Comprehending Conceptual Anaphors in Spanish.

Area of Science:

• Psycholinguistics
• Linguistics
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Anaphora resolution typically requires agreement in number and gender between pronouns and antecedents.
• Previous research indicates a

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the conceptual effect, where singular antecedents can license plural anaphors, extends to Spanish zero anaphors.
• To examine the role of conceptual plurality in anaphora comprehension in Spanish.

Main Methods:

• Four experiments were conducted using Spanish sentences.
• Experiment 1: Participants rated the naturalness of verb agreement (singular/plural) following singular but conceptually plural antecedents.
• Experiments 2 & 3: Reading times were measured for clauses following singular but conceptually plural antecedents, including collective sets.
• Experiment 4: Reading times were measured using pronominal anaphors with generic antecedents.

Main Results:

• Plural verbs were rated as more natural than singular verbs following conceptually plural antecedents.
• Reading times were faster for clauses with plural verbs following collective sets, comparable to group nouns.
• Reading time effects were replicated and extended to generic antecedents using pronominal anaphors.

Conclusions:

• The conceptual effect significantly influences anaphora resolution in Spanish, even with zero anaphors.
• Comprehension of anaphora relies on conceptual information beyond strict grammatical agreement.
• Findings contribute to understanding how speakers use information during anaphoric processing.