scholarly journals Why subject relatives prevail: Constraints versus constructional licensing

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecily Jill Duffield ◽  
Laura A. Michaelis
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Formal Semantic ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Relative Pronouns ◽  
National Corpus

AbstractRelative clauses containing subject relative-pronouns (e.g. that go to Utah all the time,) are the prevalent type both across languages (Keenan and Comrie 1977) and in conversation, accounting for 65% of relative clauses in the American National Corpus (Reali and Christiansen 2007) and 67% of relative clauses in the corpus examined for this study, the Switchboard corpus. This fact appears attributable to parsing preferences, as per Hawkins (1999, 2004), Gibson (1998) and Gibson et al. (2005): subject extractions are the most local filler-gap dependency and therefore impose the lowest burden on short-term memory. This explanation, however, not only lacks strong psycholinguistic support but also fails to explain a major pattern in Switchboard: subject relatives are not preferred across the board but only as modifiers of postverbal (object and oblique) nominals. We propose that the preference for subject relatives is an effect not of general-purpose interpretive or encoding constraints but rather of constructional licensing: the subject relative belongs to an entrenched syntactic routine, the Presentational Relative construction, e.g. I have friends that clip articles (McCawley 1981; Lambrecht 1987, 1988, 2002). We investigate this hypothesis by examining the formal, semantic and pragmatic properties of relative-clause modifiers of postverbal nominals in the Switchboard corpus.

The processing of Japanese relative clauses

1982 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary D. Prideaux
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Branching Structures ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Entire Sentence ◽  
The Subject

Over the past several years, a considerable amount of research on language comprehension has been carried out under the assumption that comprehension crucially involves language-independent cognitive strategies interacting with grammatical properties specific to a given language. Accordingly, the two factors of grammatical structure and cognitive strategies interact to render certain structures relatively more difficult to process than others. For example, it has been suggested that centre-embedded structures are more difficult to process than right-branching structures because centre-embedding interrupts the main clause and imposes a burden on short term memory, thereby making it relatively more difficult for the hearer to obtain closure on the entire sentence (Kuno 1974). Much attention within the cognitive strategies paradigm has been addressed to the comprehension of English complex sentences, and in particular to those sentences containing relative clauses. Since English permits relative clauses to be attached to NPs playing almost any grammatical role, and since, within a relative clause, the relativized NP can itself play almost any role, sentences containing relative clauses have provided a useful arena for testing various proposed cognitive strategies insofar as they relate to complex structures. In particular, much research has been addressed to SVO sentences in which a relative clause is formed on either the subject or object NP, and in which the relative pronoun is either subject or object.

Effects of Irrelevant Sounds on Phonological Coding in Reading Comprehension and Short term Memory

1996 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 398-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Boyle ◽  
Veronika Coltheart
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Phonological Similarity ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Phonological Coding

The effects of irrelevant sounds on reading comprehension and short-term memory were studied in two experiments. In Experiment 1, adults judged the acceptability of written sentences during irrelevent speech, accompanied and unaccompanied singing, instrumental music, and in silence. Sentences varied in syntactic complexity: Simple sentences contained a right-branching relative clause ( The applause pleased the woman that gave the speech) and syntactically complex sentences included a centre-embedded relative clause ( The hay that the farmer stored fed the hungry animals). Unacceptable sentences either sounded acceptable ( The dog chased the cat that eight up all his food) or did not ( The man praised the child that sight up his spinach). Decision accuracy was impaired by syntactic complexity but not by irrelevant sounds. Phonological coding was indicated by increased errors on unacceptable sentences that sounded correct. These error rates were unaffected by irrelevant sounds. Experiment 2 examined effects of irrelevant sounds on ordered recall of phonologically similar and dissimilar word lists. Phonological similarity impaired recall. Irrelevant speech reduced recall but did not interact with phonological similarity. The results of these experiments question assumptions about the relationship between speech input and phonological coding in reading and the short-term store.

On Conrad's Prefix and Grouping in Short-Term Memory

1968 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harris B. Savin
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
The Subject ◽  
As If

Requiring a subject to say a redundant prefix before he recalls a sequence of digits impairs his ability to recall that sequence. Evidence reported below suggests that the prefix functions exactly as an extra nonredundant digit—that the subject performs exactly as if the prefix had to be learned anew on each trial.

Short-Term Memory for Verbal and Graphic Route Information

1979 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 464-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Wetherell
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Drug Effects ◽  
Study Drug ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Verbal Recall ◽  
Road Systems ◽  
Driving Task ◽  
Route Information ◽  
The Subject

As road systems become more tortuous, traffic signs giving the necessary short-distance route information become more complex, and place increasing demands on the drivers' short-term memory. An experiment designed initially to study drug effects on drivers' memory for route information revealed that unmedicated, control subjects were able to navigate short routes previously learned as lists of verbal directions, but were unable to navigate completely similar routes previously learned as maps. It was further found that verbal recall of maps, while not perfect, was better than recall by vehicle navigation whether the subject drove or was a passenger, and that the difficulty appeared to involve the spatial nature of maps compared with the “linear” nature of verbal directions. Results from laboratory studies suggest that the difficulty may be due partly to competition between the maps and the driving task for a spatial memory system, and partly to incompatibility between the subjective heading of the driver and the orientations of junctions as remembered and as seen.

Vocalization-at-presentation and Immediate Recall, with Varying Presentation-Rates

1965 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. J. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Presentation Rate ◽  
Serial Order ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Recall Method ◽  
Immediate Recall ◽  
Apparent Variation ◽  
The Subject

An experiment is reported in which the subject read visually presented lists with four different degrees of vocalization; immediately after reading each list he was required to reproduce it either aloud or in writing. Each list consisted of eight consonants and presentation rates were varied between I and 4 letters per sec. For any given series of lists, the subject was asked either to read the letters silently, or to mouth them silently, or to whisper them, or to say them aloud while reading. At the fastest presentation-rate immediate recall improved monotonically with the degree of vocalization during reading of the lists; at slower rates this generalization held less well, especially for the lower degrees of vocalization. Vocalization was most helpful at the highest presentation-rate. The overall amount correctly recalled was better for more slowly presented lists and for written as opposed to spoken recall. Analysis of the errors suggested that acoustic confusions were affected by the conditions of presentation; and that serial order intrusions were independent of presentation-or recall-conditions. An apparent variation of transpositions with voicing-and-recall-method failed to reach statistical significance. Theoretical implications of the experiment are discussed, including reference to Broadbent's theory of short-term memory (1958).

Conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) supports core claims of Christiansen and Chater

2016 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary C. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Rapid Serial Visual Presentation ◽  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Visual Presentation ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Use Of Knowledge

AbstractRapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) of words or pictured scenes provides evidence for a large-capacity conceptual short-term memory (CSTM) that momentarily provides rich associated material from long-term memory, permitting rapid chunking (Potter 1993; 2009; 2012). In perception of scenes as well as language comprehension, we make use of knowledge that briefly exceeds the supposed limits of working memory.

Working, Declarative, and Procedural Memory in Children With Developmental Language Disorder

2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (12) ◽  
pp. 4162-4178
Author(s):  
Emily Jackson ◽  
Suze Leitão ◽  
Mary Claessen ◽  
Mark Boyes
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Language Disorder ◽  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Memory Systems ◽  
Procedural Memory ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Visual Spatial

Purpose Previous research into the working, declarative, and procedural memory systems in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) has yielded inconsistent results. The purpose of this research was to profile these memory systems in children with DLD and their typically developing peers. Method One hundred four 5- to 8-year-old children participated in the study. Fifty had DLD, and 54 were typically developing. Aspects of the working memory system (verbal short-term memory, verbal working memory, and visual–spatial short-term memory) were assessed using a nonword repetition test and subtests from the Working Memory Test Battery for Children. Verbal and visual–spatial declarative memory were measured using the Children's Memory Scale, and an audiovisual serial reaction time task was used to evaluate procedural memory. Results The children with DLD demonstrated significant impairments in verbal short-term and working memory, visual–spatial short-term memory, verbal declarative memory, and procedural memory. However, verbal declarative memory and procedural memory were no longer impaired after controlling for working memory and nonverbal IQ. Declarative memory for visual–spatial information was unimpaired. Conclusions These findings indicate that children with DLD have deficits in the working memory system. While verbal declarative memory and procedural memory also appear to be impaired, these deficits could largely be accounted for by working memory skills. The results have implications for our understanding of the cognitive processes underlying language impairment in the DLD population; however, further investigation of the relationships between the memory systems is required using tasks that measure learning over long-term intervals. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.13250180

Comparison of Auditory, Language, Memory, and Attention Abilities in Children With and Without Listening Difficulties

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 710-727
Author(s):  
Beula M. Magimairaj ◽  
Naveen K. Nagaraj ◽  
Alexander V. Sergeev ◽  
Natalie J. Benafield
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Group Differences ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Significant Group ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Memory And Attention ◽  
Speed And Accuracy

Objectives School-age children with and without parent-reported listening difficulties (LiD) were compared on auditory processing, language, memory, and attention abilities. The objective was to extend what is known so far in the literature about children with LiD by using multiple measures and selective novel measures across the above areas. Design Twenty-six children who were reported by their parents as having LiD and 26 age-matched typically developing children completed clinical tests of auditory processing and multiple measures of language, attention, and memory. All children had normal-range pure-tone hearing thresholds bilaterally. Group differences were examined. Results In addition to significantly poorer speech-perception-in-noise scores, children with LiD had reduced speed and accuracy of word retrieval from long-term memory, poorer short-term memory, sentence recall, and inferencing ability. Statistically significant group differences were of moderate effect size; however, standard test scores of children with LiD were not clinically poor. No statistically significant group differences were observed in attention, working memory capacity, vocabulary, and nonverbal IQ. Conclusions Mild signal-to-noise ratio loss, as reflected by the group mean of children with LiD, supported the children's functional listening problems. In addition, children's relative weakness in select areas of language performance, short-term memory, and long-term memory lexical retrieval speed and accuracy added to previous research on evidence-based areas that need to be evaluated in children with LiD who almost always have heterogenous profiles. Importantly, the functional difficulties faced by children with LiD in relation to their test results indicated, to some extent, that commonly used assessments may not be adequately capturing the children's listening challenges. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12808607

The Link Between Verbal Short-Term Memory and Anomia Treatment Gains

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1039-1052
Author(s):  
Reva M. Zimmerman ◽  
JoAnn P. Silkes ◽  
Diane L. Kendall ◽  
Irene Minkina
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Treatment Success ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Language Performance ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory ◽  
Treatment Gains ◽  
Post Hoc

Purpose A significant relationship between verbal short-term memory (STM) and language performance in people with aphasia has been found across studies. However, very few studies have examined the predictive value of verbal STM in treatment outcomes. This study aims to determine if verbal STM can be used as a predictor of treatment success. Method Retrospective data from 25 people with aphasia in a larger randomized controlled trial of phonomotor treatment were analyzed. Digit and word spans from immediately pretreatment were run in multiple linear regression models to determine whether they predict magnitude of change from pre- to posttreatment and follow-up naming accuracy. Pretreatment, immediately posttreatment, and 3 months posttreatment digit and word span scores were compared to determine if they changed following a novel treatment approach. Results Verbal STM, as measured by digit and word spans, did not predict magnitude of change in naming accuracy from pre- to posttreatment nor from pretreatment to 3 months posttreatment. Furthermore, digit and word spans did not change from pre- to posttreatment or from pretreatment to 3 months posttreatment in the overall analysis. A post hoc analysis revealed that only the less impaired group showed significant changes in word span scores from pretreatment to 3 months posttreatment. Discussion The results suggest that digit and word spans do not predict treatment gains. In a less severe subsample of participants, digit and word span scores can change following phonomotor treatment; however, the overall results suggest that span scores may not change significantly. The implications of these findings are discussed within the broader purview of theoretical and empirical associations between aphasic language and verbal STM processing.

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