阅读理解中的代词加工:先行词的距离与性别刻板印象的作用

采用眼动技术,本研究探讨了阅读理解中代词的加工机制.读者阅读包含代词的文本,代词的性别与先行词的性别刻板印象一致或违背,同时其和先行词间的距离或远或近,记录被试阅读文本的眼动轨迹.结果发现,与一致条件相比,违背条件的加工时间更长.当代词和先行词间距离较近时,一致性效应在关键代词区的反映早期加工的眼动指标上即出现,而当二者间距离较远时,一致性效应在更后的位置(代词后那一区域)出现,并且只出现在反映晚期加工的眼动指标上.此外,与远距离一致条件相比,近距离一致条件下代词后那一区域的阅读时间更长.上述结果表明,性别刻板印象以及距离在代词加工皆发挥重要作用,而且性别刻板印象产生的影响在时程上因距离的不同而不同.这一结果在一定程度上为语言理解的交互作用理论提供了证据.

Pronoun Processing during Language Comprehension:The Effects of Distance and Gender Stereotype

To establish a coherent representation of a text, what is being read must be in line with previous information in the text. Personal pronouns are among the most important devices to establish coherence between linguistic expressions. Previous studies have shown that world knowledge about gender stereotype plays an important role in pronoun resolution. In other words, comprehension processes will be interrupted when a pronoun mismatches the gender stereotype of its antecedent. However, it is still controversial about the time course of the influence of gender stereotype on pronoun resolution. For example, in some eye movement studies, the gender mismatch effect on reading appeared relatively earlier, while in other studies this effect emerged relatively late. It has been suggested that, among different studies, discrepancies in the distance between a pronoun and its antecedent might be a contributing factor to the controversy. The main purpose of the current study was to examine whether the effect of gender stereotype on pronoun comprehension could be modulated by the distance between the two critical words. In the experiment, 29 Chinese participants were asked to read 160 short passages, during which their eye movements were recorded. Each of these contained a personal pronoun congruent or incongruent with the gender stereotype of its antecedent, while the distance between the two critical words was manipulated to be either short or long. The results revealed that reading times increased when the gender of the pronoun mismatched with the gender stereotype of its antecedent. Interestingly, the location of the mismatching effect varied with the distance between critical words. Specifically, in the short distance condition the mismatch effect was observed on first fixation duration and the second second-pass reading times at the critical pronoun region, whereas in the long distance condition the effect appeared in the second-pass reading times at the region after the pronoun. In addition, the first fixation duration and the gaze durations of congruent sentences were significantly longer at the region following the pronoun in the short distance condition relative to the long one. In sum, our results clearly suggested that both gender stereotype and the distance between a pronoun and its antecedent can affect the comprehension of Chinese pronouns. These findings provide evidence for the interactive model of sentence comprehension.