LANGUAGE PROCESSING 2

LANGUAGE PROCESSING 2

1. WORD COMPREHENSION

   • SPREADING ACTIVATION - COLLINS & LOFTUS
     • Words presented by nodes (as TRACE & IAC)
       • Links representing semantic relationships
         • word recognised, semantic network activated
           • Links provide set of known facts of word, activates semantically related words
   • FEATURAL THEORY
     • Meanings represented as set of semantic features eg canary...yellow...can fly...
     • Incorporated into connectionist models of recognition
     • Semantic priming explored related words - association strength shows relationship between words eg bread/butter
       • associated word pairs wide ranging - synonyms, antonyms and context linked
         • LUCAS - strong non-associative priming effects esp. instrument/action pairs
         • KELLENBACH et al - visual/perception property link. No effect seen in reaction time but ERP showed robust effect in brain

2. SENTENCE COMPREHENSION - PARSING

   • Use each word to deduce grammatical/syntactic role
     • Syntactic knowledge not enough to deduce meaning
   • INCREMENTAL
     • Refining plausible syntactic structures at each new word
     • TYLER & MARSLEN-WILSON - Contextual bias of sentence sped up naming of appropriate response. Suggests delayed parsing not appropriate
     • GARDEN PATH - FRAZIER
       • serial & autonomous (just syntactic)
         • when ambiguous word met, decision made on syntactic info alone
           • If incorrect, backtracking occurs, new meaning established
       • FERREIRA & CLIFTON - verb interpretation with eye tracking. None verb alternative showed processing difficulty. Reduced bias, still found effect.
         • TRUESWELL et al - not constraining contexts. Use more constraining semantic context reduced/removed effect - supports interactive model
   • CONSTRAINT BASED MODELS
     • McDONALD et al
       • Parsing parallel and interactive (relates to cohort word rec)
         • Other factors influence eg frequency, semantic plausibility
           • Lexicon involvement - knowledge of how a word can be used
   • Influenced by rhythm to reduce ambiguity
     • TRUESWELL - lexical frequency influences
     • TANENHAUS et al - visual context reduced ambiguity. Environmental factors to eliminate garden path effect

3. WORD ORGANISATION

   • full listing - recognise words regardless of structure eg cat & disenchantment
   • decompositional - chopped into morphemes as heard. Lexicon made of single morphemes

4. SEMANTIC AMBIGUITY

   • AUTONOMOUS
     • all meanings accessed then context used
     • SWINNEY - cross modal semantic priming support
       • Only evident for short periods before context effects
   • INTERACTIVE
     • sentential context used, rule out inappropriate before fully accessed
     • VAN PETTEN & KUTAS - ERP's suggest sentential influence when none seen in traditional priming