Individual Differences in Lexical and Syntactic Ambiguity Resolution

描述（由申请人提供）：在句子理解过程中通常遇到的两种类型的歧义是词汇和句法歧义。消除歧义通常很容易实现，因为它是由语言线索，如发生的频率和/或解释与周围环境的可解释性的帮助。本研究将探讨在词汇和句法歧义中使用频率和可解释性线索，作为工作记忆容量的函数。在高、低工作记忆组中，频率线索会被操纵，而可重复性线索保持不变，反之亦然。通过使用自定进度的阅读范例将歧义句子与明确的对照句子进行比较来计算个体解决歧义的能力，该范例先前被证明对歧义效应和工作记忆容量的差异敏感。第一个目的是调查是否一个共同的认知机制时，利用解决这些歧义。在20世纪90年代，词汇处理、句法处理和语言线索被提出利用单一机制。这一想法与Fodor在20世纪80年代提出的模块化概念相矛盾。尽管语言处理模型和理论具有重要意义，但还没有发表任何研究来测试是否使用单一机制来解决这些歧义。第二个目标是确定频率线索是否比个体内的可接受性线索更大程度地使用，因为可接受性线索可能更难处理。第三个目的是确定频率和可重复性线索是否在句子处理中作为工作记忆的函数被不同地使用，因为工作记忆低的个体可能会增加处理语言线索的难度。本研究的结果将增加句子加工中歧义消解的科学知识，以及支持歧义消解的认知资源。以往的研究表明，句子理解中的歧义是由语言线索消除的，并由个人的工作记忆容量介导。本研究的目标是进一步追求的基础知识，支持消歧的词汇和句法歧义作为工作记忆容量的功能的机制。这项研究的结果可以应用于开发更详细的正常语言处理模型，这可能会导致更好的诊断工具和治疗方案，用于康复语言障碍患者并提高他们的生活质量。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Two types of ambiguities commonly encountered during sentence comprehension are lexical and syntactic ambiguities. Disambiguation is typically achieved easily, as it is aided by language cues, such as the frequency of occurrence and/or the plausibility of interpretation with relation to the surrounding context. This research will investigate the use of frequency and plausibility cues within lexical and syntactic ambiguities, as a function of working memory capacity. Frequency cues will be manipulated while plausibility cues are held constant, and vice versa, in high and low working memory groups. An individual's ability to resolve ambiguities will be calculated by comparing ambiguous sentences to unambiguous control sentences using a self-paced reading paradigm, previously shown to be sensitive to ambiguity effects and differences in working memory capacity. The first aim is to investigate whether a common cognitive mechanism is utilized when resolving these ambiguities. In the 1990s, lexical processing, syntactic processing, and language cues were proposed to utilize a single mechanism. This idea countered the concept of modularity proposed by Fodor in the 1980s. No work has been published to test whether a single mechanism is used to resolve these ambiguities, despite significant implications for language processing models and theories. The second aim is to determine whether frequency cues are used to a greater extent than plausibility cues within an individual, as plausibility cues may be more difficult to process. The third aim is to determine whether frequency and plausibility cues are used differently in sentence processing as a function of working memory, as individuals with low working memory may have increased difficulty processing language cues. The results of this research will increase scientific knowledge of normal ambiguity resolution in sentence processing, and the cognitive resources that support ambiguity resolution. Previous research has suggested that ambiguities in sentence comprehension are disambiguated by language cues and mediated by an individual's working memory capacity. The goal of this research is to further the pursuit of fundamental knowledge regarding the mechanisms that support the disambiguation of lexical and syntactic ambiguities as a function of working memory capacity. The results of this research may be applied to the development of more detailed models of normal language processing, which may lead to better diagnostic tools and treatment programs for rehabilitating persons with disordered language and improving their quality of life.