Syntactic Vulnerability and Thematic Misinterpretation

要正确解释一个句子，除了其他许多事情外，还需要知道句子中提到的哪些物体或行为者在句子描述的事件中扮演了哪些角色。例如，在“那个人咬了狗”这句话中，为了正确理解这句话，你需要了解是谁咬的。这一解释过程被称为将主题作用与概念相结合。这个项目的目标是开发和测试一种理论，即人们如何在理解他人传达给他们的句子时做到这一点。试点工作表明，这一过程远不像之前的研究假设的那么简单和直接。即使是明确的句子也会带来令人惊讶的解释困难。例如，大学生听到“狗被人咬了”这句话时，大约四分之一的时间会错误地辨认出咬人的人，尽管他们几乎总是正确地解释“人咬了狗”。该项目分为三个部分：(1)开发一种通过句法分配主题角色的机制，这可以解释短语如何变得容易被误解。(2)说明该机制是如何与通过图式知识提供主题角色信息的平行系统一起工作的。(3)提供证据，说明可能夸大或改善主题误解的各种影响，包括语言、图式和个别差异变量。

Ferreira99-76584Abstract The correct interpretation of a sentence requires, among many other things, knowing which objects or actors named in the sentence played which roles in the event the sentence describes. In the sentence "The man bit the dog", for example, one needs to understand who did the biting in order to understand the sentence correctly. This interpretive process is referred to as binding thematic roles to concepts. The goal of this project is to develop and test a theory of how people do this in comprehending sentences communicated to them by others. Pilot work has shown that the process is not nearly so simple and straightforward as previous research has assumed. Even unambiguous sentences present surprising difficulties of interpretation. For example, undergraduate college students hearing the sentence "The dog was bitten by the man" misidentify the biter about a quarter of the time, even though they almost always correctly interpret "The man bit the dog". The project breaks down into three components: (1) To develop a mechanism for assigning thematic roles through syntax, which can explain how phrases become vulnerable to misinterpretation.(2) To provide an account of how that mechanism works with a parallel system that provides information about thematic roles via schematic knowledge.(3) To provide evidence regarding the kinds of influences that can exaggerate or ameliorate thematic misinterpretation, including linguistic, schematic, and individual difference variables.