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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 20, 2026

Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks

Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks

Published on: September 5, 2019

Sentence complexity and working memory effects in ambiguity resolution.

Ji Hyon Kim¹, Kiel Christianson

¹Department of English Linguistics, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, 270 Imun-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 130-791, Korea, kimjhyon@gmail.com.

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research

|July 4, 2012

Summary

Working memory capacity influences how speakers process complex sentences, particularly relative clauses (RCs). Individual differences in working memory, not just language structure, explain variations in RC attachment preferences.

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Last Updated: May 20, 2026

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Area of Science:

Psycholinguistics
Cognitive Science
Computational Linguistics

Background:

Relative clause (RC) attachment preferences are influenced by sentence complexity and individual working memory capacity (WMC).
Previous research has focused on language-specific factors, potentially overlooking the role of individual cognitive differences.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of syntactic complexity and WMC on RC attachment preferences in English and Korean.
To determine whether working memory-based or language-dependent accounts better explain cross-linguistic differences in RC processing.

Main Methods:

Two self-paced reading experiments using a paraphrase decision task paradigm.
Examined both offline attachment preferences and online reading times.
Compared English and Korean speakers, considering syntactic complexity and WMC.

Main Results:

Experiment 1 (English) revealed WMC effects on RC processing but no syntactic complexity effects.
Experiment 2 (Korean) showed syntactic complexity increased NP1 attachment, but no WMC effects were found.
Differences between English and Korean were attributed to head-directionality effects.

Conclusions:

Working memory-based accounts offer a superior explanation for RC attachment preferences compared to previous language-dependent theories.
The interaction between individual WMC and language structure is crucial for understanding cross-linguistic differences in RC processing.
Future research should integrate cognitive and linguistic factors to fully explain RC attachment variations.