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Event Structure Influences Language Production: Evidence from Structural Priming in Motion Event Description
Ann Bunger1, Anna Papafragou, John C Trueswell
1Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, 105 The Green, Room 108, Newark, DE 19716 USA.
Journal of Memory and Language
|September 28, 2013
Summary
This study shows that conceptual overlap in prime sentences influences how English speakers describe events. Successful language production relies on shared conceptual structures during priming.
Area of Science:
- Psycholinguistics
- Cognitive Science
- Language Production
Background:
- Language production involves translating conceptual representations into linguistic output.
- Priming studies explore how preceding stimuli influence subsequent language use.
- The role of conceptual structure in this process remains an active area of research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether English speakers are sensitive to the conceptual structure of event information presented in prime sentences.
- To determine if conceptual overlap between prime and target events affects language production.
- To examine the impact of conceptual priming on information selection, mapping, and syntactic structure.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments involving English speakers describing motion events.
- Participants were primed with sentences varying in syntactic frame and conceptual overlap with target events.
- Analysis focused on information inclusion, linguistic mapping, and syntactic structures used in target descriptions.
Main Results:
- Conceptual overlap between prime and target events significantly primed information inclusion in descriptions.
- Priming extended to the mapping of information onto linguistic elements and the syntactic structures employed.
- No priming effects were observed when conceptual overlap was absent.
Conclusions:
- Conceptual structure is an activated level of representation during priming.
- Conceptual structure plays a crucial role in both Message Planning and Linguistic Formulation during language production.
- Sensitivity to conceptual structure is key for effective language production and event description.
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