Binding Out of Relative Clauses in Native and Non-native Sentence Comprehension

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research - Pronouns can sometimes covary with a non c-commanding quantifier phrase (QP). To obtain such 'telescoping' readings, a semantic representation must be...     

Brain potentials reflect violations of gender stereotypes

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded while 14 males and 14 females read sentences containing a reflexive pronoun that referred to a definitionally or stereotypically male or female antecedent noun. Pronouns that disagreed with the gender definition or gender stereotype of the antecedent elicited a large-amplitude positive wave. Violations of gender definitions elicited a larger positive wave than did violations of gender stereotypes. Furthermore, the positive wave elicited by stereotype violations persisted even when subjects judged these sentences to be acceptable. Finally, female subjects exhibited larger positivities than did male subjects, regardless of whether the gender mismatch involved a definitional or stereotypical antecedent. These results are taken to indicate that ERPs are sensitive to violations of gender-based occupational stereotypes and that the ERP response to stereotype violations is similar to the P600 effect elicited by a variety of syntactic anomalies.     

What “you” and “we” say about me: How small shifts in language reveal and empower fundamental shifts in perspective

One of the most fundamental, yet often overlooked, components of language is the personal pronoun system. Pronouns reveal and empower different perspectives, providing insight into and even altering how a person is conceptualizing the self. Here, we illustrate how the pronouns “I,” “you,” and “we” can enable shifts in perspective that bring a person further from, or closer to, others. We additionally highlight the implications of these pronoun shifts on the addressee(s). We review a growing body of research that focuses on how these words can function as both windows—providing insight into the thoughts and emotions of a speaker, and levers—that can subtly alter the speaker's and addressee(s)’ thoughts, emotions, and even behaviors, across a range of domains. We conclude by discussing possibilities for future research.     

Pronouns and progress: a psychoanalytic primer

Psychoanalytic psychotherapists have the role responsibility to hover evenly over everything that is said--and not said--in the analytic situation. Pronouns may be worthy of special attention. Just as children demonstrate a predictable course in the acquisition and mastery of pronouns, it may be that the analytic patient also shows a predictable sequence in the deployment of pronouns over the course of a successful treatment. The analytic patient will move from a focus on "They," to joining the analyst in "We," before ultimately separating to become an "I." A third person focus in the opening phase, may, with familiarity, move to second person intimacy, ultimately yielding to first person agency. These grammatical markers occur in the opening, middle and termination/follow-up phases of a successful psychoanalytic treatment, during which the pre-morbid introjects are identified, chewed up, and, eventually nudged aside by the healthier therapeutic-introject, from which a new or renewed identity may emerge. Analysis of the Grimm's fairy tale "The Wolf and the Kids" illustrations the importance of metabolizing old introjects.     

When is cataphoric reference recognised?

Pronouns typically have explicit antecedents in the prior discourse otherwise processing difficulty is experienced. However, it has been argued [Gordon, P. C., & Hendrick, R. (1997). Intuitive knowledge of linguistic co-reference. Cognition, 62, 325–370; Gordon, P. C., & Hendrick, R. (1998). The representation and processing of co-reference in discourse. Cognitive Science, 22, 389–424] that when a pronoun appears in a preposed subordinate clause (as in, Before she began to sing, Susan stood up), incremental interpretation is suspended and no antecedent is immediately sought, since the pronoun cannot be resolved until the main clause is encountered. We report results from an eye-tracking study showing that on encountering a pronoun that has no prior antecedent (compared to cases where there is an explicit prior antecedent), readers experience immediate difficulty whether or not the pronoun appears in a preposed subordinate clause, suggesting that attempted incremental interpretation is not suspended in these cases.     

Can “you” make a difference? Investigating whether perspective‐taking improves performance on inconsistent mathematical word problems

Pronouns encouraging a second‐person perspective (e.g., “you/your”) affect peoples' mental representations constructed while reading and improve learning. The present study applied these insights to a domain in that such pronoun effects have yet been unexplored: mathematical word problem solving. Specifically, we encouraged a second‐person perspective (using “your”) in an attempt to reduce the consistency effect, that is, the finding that more errors are made on word problems containing a relational keyword inconsistent rather than consistent with the required arithmetic operation. Primary school children solved consistent and inconsistent word problems (containing the relational keywords “less than”) presented in third‐person (i.e., store name) or second‐person (“your store”) perspective. Results demonstrated the consistency effect, but the perspective manipulation did not produce significant differences between conditions, that is, a second‐person perspective did not reduce the consistency effect. These findings suggest that reducing the consistency effect may require a less subtle approach than using personalized pronouns.     

Conceptual Locations and Pronominal Reference in American Sign Language

We report the results of an experiment investigating the ramifications of using space to express coreference in American Sign Language (ASL). Nominals in ASL can be associated with locations in signing space, and pronouns are directed toward those locations to convey coreference. A probe recognition technique was used to investigate the case of "locus doubling" in which a single referent is associated with two distinct spatial locations. The experiment explored whether an ASL pronoun activates both its antecedent referent and the location associated with that referent. An introductory discourse associated a referent (e.g, MOTHER) with two distinct locations (eg., STOREleft, KITCHENright), and a continuation sentence followed that either contained a pronoun referring to the referent in one location or contained no anaphora (the control sentence). Twenty-four deaf participants made lexical decisions to probe signs presented during the continuation sentences. The probe signs were either the referent of the pronoun, the referent-location determined by the pronoun, or the most recently mentioned location (not referenced by the pronoun). The results indicated that response times to referent nouns were faster in the pronoun than in the no-pronoun control condition and that response times to the location signs did not differ across conditions. Thus, the spatial nature of coreference in ASL does not alter the processing mechanism underlying the on-line interpretation of pronouns. Pronouns activate only referent nouns, not spatial location nouns associated with the referent.     

Changes in natural language use as an indicator of psychotherapeutic change in personality disorders

Word use has been shown to reflect various psychological processes and psychological change. This study examines the self-view in personality disorders (PDs) and its change over the course of therapy using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count analysis procedure. A sample of 299 participants with PDs and 108 community control participants wrote short essays about their lives. Patients repeated the assignment three times over two years and completed assessments of PD-pathology, general psychopathology, PD-beliefs, and quality of life. Results show that as hypothesized the use of words in the 1st Person Singular Pronouns, Negative Emotion, Causation, Past and Future Tense Verbs categories significantly declines over the course of treatment, while the use of Present Tense Verbs and Positive Emotion increases. These categories tend to distinguish patients from non-patients prior to treatment. We also found 12 additional word categories changing over time, including Word Count and Negations. Change in word use statistically predicts better treatment outcome on all outcome measures (p < .001). Reductions in the use of Negative Emotion Words and Negations are the strongest predictors of outcome. The non-hypothesized role of Negations was explored and seemed to reflect that PD-patients miss a lot in their lives. Reduction of what they miss seems central to recovery. This issue seems relatively neglected in theoretical and treatment models of PDs. An increased focus on what patients miss in their lives might improve our understanding and treatment of PDs. In sum, Negative Emotion and Negation word categories appear to reflect key treatment targets.     

Reviews

Psychotherapy East and West , by Alan Watts
Images and Symbols , by M. Eliade. Trans. P. Mairet
A Dictionary of Symbols , by J. E. Cirlot
Learning Theory and the Symbolic Process , by O. H. Mowrer
Children and their Religion , by Eve Lewis
The Experience of Reality in Childhood Schizophrenia , by Austin M. Des Lauriers
Adventure in Psychiatry , by D. V. Martin
The Psychology of Aggression , by A. H. Buss
A Model of the Mind , by G. S. Blum
Learning from Experience , by W. R. Bion
Painting and the Inner World , by Adrian Stokes, including a dialogue with Donald Meltzer
Our Adult World and Other Essays , by Melanie Klein
The Unconscious before Freud , by Lancelot Law Whyte     

Reviews

The Dividded Self , by R.D. Laing
Change , by Hellmut Wilhelm, translated by Cary F. Baynes
Behaviour Therapy and the Neuroses , edited by H. J. Eysenck
Clinical Child Psychiatry , by kenneth Soddy
The Integrity of the Personality , by Anthony Storr
Communication or conflict , edited by Mary Capes
Discussions on Child Development , vol. 4. Edited by J. M. Tanner & Bärbel Inhelder
The Cure for Human Troubles , by W. Montgomery Watt     

REVIEWS

Reviews in this articles:
THE WAY TO NICEA: THE DIALECTICAL DEVELOPMENT OF TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY, by Bernard Lonergan.
LOOK FOR THE LIVING: THE CORPORATE NATURE OF RESURRECTION by Peter Selby
INTERPRETATION AND BELIEF, by Austin Farrar, edited by Charles C. Conti, Foreword by E.L. Mascall.
THE BRINK OF MYSTERY, by Austin Farrer, edited by Charles C. Conti, Foreword by J.L. Houlden.
THE JOHANNINE SON OF MAN by Francis J. Moloney.
ETHICAL PATTERNS IN EARLY CHRISTIAN THOUGHT, by Eric Osborn.
A CRITIQUE OF EUCHARISTIC AGREEMENT, edited by John Lawrence.
BINDING THE DEVIL, by Roger Baker.     

REVIEWS

LEGITIMATION OF BELIEF, by Ernest Gellner
THE MOTHER OF JESUS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, by John McHugh.
PAUL'S LETTER TO THE ROMANS, by J. C. O'Neill.
THE SEXUAL CELIBATE, by Donald Groegen.
MARX, by M. Evans.
KARL MARX: HIS LIFE AND THOUGHT, by David McLellan.
MARX, by David McLellan.
PILGRIMAGE: An Image of Mediaeval Religion, by Jonathan Gumption.
CARE OF THE CHILD FACING DEATH, edited by Lindy Burton.     

Reviews

Complex, Archtype, and Symbol in the Psychology of C. G. Jung , by Jolande Jacobi, translated by R. Manheim
Collected Papers. Through Paediatrics to Psycho-Analysis , by D. W. Winnicott
On Not Being Able to Paint , by Marion Milner
Pointing the Way . Collected Essays by Martin Buber
Christianity and Paradox , by Ronald W. Hepburn
Body Image and Personality , by S. Fisher and S. E. Cleveland
Motives in Fantasy, Action, and Society , edited by John W. Atkinson
Readings in General Psychology , edited by P. Halmos and A. Iliffe
Readings in Perception , edited by D. C. Beardslee and M. Wertheimer
A Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychological and Psycho-Analytical Terms , by H. B. English and A. C. English
Explorations in Social Psychiatry , edited by Alexander H. Leighton, John A. Clausen and Robert N. Wilson
Family Influences and Psychosomatic Illness: An Inquiry into the Social and Psychological Background of Duodenal Ulcer , by E. M. Goldberg
Mental Seduction and Menticide , by Joost A. M. Meerloo
Lehrbuch der allgemeinen Psychopathologie: Grundbegriffe und Klinik (Textbook of General Psychopathology. Basic Concepts and Clinical Aspects), by Dr. K. W. Bash. Foreword by Professor H. Binder. Contribution from Dr. H. Landolt
Loathsome Women , by Leopold Stein and Martha Alexander
The Patient Speaks , by Harold A. Abramson
The Case as the Patient sees it. Psychoanalysis . National Association for Mental Health     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article
NEWMAN ON DEVELOPMENT: THE SEARCH FOR AN EXPLANATION IN HISTORY, by Nicholas Lash.
KARL BARTH, HIS LIFE FROM LETTERS AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL TEXTS, by Eberhard Busch.
THE VIRTUES by P.T. Geach Cambridge University Press , Cambridge, 1977.
CHRISTIAN BELIEFS ABOUT LIFE AFTER DEATH, by Paul Badham, Macmillan . 1976.
EZEKIEL AMONG THE PROPHETS, by Keith W. Carley.
IMAGINATION, by Mary Wamock, Faber and Faber , London. 1976.
THE TRIAL OF BEYERS NAUDE, Christian Witness and the Rule of Law. Edited by the International Commission of Jurists, Geneva. Preface by Lord Ramsey of Canterbury, Introduction by Sir Robert Birley, Legal background by Professor A.N. Allott.     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Situating the Self: Gender, Community and Postmodernism in Contemporary Ethics , by Seyla Benhabib
The Politics of God: Christian Theologies and Social Justice , by Kathyrn
A Theology of Reconstruction: Nation-Building and Human Rights , by Charles Villa-vicencio
Out of Every Tribe and Nation: Christian Theology at the Ethnic Reoundtable , by Justo L. Gonzalez
The Thought of Thomas Aquinas , by Brian Davies
Logic and Sin in the Writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein , by Philip R. Shields
Self/Power/Other. Political Theory and Dialogical Ethics , by Romand Coles
Christian Faith and Philosophical Theology: Essays in Honour of Vincent Brümmer , edited by Gijsbert van den Brink, Luco J. van den Brom, and Marcel Sarot
A New Handbook of Christian Theology , Edited by Donald W. Musser and Joseph L. Price
The Love commandments: Essays in Christian Ethics and Moral Philosophy , Edited by Edmund Santurri and William Werpehowski
Gott: Philosophisch-theologische Denkversuche , by Ingolf U. Dalferth
The New Testament and The People of God , by N.T. Wright
Sister in the Wilderness. The Challenge of Womanist God-Tald , by Delores Williams
Bound to Differ, The Dynamics of Theological Discourses , by Wesley A. Kort
Between Athens and Berlin: The Theological Education Debate , by David H. Kelsey     

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: The Trial OF Beyers Naudé: Christian Witness AND THE Rule OF Law, edited by the Der überholte Marx, by Walther Bienert Karl Barths Tauflehre, by Richard Schlüter Evangelischer Erwachsenen Katechismus: Kursbuch DES Glaubens, edited by Werner Jentsch, Harmut Jetter, Manfred Kiessig and Horst Keller The Common Catechism: A Christian Book OF Faith, edited by Johannes Feiner and Lukas Vischer The Ecumenical World OF Orthodox Civilization: Russia AND Orthodoxy Christian Ethics FOR Black Theology, by Major J. Jones La Cage DES Chrétiens, by Bruno Bürki. Yaoundé Cyprian OF Carthage AND THE Unity OF THE Christian Church, by Peter Hinchliff The Hindu Response TO THE Unbound Christ, by S. J. Samartha Gott IN Japan, edited by Yagi Sehchi and Ulrich Luz Entwicklung IM Paradies, by Ulrich Beyer A Theology OF THE Old Testament, by John L. McKenzie Papsttum UND Petrusdienst, by Heinrich Stirnimann and Lukas Vischer     

REVIEWS

JESUS AND THE GOSPEL: Volume Two, by Pierre Benoit OP, Darton. Longman & Todd
BUILT AS A CITY: God and the Urban World Today, by David Sheppard
LE CHRISTIANISME ECLATE, by Michel de Certeau and Jean-Mario Domenach
CATHOLICS, PEASANTS & CHEWA RESISTANCE IN NYASALAND 1889–1939, by Ian Linden
THE STUDY OF RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE, by Anders Jeffner
MYTHS, MODELS AND PARADIG MS, The Nature of Scientific and Religious Language, by Ian G. Barbour
THE MEANING OF GOD, by Robert H. King
A THEOLOGY OF SPEECH. An Essay in Philosophical Theology, by Ian Davie
SUMMONS TO LIFE. The Search for Identity through the Spiritual, by Martin Israel, M.B, Hodder & Stoughton
LORD ACTON ON PAPAL POWER, ed. by H. A. MacDougall
ARIOSTO, by C. P. Brand (The Writers of Italy, vol. 1)
ORLANDO FURIOSO, by Ariosto. A prose translation by Guido Waldman     

Reviews

Emotion , by James Hillman
The First Five Minutes , by Robert E. Pittenger, Charles F. Hockert, and John J. Danehy
Leonardo da Vinci , by K. R. Eissler
Christ's Drama: The Nature of Spiritual Growth , by Nigel Richmond
The Self and Others , by R. D. Laing
I Could a Tale Unfold , by P. M. Pickard
Reluctant Rebels , by Howard Jones
Symbolism in the Bible and in the Church , by Gilbert Cope
The Springs of Creativity , by Westman, with an introduction to Part III by Sir Herbert Read
The Role of Speech in the Regulation of Normal and Abnormal Behaviour , by A. R. Luria
The Crisis in Psychiatry and Religion , by O. Hobart Mowrer
Experience in Groups and Other Papers , by W. R. Bion     

REVIEWS

Book reviewed in this article:
Unbaptized God: The Basic Flaw in Ecumencial Theology by Robert W. Jenson
The Body of God, by Saille Mcfague
Freedom and Creation in Three Traditions by David B.Burrell
Speaking the Christian God:the Holy Trinity and the Challenge of Feminism,by Alvin F. Kimel
Loyalty to God. The Apostles'Creed in life and Liturgy by Theodore W. Jennings, Jr.
Theology and Narrative: Selected Essays by Hans Frei, ed. George Hunsinger and William C. Placher
Pseudo-Dionysius. A Commentary on the Texts and an Intriduction to Their Influence, by Paul Rorern
Ecumencial faith in Evangetical Perspective by Gabriel Rapids
Theology after Vedanta. An Experiment in Comparative Theology, by Francis X. Clooney,S.J.
New Horizons in Hermeneutics: The Theory and Practice of Transforming Biblical Reading by Anthony C. Thiselton
Shadow of Spirit: Postmodernism and Religion edited by Philippa Berry and Andrew Wernick
The Amnesty of Grace: Justification by Faith from a Latin American Perspective, by Elsa Tamez, trans. Sharon H. Ringe     

REVIEWS

ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF THEOLOGY, edited by Karl Rahner.
A RAHNER READER, edited by Gerald A. McCool.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FAITH, by Karl Rahner.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS: Summa Theologiae.
ENCOUNTERING NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS: A Working Introduction to Textual Criticism, Jack Finegan.
THE GOSPEL OF JOHN AND JUDAISM, by C. K. Barrett.
THE SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION. Theory and Practice, by M. J. Jackson
WISDOM: Twelve Essays, edited by Renford Bambrough.
BECKETT THE SHAPE CHANGER, edited by Katherine Worth.
EVELYN WAUGH: a Biography, by Christopher Sykes.
TEACH US TO PRAY, by André Louf.
CIVIL LIBERTIES IN BRITAIN, by Barry Cox.