词切分的韵律学线索

本文是关于汉语普通话词切分的一个实验报告。用无意文重复句和合成句作语音材料,探讨音节时长分布、基频曲线、音节强度以及共振峰等韵律学线索在词切分中的作用。得到的主要结果是,在排除语义和音段层面信息的条件下,听者能够根据句子的韵律学特征进行句子结构的判断和词的切分;在对切分有效的韵律学线索中,最重要的是音节的时长分布模式,其次是基频曲线,音节的强度和共振峰变化对切分没有贡献。     

Word Order Predicts Cross-Linguistic Differences in the Production of Redundant Color and Number Modifiers

When asked to identify objects having unique shapes and colors among other objects, English speakers often produce redundant color modifiers (“the red circle”) while Spanish speakers produce them less often (“el circulo (rojo)”). This cross-linguistic difference has been attributed to a difference in word order between the two languages, under the incremental efficiency hypothesis (Rubio-Fernández, Mollica, & Jara-Ettinger, 2020). However, previous studies leave open the possibility that broad language differences between English and Spanish may explain this cross-linguistic difference such that English speakers may generally produce more modifiers than Spanish speakers, including redundant ones, irrespective of word order. Here, we test the incremental efficiency hypothesis in a language production task crossing language (English, Spanish) with modifier type (color, number). Critically, number words occur on the same side of the noun in both English and Spanish. If broad language differences are responsible for the higher rate of color word production in English compared to Spanish, then the same effect should hold for number words. In contrast, the incremental efficiency hypothesis predicts an interaction between language and modifier type, due to different ordering for color words but identical ordering for number words. Our pre-registered analyses offer strong support for the incremental efficiency hypothesis, demonstrating how seemingly small differences in language can cause us to describe the world in surprisingly different ways.     

The Croatian version of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire: Links with higher- and lower-level personality traits and mood

The Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) measures habitual use of two emotion regulation strategies, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. The present study tested the psychometric properties and validity of a newly developed Croatian adaptation of the ERQ. In a sample of 347 participants, we first sought to confirm the ERQ's original factor structure. Next, we tested its convergent, divergent and incremental validity. In the first subsample (N = 140), we linked the ERQ with a measure of the Five-Factor Model dimensions and their facets (Revised NEO Personality Inventory). In the second subsample (N = 207), we tested its ability to predict personality dimensions assessed by a different measure (Big Five Inventory) as well as the traits of positive and negative affect, including its incremental validity in predicting the latter. The results corroborated earlier findings, showing that the Croatian ERQ has equivalent psychometrics and predictive validity as ERQs in other languages. Crucially, the observed links between the ERQ and the facets of the Five-Factor Model dimensions enrich our understanding of the personality mechanisms behind the employment of these emotion regulation strategies.     

One Frog, Two Frog, Red Frog, Blue Frog: Factors Affecting Children's Syntactic Choices in Production and Comprehension

Two experiments are reported which examine children's ability to use referential context when making syntactic choices in language production and comprehension. In a recent on-line study of auditory comprehension, Trueswell, Sekerina, Hill, and Logrip (1999) examined children's and adults' abilities to resolve temporary syntactic ambiguities involving prepositional phrases (e.g., “Put the frog on the napkin into ¨”). Although adults and older children used the referential context to guide their initial analysis (pursuing a destination interpretation in a one-frog context and a modifier interpretation in a two-frog context), 4 to 5-year olds' initial and ultimate analysis was one of destination, regardless of context. The present studies examined whether these differences were attributable to the comprehension process itself or to other sources, such as possible differences in how children perceive the scene and referential situation. In both experiments, children were given a language generation task designed to elicit and test children's ability to refer to a member of a set through restrictive modification. This task was immediately followed by the “put” comprehension task. The findings showed that, in response to a question about a member of a set (e.g., “Which frog went to Mrs. Squid's house?”), 4- to 5-year-olds frequently produced a definite NP with a restrictive prepositional modifier (e.g., “The one on the napkin”). These same children, however, continued to misanalyze put instructions, showing a strong avoidance of restrictive modification during comprehension. Experiment 2 showed that an increase in the salience of the platforms that distinguished the two referents increased overall performance, but still showed the strong asymmetry between production and comprehension. Eye movements were also recorded in Experiment 2, revealing on-line parsing patterns similar to Trueswell et al.: an initial preference for a destination analysis and a failure to revise early referential commitments. These experiments indicate that child–adult differences in parsing preferences arise, in part, from developmental changes in the comprehension process itself and not from a general insensitivity to referential properties of the scene. The findings are consistent with a probabilistic model for uncovering the structure of the input during comprehension, in which more reliable linguistic and discourse-related cues are learned first, followed by a gradually developing ability to take into account other more uncertain (or more difficult to learn) cues to structure.     

The Pronoun Bias Effect Strikes Again: A Reply to Pynte and Colonna

The gender of an initial adjectival phase (AP) influences the analysis of a phrase which is a potential main clause subject in French. Pynte and Colonna (this issue) establish this generalization but analyze it without considering critical aspects of sentence structure, specifically, the fact that the AP has a null pronominal subject. If grammars contain a violable constraint requiring coreference between the pronominal subject of an initial subordinate phrase and the subject of the main clause, then in Pynte and Colonna's study perceivers must choose on-line between an analysis which satisfies the same subject constraint and one which doesn't. From this perspective, it is expected that the subject analysis of the ambiguous phrase predominates. Further, on this view, the preference fits with independent generalizations about language such as the existence of switch-reference languages which obligatorily mark the coreference relation between the initial subordinate subject and the main clause subject. It also fits with already established facts about language processing, such as Cowart and Cairns' (1987) Pronoun Bias Effect.     

Evaluation of the psychometric properties of a modified Positive and Negative Affect Schedule including a direction scale (PANAS-D) among French athletes

ObjectivesThe goal of these studies was to provide validity and reliability evidence of a modified Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) including a direction scale (PANAS-D). Study 1 tested the validity and reliability of the PANAS-D to measure both intensity and direction of affects. Study 2 examined the relationships between direction of affects and selected variables (i.e., coping, attainment of achievement goals and sport satisfaction) by controlling for intensity of affects.MethodA total of 306 and 296 athletes (studies 1 and 2) completed the PANAS-D and other self-report questionnaires. Data were analysed with reliability, confirmatory factor analyses (study 1) and correlational analyses (studies 1 and 2).DesignCross-sectional with self-reported questionnaires.ResultsIn study 1, the 4-factor structure of the PANAS-D (intensity and direction of positive affect and negative affect) fitted the data adequately. Multiple-group CFAs showed that PANAS-D was partially invariant across the two measurement occasions (before and after competition). The patterns of relationships between PANAS-D, attainment of achievement goals and coping provided evidence for the criterion-related validity of the PANAS-D. In study 2, direction of positive affect and negative affect were associated with selected outcomes (i.e., coping, attainment of sport achievement goals, and/or sport satisfaction) after intensity of these affective states were held constant.ConclusionsThis study provided support for the reliability and validity of the PANAS-D (study 1) and the incremental validity of the direction of affective states (study 2), supporting the distinction between athletes' intensity and direction of affective states.     

One-year temporal stability and predictive and incremental validity of the Body,Eating, and Exercise Comparison Orientation Measure (BEECOM) among college women

This study examined the one-year temporal stability and the predictive and incremental validity of the Body, Eating, and Exercise Comparison Measure (BEECOM) in a sample of 237 college women who completed study measures at two time points about one year apart. One-year temporal stability was high for the BEECOM total and subscale (i.e., Body, Eating, and Exercise Comparison Orientation) scores. Additionally, the BEECOM exhibited predictive validity in that it accounted for variance in body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptomatology one year later. These findings held even after controlling for body mass index and existing measures of social comparison orientation. However, results regarding the incremental validity of the BEECOM, or its ability to predict change in these constructs over time, were more mixed. Overall, this study demonstrated additional psychometric properties of the BEECOM among college women, further establishing the usefulness of this measure for more comprehensively assessing eating disorder-related social comparison.     

The Failure to Use Gender Information in Parsing: A Comment on van Berkum, Brown, and Hagoort (1999)

We critically review the empirical evidence published by van Berkum, Brown, and Hagoort (1999a, b) against syntax-first models of sentence parsing. According to van Berkum et al., discourse factors and word gender information are used instantaneously to guide the parser. First, we note that the density of the experimental trials (relative to fillers) and the slow presentation rate of the van Berkum et al. design seem likely to have elicited the use of tactics involving rapid reanalysis of the material. Second, we present new data from a questionnaire study showing that the grammatical gender information of a relative pronoun in Dutch is often completely ignored, even during the wrap-up phase at the end of the sentence.     

Taking theoretical risks in a world of directional predictions

As Meehl (1978) observed, one major reason for the painfully slow progress of soft psychology is our field’s heavy reliance on directional predictions, which leads to feeble tests of theories. In the present commentary, I outline six ways of taking theoretical risks in a world of directional predictions: (1) constructive replication of findings, (2) generating multiple maximally independent predictions, (3) adherence to the total evidence rule, (4) discriminant validation of measures, (5) incremental validation of measures, and (6) according attention to higher-order personality dimensions.     

Parsing Pregroup Grammars and Lambek Calculus Using Partial Composition

The paper presents a way to transform pregroup grammars into contextfree grammars using functional composition. The same technique can also be used for the proof-nets of multiplicative cyclic linear logic and for Lambek calculus allowing empty premises.