Sentence Processing

Sentence Processing

1. What is Syntax?

   • Rules which govern sentence structure
     • Noun phrase: "the man"
     • Verb phrase: "saw the man"
   • Tree Diagrams
     • Each sentence can be broken down to smaller constituents (nodes)
     • Nodes are connected via branches

2. Syntatic Ambiguity

   • A sentence may have more than one interpretation
   • Global Ambiguity
     • The ambiguity can never be solved by reading
     • "the spy saw the cop with the binoculars"
   • Temporary Ambiguity
     • The correct interpretation is found by the end of the sentence
     • "while Anna dressed the baby threw up"
       • Temporal ambiguous noun phrase
       • Disamiguating verb phrase

3. Theories of Parsing

   • Garden Path
     • Frazier (1970s & 1980s)
       • Only one syntatic structure is initially considered
       • Sentence meaning is not involved in selection of structure
       • Simplest structure is chosen
         • Minimal Attachment
           • You build the simplest tree (fewer nodes)
           • So the spy would have the binoculars
         • Late Closure
           • Attach the ambiguous word to the most recent constituent
           • Easier on working memory
   • Constraint Satisfaction
     • MacDonald et al. (1994)
       • All possible trees are accessed
       • Competing sentence structures are activated simultaneously
       • Tree with most sense = most activation = chosen
       • All relevant information immediately available
       • Constraints
         • Context
         • Plausability
         • General world knowledge
         • Verb bias
   • Unrestricted Race Model
     • Van Gompel, Pickering & Traxler (2000)
       • Combines features of garden path and constraint satisfaction
       • All sources of info are used to identify a structure
       • All other possible structures are ignored
         • Unless the favoured structure is disconfirmed by subsequent info
       • If the initially chosen structure has to be discarded
         • There is an extensive process of re-analysis before a different structure is chosen

4. Theories of FIgurative Language Process

   • Standard Pragmatic View
     • Irony
     • Literal meaning is accessed first
       • Mismatch with context detected
         • Utterence re-analysed as being ironic
   • Direct Access View
     • Irony
     • Ironic meaning can be accessed without accessing literal meaning first
       • No additional processing cost for ironic language compared to literal
   • Graded Salience Hypothesis
     • Ironic meaning accessed straight away for highly familiar ironies
       • Literal meaning accessed first, then reanalysis, for unfamiliar
   • Context & Knowledge
     • Hagoort et al. (2004)
       • Use EPRs when pps reading
       • N400 = spike = word doesnt make sense
       • We can decide within 400ms if no sense
       • Correct sentence
         • No spike as word makes sense fits within context
       • World knowledge violation
         • 400 ms = spike = no sense
       • Semantic violation
         • Similar effect, no context relation

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