Ambiguous Pronoun Resolution

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 260-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juhani Järvikivi ◽  
Roger P.G. van Gompel ◽  
Jukka Hyönä ◽  
Raymond Bertram
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Cognitive Structure ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Pronoun Resolution ◽  
Structure Building ◽  
Grammatical Subject ◽  
The Subject

A visual-world eye-tracking experiment investigated the influence of order of mention and grammatical role on resolution of ambiguous pronouns in Finnish. According to the first-mention account, general cognitive structure-building processes make the first-mentioned noun phrase the preferred antecedent of an ambiguous pronoun. According to the subject-preference account, the preferred antecedent is the grammatical subject of the preceding clause or sentence. Participants listened to sentences in either subject-verb-object or object-verb-subject order; each was followed by a sentence containing an ambiguous pronoun that referred to either the subject or the object. Participants' eye movements were monitored while they looked at pictures representing the two possible antecedents of each pronoun. Analyses of the fixations on the pictures showed that listeners used both order-of-mention and grammatical-role information to resolve ambiguous pronouns.

Children’s and adults’ eye movements and the extraction of number information from redundant markings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Maximiliano Gomez ◽  
Carolina Holtheuer ◽  
Karen Miller ◽  
Cristina Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Chilean Spanish ◽  
Require Information

We present an eye tracking study comparing 3.5- to 7.5-year-old children and adults’ use of number information on the verb and/or the determiner of the subject noun phrase in Chilean Spanish, a dialect of Spanish with variable realization of plural morphology in the noun phrase (due to phonological weakening) and categorical realization of number on the verb. Our results suggest that, while adults can determine whether the subject refers to a plurality or a singleton set based on the morphology of the verb alone, even 5- to 7-year-old children do not and, instead, require information from the noun phrase determiner to make a decision. Children younger than 5 years cannot use number on the verb and on the determiner to make a decision, which supports Miller and Schmitt’s (2010, 2012) hypothesis that number morphology is not always mapped into syntactic and semantic features by younger children in varieties of Spanish where number is subject to variation.

scholarly journals A cognitive load delays predictive eye movements similarly during L1 and L2 comprehension

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
AINE ITO ◽  
MARTIN CORLEY ◽  
MARTIN J. PICKERING
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Target Object ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Visual World ◽  
L1 And L2

We used the visual world eye-tracking paradigm to investigate the effects of cognitive load on predictive eye movements in L1 (Experiment 1) and L2 (Experiment 2) speakers. Participants listened to sentences whose verb was predictive or non-predictive towards one of four objects they were viewing. They then clicked on a mentioned object. Half the participants additionally performed a working memory task of remembering words. Both L1 and L2 speakers looked more at the target object predictively in predictable- than in non-predictable sentences when they performed the listen-and-click task only. However, this predictability effect was delayed in those who performed the concurrent memory task. This pattern of results was similar in L1 and L2 speakers. L1 and L2 speakers make predictions, but cognitive resources are required for making predictive eye movements. The findings are compatible with the claim that L2 speakers use the same mechanisms as L1 speakers to make predictions.

scholarly journals The Influence of Focus Marking on Pronoun Resolution in Dialogue Context

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liam P. Blything ◽  
Juhani Järvikivi ◽  
Abigail G. Toth ◽  
Anja Arnhold
Keyword(s):  
Language Skills ◽  
Complex Interaction ◽  
Online Data ◽  
Pronoun Resolution ◽  
Multiple Cues ◽  
Grammatical Subject ◽  
Final Interpretation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Focus Marking ◽  
Prosodic Focus

Using visual world eye-tracking, we examined whether adults (N = 58) and children (N = 37; 3;1–6;3) use linguistic focussing devices to help resolve ambiguous pronouns. Participants listened to English dialogues about potential referents of an ambiguous pronoun he. Four conditions provided prosodic focus marking to the grammatical subject or to the object, which were either additionally it-clefted or not. A reference condition focussed neither the subject nor object. Adult online data revealed that linguistic focussing via prosodic marking enhanced subject preference, and overrode it in the case of object focus, regardless of the presence of clefts. Children’s processing was also influenced by prosodic marking; however, their performance across conditions showed some differences from adults, as well as a complex interaction with both their memory and language skills. Offline interpretations showed no effects of focus in either group, suggesting that while multiple cues are processed, subjecthood and first mention dominate the final interpretation in cases of conflict.

Processing focus in native and non-native speakers of English: an eye-tracking study in the visual world paradigm

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Haoyan Ge ◽  
Iris Mulders ◽  
Xin Kang ◽  
Aoju Chen ◽  
Virginia Yip
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Visual World Paradigm ◽  
L2 Processing ◽  
Multiple Interfaces ◽  
Native Speakers Of English ◽  
The Difference

Abstract This “visual-world” eye-tracking study investigated the processing of focus in English sentences with preverbal only by L2 learners whose L1 was either Cantonese or Dutch, compared to native speakers of English. Participants heard only-sentences with prosodic prominence either on the object or on the verb and viewed pictures containing an object-focus alternative and a verb-focus alternative. We found that both L2 groups showed delayed eye movements to the alternative of focus, which was different from the native speakers of English. Moreover, Dutch learners of English were even slower than Cantonese learners of English in directing fixations to the alternative of focus. We interpreted the delayed fixation patterns in both L2 groups as evidence of difficulties in integrating multiple interfaces in real time. Furthermore, the similarity between English and Dutch in the use of prosody to mark focus hindered Dutch learners’ L2 processing of focus, whereas the difference between English and Cantonese in the realization of focus facilitated Cantonese learners’ processing of focus in English.

scholarly journals How Animacy and Verbal Information Influence V2 Sentence Processing: Evidence from Eye Movements

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 630-649
Author(s):  
Peter de Swart ◽  
Geertje van Bergen
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Verbal Information ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Object A ◽  
Selectional Restrictions ◽  
Clear Association ◽  
Main Verb

AbstractThere exists a clear association between animacy and the grammatical function of transitive subject. The grammar of some languages require the transitive subject to be high in animacy, or at least higher than the object. A similar animacy preference has been observed in processing studies in languages without such a categorical animacy effect. This animacy preference has been mainly established in structures in which either one or both arguments are provided before the verb. Our goal was to establish (i) whether this preference can already be observed before any argument is provided, and (ii) whether this preference is mediated by verbal information. To this end we exploited the V2 property of Dutch which allows the verb to precede its arguments. Using a visual-world eye-tracking paradigm we presented participants with V2 structures with either an auxiliary (e.g. Gisteren heeft X … ‘Yesterday, X has …’) or a lexical main verb (e.g. Gisteren motiveerde X … ‘Yesterday, X motivated …’) and we measured looks to the animate referent. The results indicate that the animacy preference can already be observed before arguments are presented and that the selectional restrictions of the verb mediate this bias, but do not override it completely.

Case marking in the Parsing of Complement Sentences: Evidence from Eye Movements

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 991-1004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Traxler ◽  
Martin J. Pickering
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Short Delay ◽  
Her Family ◽  
Case Marking ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Initial Processing

An eye-tracking experiment investigated the role of case-marking in parsing. We manipulated the case of pronouns in reduced complement sentences like I recognized you and your family would be unhappy here and I recognized she and her family would be unhappy here, in which the nominative pronoun she immediately disambiguates the sentences, in contrast to the ambiguous you. The nominative pronoun she disambiguates the sentence because I recognised she is ungrammatical, and thus she and her family must be the subject of an embedded sentence and not the NP-object of the preceding verb. Subjects took longer to read she and her family than you and your family during initial processing. The pattern reversed at the disambiguating phrase would be. Unambiguous control sentences containing the complementizer that did not produce case-marking effects. These results demonstrate very rapid effects of case-marking on parsing. Either case information is used immediately, or it is employed after an extremely short delay. We discuss implications for current theories of parsing.

scholarly journals What can wh-questions tell us about real-time language production: Evidence from English and Mandarin

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 46
Author(s):  
Monica Do ◽  
Elsi Kaiser ◽  
Pengchen Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Language Production ◽  
Time Window ◽  
Initial Experiment ◽  
Role Assignment ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Information Focus

We present two visual-world eye-tracking experiments investigating how speakers begin structuring their messages for linguistic utterances, a process known as linguistic encoding. Specifically, we focus on when speakers first linearize the abstract elements of their messages (positional processing) and when they first assign a grammatical role to those elements (functional processing). Experiment 1 de-coupled the process of linearization from grammatical role assignment using English object wh-questions, where the subject is no longer sentence initial. Experiment 2 used Mandarin declaratives and questions, which have the same word order, to test the extent to which findings from Experiment 1 were linked to information focus associated with wh-questions. We find evidence of both grammatical role assignment and linearization emerging around 400-600 ms, but we do not find evidence of the +/- wh distinction influencing eye-movements during that same time window.

scholarly journals The Reading Signatures of Agreement Attraction

Open Mind ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Sol Lago ◽  
Carlos Acuña Fariña ◽  
Enrique Meseguer
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Large Sample ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Fixation Durations ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Attraction Effects ◽  
Noun Number ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
Reading Profiles

Abstract The comprehension of subject-verb agreement shows “attraction effects,” which reveal that number computations can be derailed by nouns that are grammatically unlicensed to control agreement with a verb. However, previous results are mixed regarding whether attraction affects the processing of grammatical and ungrammatical sentences alike. In a large-sample eye-tracking replication of Lago et al. (2015), we support this “grammaticality asymmetry” by showing that the reading profiles associated with attraction depend on sentence grammaticality. In ungrammatical sentences, attraction affected both fixation durations and regressive eye-movements at the critical disagreeing verb. Meanwhile, both grammatical and ungrammatical sentences showed effects of the attractor noun number prior to the verb, in the first- and second-pass reading of the subject phrase. This contrast suggests that attraction effects in comprehension have at least two different sources: the first reflects verb-triggered processes that operate mainly in ungrammatical sentences. The second source reflects difficulties in the encoding of the subject phrase, which disturb comprehension in both grammatical and ungrammatical sentences.

scholarly journals Logical Subjects, Grammatical Subjects, and the Translation of Greek Person and Number Agreement

2005 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-33
Author(s):  
Ettien N. Koffi
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Number Agreement ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Grammatical Subject ◽  
Logical Subject ◽  
Greek New Testament ◽  
The Subject

In Greek as well as in many languages, the verb agrees with its subject in number and in person. Such an agreement is reflected morphologically on the verb through suffixation. If the subject is a compound noun phrase, that is, NP + NP, the general tendency for Greek verbs is to agree with the NP closest to them. However, agreement can also be controlled by the logical subject, or the grammatical subject, or both. The present article argues that the failure to clearly identify the controller of agreement in Greek has led to translations that are exegetically and theologically questionable. This point is proven by the analysis of three key texts from the Greek New Testament and their translation into English, French, Spanish, and a number of African languages. The passages studied in this article are Galatians 1:8, 2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 and Colossians 2:1–2.

scholarly journals Presuppositions are Fast, whether Hard or Soft - Evidence from the visual world

2015 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Schwarz
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movements ◽  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Processing Time ◽  
Time Course ◽  
Linguistic Meaning ◽  
Visual World ◽  
Online Processing ◽  
Rapid Processing

One focus of work on the processing of linguistic meaning has been the relative processing speed of different aspects of meaning. While much early work has focused on implicatures in comparison to literal asserted content (e.g., Bott & Noveck 2004, Huang & Snedeker 2009, among many others), the present paper extends recent efforts to experimentally investigate another aspect of meaning, namely presuppositions. It investigates the triggers again and stop using the visual world eye tracking paradigm, and provides evidence for rapid processing of presupposed content. Our study finds no difference in timing for the two triggers, which is of theoretical relevance given proposals for distinguishing classes of triggers, such as hard vs. soft (Abusch 2010). Whatever differences between these there may be are apparently not affecting the online processing time course. As a further comparison, again was also compared to twice, which expresses essentially the same meaning without a presupposition. Shifts in eye movements for these two cases also appear to be entirely on par, further supporting the notion that presupposed and asserted content are available in parallel early on in online processing.

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