Memory Versus Expectation: Processing Relative Clauses in a Flexible Word Order Language

Memory limitations and probabilistic expectations are two key factors that have been posited to play a role in the incremental processing of natural language. Relative clauses (RCs) have long served as a key proving ground for such theories of language processing. Across three self-paced reading experiments, we test the online comprehension of Hungarian subject- and object-extracted RCs (SRCs and ORCs, respectively). We capitalize on the syntactic properties of Hungarian that allow for a variety of word orders within RCs, which helps us to delineate the processing costs associated with memory demand and violated expectations. Results showed a processing cost at the RC verb for structures that have longer verb-argument distances, despite those structures being more frequent in the corpus. These findings thus support theories that attribute processing difficulty to memory limitations, rather than theories that attribute difficulty to less expected structures.     

汉语偏正/述宾歧义短语加工初探

操纵短语续接方向及歧义性,采用移动窗口范式,考察了均衡型、偏正型和述宾型三类歧义短语的加工,结果发现,偏正型歧义短语按述宾结构续接以及述宾型歧义短语按偏正结构续按时,在解歧区２上都有明显的加工困难,说明实验所采用的方法是敏感的。实验还发现,均衡型歧义短语按述宾结构续接时,在解歧区２上仍有加工上的困难,述宾型歧义短语按偏正结构续按时,在解歧区３上仍能看到加工上的困难,这表明歧义消解具有相对分散的特点。更重要的是,实验发现,均衡型歧义短语按述宾结构续接时,在解歧区１上就出现了加工困难,表明被试实际上按偏正结构来分析这种短语。该文从句法分析原则、语言分布知识的使用以及动词论题结构与语义完整性等角度对这一发现进行了讨论。     

Phrasing Effects in Comprehending PP Constructions

The role of prosodic phrasing in sentence comprehension was investigated by means of three different tasks, namely auditory word monitoring (Experiment 1), self-paced reading (Experiment 2) and cross-modal comparison (Experiment 3). In all three experiments a critical prosodic unit or frame comprising a determiner, a noun and a Prepositional Phrase (PP) was preceded or surrounded by two context prosodic units (frames) whose length was varied. The participants’ tendency to interpret the critical sequence as forming a single syntactic constituent (noun–complement interpretation of the PP) as opposed to two distinct syntactic constituents (verb–complement interpretation of the PP) was found to depend on the relative length of the critical and context prosodic units (frames). As a whole these results are consistent with the notion that phrasing effects occur in a retroactive way, after part of the utterance has been processed.     

Syntactic, prosodic, and semantic processes in the brain: evidence from event-related neuroimaging

The neural network supporting aspects of syntactic, prosodic, and semantic information processing is specified on the basis of two experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In these two studies, the presence/absence of lexical-semantic and syntactic information is systematically varied in spoken language stimuli. Inferior frontal and temporal brain areas in the left and the right hemisphere are identified to support different aspects of auditory language processing. Two additional experiments using event-related brain potentials investigate the possible interaction of syntactic and prosodic information, on the one hand, and syntactic and semantic information, on the other. While the first two information types were shown to interact early during processing, the latter two information types do not. Implications for models of auditory language comprehension are discussed.     

Comprehension of reversible relative clauses in specifically language impaired and normally developing Greek children

This paper aims to investigate the syntactic comprehension of reversible relative clauses in a group of eight Greek children with specific language impairment (SLI) and two control groups of normally developing children matched on chronological and language age, respectively. An experiment using an acting out procedure was undertaken. Group analysis revealed that SLI children's performance is qualitatively different than that of both control groups. Interpreting the data, processes involved in syntactic comprehension are taken into consideration. It is claimed that processing demands impede SLI children's performance due to a deficit in their competence grammar.     

Incremental Validity of Cognitions in a Clinical Case Formulation: An Intraindividual Test in a Case Example

Incremental validity, the ability of a measure to predict or explain variance over and above other measures, is an important psychometric characteristic of standardized measures, but has received little attention idiographically. Idiographic assessment may be an important part of developing a clinical case formulation, guiding treatment by developing an individualized understanding of the variables that trigger and maintain distress. This study examined whether the idiosyncratic cognitive schema hypothesized by a clinician in a cognitive case formulation explained distress incrementally over that of situational triggers. Using daily ratings of situational triggers, idiosyncratic cognitions, and distress, the incremental validity of cognitions in predicting each of six distress measures was tested in a case example using dynamic time series regression. The incremental variance explained by cognitions varied across the distress measures, suggesting that, in this case example, targeting thoughts and beliefs for treatment may be important for only certain types of distress.

Responsibility to continue thinking and worrying: evidence of incremental validity

This two-part study examined the role of the responsibility to continue thinking, beliefs that one needs prolonged thinking about stressful problems, in the prediction of excessive worry. This construct is considered to reflect high levels of motivation to continue inflexible thinking and the use of rigid stop rules. In Study 1, 122 students completed questionnaires. A regression analysis revealed that responsibility accounted for a unique variance beyond negative meta-cognitive beliefs about worry. One hundred and fifty students participated in Study 2, where worry was regressed on emotional instability (Neuroticism), responsibility, and other worry-related cognitive variables (intolerance of uncertainty, positive/negative meta-cognitive beliefs, poor problem-solving orientation, and cognitive avoidance). Again, responsibility was a significant predictor, after controlling for emotional instability (Neuroticism) and other worry-related cognitions. These results indicate the incremental validity of the responsibility to continue thinking.     

Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance Scale: Construction and initial validations

The Career Decision Ambiguity Tolerance Scale (CDAT) measures individual evaluations of and responses to ambiguity encountered in career decision making. It was developed and initially validated through two studies of college students. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis consistently showed a three-factor structure for career decision ambiguity tolerance, consisting of preference, tolerance, and aversion. In addition to support for construct validity and subscale reliabilities, the findings also support the scale's incremental validity in predicting career indecision, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career adaptability over and beyond general ambiguity tolerance. The theoretical meaning and practical application of the CDAT were discussed along with its limitations and suggestions for future research.