Effects of Disfluencies on Language Comprehension

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的研究将集中在分析和解释过程中的不流利的影响。拟议的实验是基于广泛的初步工作的结果，证明了关键假设的可行性。不流利现象会影响句法分析机制的运行，因为当遇到不流利现象时，它会使分析器在构建过程中花费更长的时间。此外，不流利现象往往出现在某些类型的成分之前，因此它们提供了有用的信息来帮助分析者从可能的结构选择中进行选择。一种特殊类型的不流利现象--纠正--可能会影响句法分析，因为错误表达的信息有时与在歧义字符串的对立句法分析之间进行选择有关。 拟议的研究（共10项，每项由1-3个实验组成）将有助于更好地理解语言处理系统的基本机制如何适应甚至利用言语中的不流利。他们也将有助于语言处理的基本模型的发展，因为不流利可以作为一种工具，以决定竞争对手之间的理解系统的架构。这项研究最终可能有助于创造一个更生态的方法来处理心理语言学问题-一种方法，承认语言结构在处理过程中的重要作用，但更关注在正常的会话语境中遇到的语言刺激的真实的属性。这项研究对于语言处理基本模型的发展非常重要，但除此之外，研究结果还将对患有健康相关认知障碍的人如何理解语言，特别是在自然环境中理解语言的研究产生重要影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The proposed studies will focus on the effects of disfluencies on parsing and interpretation processes. The proposed experiments are based on the results of extensive preliminary work demonstrating the viability of the key assumptions. Disfluencies influence the operations of the syntactic parsing mechanisms by causing the parser to be committed longer to the structure it is in the process of building when the disfluencies are encountered. In addition, disfluencies tend to occur before certain types of constituents, and so they provide useful information to help the parser choose from among possible structural alternatives. A particular type of disfluency - corrections - may influence parsing because the misarticulated information is sometimes relevant to choosing between rival syntactic analyses of an ambiguous string. The proposed studies (ten in total, each consisting of 1-3 experiments) will lead to a better understanding of how the fundamental mechanisms of the language processing system accommodate and even take advantage of disfluencies in speech. They will also contribute towards the development of basic models of language processing, because disfluencies can be used as a tool to decide between rival architectures of the comprehension system. This research ultimately may contribute towards the creation of a more ecological approach to psycholinguistic questions - an approach that acknowledges the important role of linguistic structures in processing but pays more attention to the real properties of linguistic stimuli encountered in normal conversational contexts. The research is important for the development of basic models of language processing, but in addition the results would have important implications for studies of how individuals suffering from health-related cognitive disorders understand language, particularly in natural environments.