Effects of Disfluencies on Language Comprehension

描述（由申请人提供）：拟议的研究将侧重于不流畅对解析和解释过程的影响。提出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。不流畅会影响语法解析机制的操作，因为它会导致解析器在遇到不流畅时将更长时间提交到它正在构建的结构中。此外，歧义往往发生在某些类型的成分之前，因此它们提供了有用的信息，帮助解析器从可能的结构替代中进行选择。一种特殊类型的不流畅——更正——可能会影响解析，因为错误表达的信息有时与在歧义字符串的对立语法分析之间进行选择有关。

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.