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Direct-access retrieval during sentence comprehension: Evidence from Sluicing
- Source :
-
Journal of Memory & Language . May2011, Vol. 64 Issue 4, p327-343. 17p. - Publication Year :
- 2011
-
Abstract
- Abstract: Language comprehension requires recovering meaning from linguistic form, even when the mapping between the two is indirect. A canonical example is ellipsis, the omission of information that is subsequently understood without being overtly pronounced. Comprehension of ellipsis requires retrieval of an antecedent from memory, without prior prediction, a property which enables the study of retrieval in situ (). Sluicing, or inflectional-phrase ellipsis, in the presence of a conjunction, presents a test case where a competing antecedent position is syntactically licensed, in contrast with most cases of nonadjacent dependency, including verb–phrase ellipsis. We present speed–accuracy tradeoff and eye-movement data inconsistent with the hypothesis that retrieval is accomplished via a syntactically guided search, a particular variant of search not examined in past research. The observed timecourse profiles are consistent with the hypothesis that antecedents are retrieved via a cue-dependent direct-access mechanism susceptible to general memory variables. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0749596X
- Volume :
- 64
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Memory & Language
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 59771218
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2010.12.006