Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2025

Examining Online Syntactic Processing of Spoken Complex Sentences in Chinese Using Dual-Modal Interference Tasks
Published on: September 5, 2019
When Native Speakers Are Not "Native-Like:" Chunking Ability Predicts (Lack of) Sensitivity to Gender Agreement
Manuel F Pulido1, Priscila López-Beltrán1
1Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, Center for Language Science, The Pennsylvania State University.
Abstract:
Previous work on individual differences has revealed limitations in the ability of existing measures (e.g., working memory) to predict language processing. Recent evidence suggests that an individual's sensitivity to detect the statistical regularities present in language (i.e., "chunk sensitivity") may significantly modulate online sentence processing. We investigated whether individual chunk sensitivity predicted the online processing of gender cues, a core linguistic feature of Spanish. In a self-paced reading task, we examined native speakers' processing of relative clauses in which gender cues were variably exploited to induce processing costs. Even after considering the effect of working memory and cognitive control, the results revealed a significant effect of chunking ability in modulating online sentence processing. Critically, higher-chunking ability speakers' reading times showed online sensitivity to core linguistic cues online; while low-chunking ability readers showed no sensitivity to manipulations, indicating shallow real-time processing of their native language.
More Related Videos
07:36Eye Tracking During Visually Situated Language Comprehension: Flexibility and Limitations in Uncovering Visual Context Effects
Published on: November 30, 2018
09:27Using Eye Movements Recorded in the Visual World Paradigm to Explore the Online Processing of Spoken Language
Published on: October 13, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Chunking
The principle behind chunking...
Chunking and Rehearsal in Sensory Memory
Socioemotional Experience and Gender Development
The Anchoring-and-Adjustment Heuristic
Stereotype Content Model
Language and Cognition