Word Trigram Frequency Predicts Failure to Detect Word Transpositions: Implications for Rational Inference in Reading

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Computational Linguistics
• Psycholinguistics

Background:

• Readers frequently fail to detect transposed words in grammatical sentences.
• This phenomenon suggests rational inference, where word string expectations override perceptual data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if transposition detection failure is most common with high-probability word strings.
• To investigate the role of trigram frequency and sentence context in transposition errors.

Main Methods:

• Three experiments were conducted to assess word transposition detection.
• Reader performance was analyzed based on trigram frequency and preceding sentence context.

Main Results:

• Failure to detect transpositions was significantly predicted by trigram frequency.
• Transpositions in high-frequency trigrams (e.g., 'close the gate') were missed more often than in low-frequency trigrams (e.g., 'close the pool').
• Sentence context played a lesser role compared to trigram frequency.

Conclusions:

• Results support the rational inference framework for error correction in reading.
• Multi-word units significantly influence language processing and error detection.