people completely repair their initial incorrect syntactic representations to yield a final interpretation whose syntactic structure is fully consistent with the input string or that the parse fails. In a series of five experiments, we explored the possibility that partial reanalyses take place. Specifically, we examined the conditions under which part of the initial incorrect analysis persists at the same time that part of the correct final analysis is constructed. In Experiments 1a and 1b, we found that both the length of the ambiguous region and the plausibility of the ultimate interpretation affected the likelihood that such sentences would be fully reanalyzed. In Experiment 2, we compared garden path sentences with non-garden path sentences and compared performance on two different types of comprehension questions. In Experiments 3a and 3b, we constructed garden path sentences using a small class of syntactically unique verbs to provide converging evidence against the position that people employ some sort of "general reasoning" or pragmatic inference when faced with syntactically difficult garden paths. The results from these experiments indicate that reanalysis of such sentences is not always complete, so that comprehenders often derive an interpretation for the full sentence in which part of the initial misanalysis persists. We conclude that the goal of language processing is not always to create an idealized structure, but rather to create a representation that is "good enough" to satisfy the comprehender that an appropriate interpretation has been obtained.     

Attribution difficulty and memory for attribution-relevant information

This research compared the processing and retrieval of attribution-relevant information when the attributional inference is easy or difficult to make. Subjects attributed behavioral events to the person or to the situation, based on several items of context information. Each context sentence implied either the person or the entity as causal agent. When the attributional inference was difficult to make (an equal number of context sentences implied actor and entity as the causal agent), subjects recalled more of the behavioral events, recalled more context sentences, and were less confident in their attributions than when the attributional inference was easy to make (most context sentences implied the same causal agent). Subjects also recalled context information that was implicationally incongruent with the majority of the other context sentences with a higher probability than when that same information was implicationally congruent.     

Effects of foveal processing difficulty on the perceptual span in reading: implications for attention and eye movement control

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of foveal processing difficulty on the perceptual span in reading. Subjects read sentences while their eye movements were recorded. By changing the text contingent on the reader's current point of fixation, foveal processing difficulty and the availability of parafoveal word information were independently manipulated. In Experiment 1, foveal processing difficulty was manipulated by lexical frequency, and in Experiment 2 foveal difficulty was manipulated by syntactic complexity. In both experiments, less parafoveal information was acquired when processing in the fovea was difficult. We conclude that the perceptual span is variable and attentionally constrained. We also discuss the implications of the results for current models of the relation between covert visual-spatial attention and eye movement control in reading.     

Exploring automaticity in text processing: syntactic ambiguity as a test case

A prevalent assumption in text comprehension research is that many aspects of text processing are automatic, with automaticity typically defined in terms of properties (e.g., speed and effort). The present research advocates conceptualization of automaticity in terms of underlying mechanisms and evaluates two such accounts, a computational-efficiency account (underlying computational processes become more efficient with practice) and a memory-based processing account (the underlying basis of processing shifts with practice, from computing interpretations to retrieving prior interpretations). In five experiments, short texts containing either an ambiguous or unambiguous syntactic structure were presented for multiple study trials. In both conditions, reading times in target regions decreased across trials, indicating automatization. Several findings supported the memory-based processing account (e.g., practice effects were largely item-specific, reading times were longer for ambiguous versus unambiguous sentences on early trials but converged on later trials) Some evidence was also found for a contribution of gains in computational efficiency (i.e., some item-general practice effects were observed). Implications for research on automaticity and text processing are discussed.     

Robust inference processes in expository text comprehension

Expository text offers particular challenges to the reader because of the abstract and unfamiliar concepts that it presents and its distinctive structure. The present study had three interrelated aims: (1) It examined the impact of appropriate connectives on the reader's derivation of causal bridging inferences from expository text. (2) It scrutinised texts longer than the ones that we had previously examined (Singer, Harkness, & Stewart, 1997), which in turn made it possible to (3) evaluate the impact of position in the text on inference processing. In Experiments 1a and 1b, a joint profile of target reading times and inference answer times indicated that the inspected inferences reliably accompanied reading only in the presence of appropriate causal connectives. The connective-present conditions of Experiment 1 replicated our previous findings using shorter texts (Singer et al., 1997). Experiment 2 indicated that these inference processes are unaffected by text position. We interpreted these findings with reference to the inference validation model (Singer, Halldorson, Lear, & Andrusiak, 1992).     

说明文阅读中因果推理的意识性

采用独立记得-知道范式(IRK)和加工分离范式(PDP)探讨说明文阅读中因果推理的意识性。根据关系部分的描述与目标句是否存在逻辑冲突,创设推理成功和推理失败两种实验条件。实验1和2分别使用独立记得-知道范式和加工分离范式进行研究。两个实验的结果都发现推理成功和推理失败在有意识和无意识加工指标上都差异显著,表明说明文阅读中因果推理既影响有意识加工也影响无意识加工,该结果支持和完善了文本阅读双加工理论。     

Syntactic structure building in the anterior temporal lobe during natural story listening

The neural basis of syntax is a matter of substantial debate. In particular, the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), or Broca’s area, has been prominently linked to syntactic processing, but the anterior temporal lobe has been reported to be activated instead of IFG when manipulating the presence of syntactic structure. These findings are difficult to reconcile because they rely on different laboratory tasks which tap into distinct computations, and may only indirectly relate to natural sentence processing. Here we assessed neural correlates of syntactic structure building in natural language comprehension, free from artificial task demands. Subjects passively listened to Alice in Wonderland during functional magnetic resonance imaging and we correlated brain activity with a word-by-word measure of the amount syntactic structure analyzed. Syntactic structure building correlated with activity in the left anterior temporal lobe, but there was no evidence for a correlation between syntactic structure building and activity in inferior frontal areas. Our results suggest that the anterior temporal lobe computes syntactic structure under natural conditions.     

Executive processing in free recall of categorized lists

The present study examines the cognitive processes that operate in free recall of categorized lists by manipulating semantic structure of the lists and using a dual task methodology to restrict the processes that make demands on limited-capacity resources, the central executive resources. Relying on the assumption that, in free recall of categorized lists, the search for category names is a strategic controlled process that demands executive resources, lists with different numbers of categories ranging from 2 to 6 were employed. The results showed an effect of a secondary task on retrieval in the 4- and the 6-category list conditions, but not in the 2-category list condition. In contrast to retrieval, the secondary task interference at encoding produced an effect on recall of all three types of lists. An interesting finding was that an effect on clustering was found only when interference was present at encoding, not when it was at retrieval. This finding was in line with the suggestion (Troyer, Moscovitch, Winocur, Alexander, & Stuss, 1998) that switching (shifting between different category items) rather than clustering is related to executive functioning, and suggested that clustering may be a measure of two different types of processing: (1) executive processing at encoding and (2) automatic processing at retrieval. In addition, a different pattern of results was obtained when low frequency category words were used, indicating that the frequency of category words is an important determinant in free recall of categorized lists. Overall, the present results support the two-process account of retrieval of category words (Rosen & Engle, 1997) and the view that there are fundamental differences between encoding and retrieval processes (Naveh-Benjamin, Craik, Guez, & Dori, 1998; Naveh-Benjamin & Guez, 2000).     

Semantic re-interpretation and garden path recovery

Participant's eye-movements were recorded while they read locally ambiguous sentences. Evidence for processing difficulty was found when the interpretation of the initially preferred misanalysis clashed with that of the globally correct analysis, demonstrating the persistence of the earlier interpretation. Processing difficulty associated with the syntactic reanalysis was largely localised to the disambiguating region, with difficulty due to semantic persistence occurring later. The results show that semantic persistence is not limited to extreme cases of parse failure, and can occur even when reanalysis is relatively straightforward.     

The role of causal models in analogical inference

Computational models of analogy have assumed that the strength of an inductive inference about the target is based directly on similarity of the analogs and in particular on shared higher order relations. In contrast, work in philosophy of science suggests that analogical inference is also guided by causal models of the source and target. In 3 experiments, the authors explored the possibility that people may use causal models to assess the strength of analogical inferences. Experiments 1-2 showed that reducing analogical overlap by eliminating a shared causal relation (a preventive cause present in the source) from the target increased inductive strength even though it decreased similarity of the analogs. These findings were extended in Experiment 3 to cross-domain analogical inferences based on correspondences between higher order causal relations. Analogical inference appears to be mediated by building and then running a causal model. The implications of the present findings for theories of both analogy and causal inference are discussed.     

Effects of syntactic prominence on eye movements during reading

Three experiments explored whether patterns of eye movements during reading might help explain syntactic prominence effects that are typically observed using reaction time tasks. Participants read sentences in which target words were in syntactically prominent or syntactically less prominent positions. Across all three experiments, using three types of syntactic prominence manipulations, there were fewer fixations and shorter reading times for words in more prominent positions, indicating that enhanced accessibility of syntactically prominent words is not caused by increased processing time. Rather, syntactic prominence appears to facilitate early encoding/lexical access and sentence integration processes while also, as shown previously, increasing activation of concepts in a comprehender’s sentence or discourse representation. We propose that enhanced encoding and sentence integration processes can be attributed to an increase in attentional resources for more prominent concepts, and that this increase derives from readers’ immediate sensitivity to informational prominence contours that are signaled by syntax.     

Towards a neural basis of auditory sentence processing

Functional dissociations within the neural basis of auditory sentence processing are difficult to specify because phonological, syntactic and semantic information are all involved when sentences are perceived. In this review I argue that sentence processing is supported by a temporo-frontal network. Within this network, temporal regions subserve aspects of identification and frontal regions the building of syntactic and semantic relations. Temporal analyses of brain activation within this network support syntax-first models because they reveal that building of syntactic structure precedes semantic processes and that these interact only during a later stage.     

Attention demands during reading and the occurrence of brief (express) fixations

Eye movements were recorded while subjects read passages of text repeatedly (Experiment 1) and while normal text and strings ofhomogeneous letters were fixated (Experiment 2). Text repetition decreased fixation durations and increased saccade size, presumably because it decreased attention demands. Irrespective ofrepetition, however, no distinct distribution of brief (express) fixations emerged. In Experiment 2, fixation durations were shorter and saccades were larger when strings of homogeneous letters were “read,” indicating that this condition decreased attention demands. Again, however, no distinct distribution of express fixations emerged. These findings pose problems for the view that attentional processes determine the occurrence of brief (express) fixation durations in reading. Supplementary analyses of Experiments 1 and 2 suggested that visuospatial processing affected fixation durations, irrespective of linguistic processing demands.     

Unimmediate construction of syntactic structure for garden path sentences in Japanese

While self-paced reading and eye-fixation have been used as on-line measures of sentence processing, they provide only indirect evidence as to the exact syntactic state during sentence processing. Two experiments were designed to fill this gap, where garden path sentences in Japanese were used and the marker demanding reanalysis of a previously established syntactic structure appeared at the end of these sentences. Forty-eight students were given a probe verb from an embedded clause and required to quickly identify the subject whose syntactic role could be confirmed only when they later encountered the marker. Findings showed that correct identification was below 50% immediately after the marker (0-sec delay) and increased gradually, reaching 82% at the delay of 4 sec. However, perfect identification was not obtained even for the latter delay condition. The findings indicate that parsers cannot immediately reconstruct the previous syntactic structure but need a certain period of time to reach a final decision. They also suggest that a distinction should be clarified between the moment-to-moment syntactic computation being made and the syntatic structure being constructed during sentence processing.Deep gratitude is due to Professor D. D. Steinberg for his reading of an earlier version of the paper.     

Rapid extraction of gist from visual text and its influence on word recognition

Two experiments explored rapid extraction of gist from a visual text and its influence on word recognition. In both, a short text (sentence) containing a target word was presented for 200 ms and was followed by a target recognition task. Results showed that participants recognized contextually anomalous word targets less frequently than contextually consistent counterparts (Experiment 1). This context effect was obtained when sentences contained the same semantic content but with disrupted syntactic structure (Experiment 2). Results demonstrate that words in a briefly presented visual sentence are processed in parallel and that rapid extraction of sentence gist relies on a primitive representation of sentence context (termed protocontext) that is semantically activated by the simultaneous presentation of multiple words (i.e., a sentence) before syntactic processing.