Modeling the Influence of Thematic Fit (and Other Constraints) in On-line Sentence Comprehension

@article{citeulike:257422, abstract = {The time-course with which readers use event-specific world knowledge (thematic fit) to resolve structural ambiguity was explored through experiments and implementation of constraint-based and two-stage models. In a norming study, subjects completed fragments that ended in the ambiguous region of a reduced relative clause (The crook arrested/by/the/detective). Completion proportions up to and includingthewere influenced by thematic fit. The results were simulated using a competition model in which independently quantified syntactic and semantic constraints simultaneously influenced interpretation. Predictions were then generated for a self-paced reading task using model parameter values established by the off-line simulations. The pattern of reading times matched the predictions of the constraint-based version of the model but differed substantially from a one-region delay garden-path version. In addition, a garden-path model with a very short delay simulated the data better than the one-region delay model, but not as closely as the constraint-based version. The experiment and modeling illustrate that thematic fit is computed and used immediately in on-line sentence comprehension. Furthermore, the modeling highlighted the difficulty of interpreting sentence comprehension experiments without both quantifying the relevant constraints and implementing the mechanisms involved.}, author = {Mcrae, Ken and Spivey-Knowlton, Michael J. and Tanenhaus, Michael K. }, citeulike-article-id = {257422}, doi = {10.1006/jmla.1997.2543}, journal = {Journal of Memory and Language}, keywords = {models, plausibility-judgments, sentence-comprehension}, month = {April}, number = {3}, pages = {283--312}, posted-at = {2008-04-08 21:22:40}, priority = {2}, title = {Modeling the Influence of Thematic Fit (and Other Constraints) in On-line Sentence Comprehension}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1997.2543}, volume = {38}, year = {1998} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:257422 L3 - citeulike-article-id:257422 TI - Modeling the Influence of Thematic Fit (and Other Constraints) in On-line Sentence Comprehension JF - Journal of Memory and Language VL - 38 IS - 3 SP - 283 EP - 312 N2 - The time-course with which readers use event-specific world knowledge (thematic fit) to resolve structural ambiguity was explored through experiments and implementation of constraint-based and two-stage models. In a norming study, subjects completed fragments that ended in the ambiguous region of a reduced relative clause (The crook arrested/by/the/detective). Completion proportions up to and includingthewere influenced by thematic fit. The results were simulated using a competition model in which independently quantified syntactic and semantic constraints simultaneously influenced interpretation. Predictions were then generated for a self-paced reading task using model parameter values established by the off-line simulations. The pattern of reading times matched the predictions of the constraint-based version of the model but differed substantially from a one-region delay garden-path version. In addition, a garden-path model with a very short delay simulated the data better than the one-region delay model, but not as closely as the constraint-based version. The experiment and modeling illustrate that thematic fit is computed and used immediately in on-line sentence comprehension. Furthermore, the modeling highlighted the difficulty of interpreting sentence comprehension experiments without both quantifying the relevant constraints and implementing the mechanisms involved. KW - models KW - plausibility-judgments KW - sentence-comprehension AU - Mcrae, Ken AU - Spivey-Knowlton, Michael AU - Tanenhaus, Michael PY - 1998/04// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1997.2543 ER -