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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Published on: April 18, 2017

Cross-linguistic differences in incremental planning under uncertainty.

Arella E Gussow¹, Maryellen C MacDonald²

¹Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, United States.

|June 27, 2026

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Speakers adapt their language planning based on message uncertainty and grammar. Cross-linguistic differences show how languages influence incremental planning during speech production.

Keywords:

Crosslinguistic Incremental planning Language production Message uncertainty

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 29, 2026

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Task Interruption and Resumption Paradigm for Testing the Activation and Pursuit of an Abstract Thinking Goal

Published on: April 18, 2017

Area of Science:

Psycholinguistics
Cognitive Science
Linguistics

Background:

Language production often occurs under time pressure, requiring speakers to initiate speech before full message formulation.
Incremental planning allows speakers to continue message formulation as more information becomes available during speech.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate how speakers utilize incremental planning for event description under message uncertainty.
Examine cross-linguistic variations in speech planning strategies.

Main Methods:

Experiment 1: English speakers described motion events with manipulated target location certainty.
Experiment 2: Compared planning strategies of English and Spanish speakers.
Experiment 3: Assessed Spanish speakers' pre-planning of gender-marked articles for uncertain targets.

Main Results:

Under uncertainty, English speakers delayed speech onset but planned incrementally after speaking began, indicated by longer durations and more pauses.
Spanish speakers exhibited more incremental planning than English speakers, facilitated by flexible word order.
Spanish speakers did not pre-plan gender-marked articles for uncertain targets when grammatical gender was shared.

Conclusions:

The balance between advance planning and incrementality is influenced by message properties and language-specific grammatical structures.
Speakers demonstrate flexibility in adapting planning strategies to contextual demands, including message uncertainty.