Tracking the Time Course of Integrative Semantic Processing

语言理解方面的研究表明，读者逐字解读句子，迅速将每个生词的意思与之前的上下文结合起来。在国家科学基金会的支持下，谢莉亚·肯尼森博士将研究影响熟练读者将单个单词的含义融入句子的速度的因素。这项研究将检验这一假设，即某些单词的语义整合比其他单词更快。在这项研究中，参与者将在阅读句子的同时记录他们的眼球运动。眼动记录是测量阅读过程中处理难度的最精确技术。使用这种方法，可以将单词的初始处理与可能发生的任何再处理分开测量。这项研究将确定与早期(而不是晚期)语义整合相关的单词的特征。这项研究很重要，因为它将拓宽我们对读者在理解过程中如何协调多种信息源的认识，包括句法、词汇和语义信息源。这项研究还将增加我们对感知、记忆和语言所涉及的复杂认知过程的了解。这项研究的更广泛影响包括应用于语言障碍领域。通过了解熟练的、不受损害的读者如何将单词的含义整合到句子中，研究人员将能够更好地识别执行异常语义处理的个体。这项研究还可能有助于更好地理解语言处理可能受到损害的不同方式，并可能有助于制定旨在帮助受损个人提高阅读能力的干预措施。

Studies in language comprehension have shown that readers interpret sentences word by word, rapidly integrating the meaning of each new word with the preceding context. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Shelia Kennison will investigate the factors influencing how quickly skilled readers can integrate the meaning of individuals words within sentences. The research will test the hypothesis that semantic integration is carried out more rapidly for some words than for others. In the research, participants will read sentences while their eye movements are recorded. Eye movement recording is the most precise technique for measuring the processing difficulty experienced during reading. With this methodology, it is possible to measure the initial processing of a word separately from any reprocessing that may occur. The research will identify the characteristics of words that are associated with early (versus late) semantic integration. The research is important because it will broaden our knowledge of how readers coordinate multiple sources of information during comprehension, including syntactic, lexical, and semantic sources of information. The research will also add to our knowledge of the complex cognitive processing involved in perception, memory, and language. The broader impacts of the research include applications to the field of language disorders. By understanding how skilled, unimpaired readers integrate the meanings of words in sentences, researchers will be better able to identify individuals who carry out semantic processing abnormally. The research may also lead to a better understanding of the different ways language processing can be impaired and may contribute to the development of interventions designed to help impaired individuals increase their reading proficiency.