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Direct-access retrieval during sentence comprehension: Evidence from Sluicing
Andrea E Martin1, Brian McElree
1Basque Center on Cognition, Brain, and Language (BCBL).
Journal of Memory and Language
|May 18, 2011
Summary
Understanding language, especially with missing words (ellipsis), involves retrieving information. This study shows that retrieving antecedents during sluicing (a type of ellipsis) relies on memory cues, not just syntax.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
Background:
- Language comprehension involves reconstructing meaning from linguistic input, even when information is omitted (ellipsis).
- Ellipsis requires retrieving antecedents from memory, making it valuable for studying memory retrieval processes.
- Sluicing, a specific type of ellipsis, offers a unique case with competing antecedent positions due to conjunctions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the retrieval mechanisms underlying language comprehension, specifically focusing on sluicing.
- To test the hypothesis that antecedent retrieval in sluicing is guided by syntactic structure versus a direct-access mechanism.
Main Methods:
- Employed speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) analyses to measure processing efficiency.
- Utilized eye-movement tracking to capture real-time comprehension dynamics.
- Examined sluicing constructions with syntactically licensed competing antecedents.
Main Results:
- Data were inconsistent with a syntactically guided search hypothesis for antecedent retrieval.
- Observed timecourse profiles supported a cue-dependent direct-access retrieval mechanism.
- Findings suggest general memory variables influence the retrieval of antecedents in ellipsis.
Conclusions:
- Antecedent retrieval in sluicing is not primarily driven by a syntactically guided search.
- A direct-access mechanism, influenced by memory cues and general memory factors, better explains comprehension of ellipsis.
- This research provides insights into the cognitive processes underlying complex language understanding.
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