Syntactic Priming in Comprehension

理解中的句法启动

• 批准号: 1024003
• 负责人: Matthew Traxler
• 金额: $ 29万
• 依托单位: University of California-Davis
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-08-01 至 2015-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1024003&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Syntactic; Priming; Comprehension

The goal of this research project is to understand the representations and processes behind syntactic priming. Syntactic priming occurs when processing the syntax of one sentence facilitates the processing of a related syntactic structure in another sentence later in the discourse. This research will test the hypothesis that syntactic priming is caused by two different types of mental processes, one that operates over short time scales (a few seconds) and another that operates over longer time scales (a few minutes to several days). This dual-mechanism hypothesis proposes that 1) transient increases in activation of syntactic representations that are tied to specific words produce short-term priming effects and 2) reorganizations of long-term memory produce longer-lived changes in the relative strength of different syntactic representations, which in turn produce long-term priming effects. The proposed experiments use behavioral and neurophysiological research methods to test the dual-mechanism account. These methods have complementary strengths but both are highly sensitive to momentary changes in cognitive processing load. Using both methods in parallel gives the potential to illuminate the mental processes that give rise to neurophysiological responses. In addition, the proposed research may contribute to our understanding of adult language learning, in particular, changes in the adult system of syntactic representations and parsing processes as learning proceeds. This in turn may suggest ways in which poor readers can improve their reading skill. The project will also provide training opportunities for graduate students.

本研究的目的是了解句法启动背后的表征和过程。句法启动发生在处理一个句子的句法时，促进了语篇后面的另一个句子中相关句法结构的处理。这项研究将检验句法启动是由两种不同类型的心理过程引起的假设，一种是在短时间尺度(几秒)上运行的，另一种是在较长时间尺度(几分钟到几天)上运行的。这一双机制假说提出：1)与特定单词相关的句法表征的短暂激活增加会产生短期启动效应；2)长时记忆的重组会导致不同句法表征的相对强度发生较长时间的变化，进而产生长期启动效应。拟议的实验使用行为和神经生理学研究方法来测试双重机制的解释。这两种方法具有互补的优势，但都对认知加工负荷的瞬时变化高度敏感。同时使用这两种方法，有可能阐明引起神经生理反应的心理过程。此外，本研究可能有助于我们对成人语言学习的理解，特别是成人在学习过程中句法表征和句法分析过程的变化。反过来，这可能会为贫困读者提供提高阅读技能的方法。该项目还将为研究生提供培训机会。