There has been considerable psycholinguistic investigation into the conditions that allow separately introduced individuals to be joined into a plural set and represented as a complex reference object (e.g., Eschenbach, et al., 1989; Garrod & Sanford, 1982; Koh & Clifton, 2002; Koh et al., 2008; Moxey et al., 2004; Sanford & Lockhart, 1990). The current paper reports three eye-tracking experiments that investigate the less-well understood question of what conditions allow pointers to be assigned to the individuals within a previously undifferentiated set, turning it into a complex reference object. The experiments made use of a methodology used in Patson and Ferreira (2009) to distinguish between complex reference objects and undifferentiated sets. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that assigning different properties to the members of an undifferentiated dual set via a conjoined modifier or a comparative modifier transformed it into a complex reference object. Experiment 3 indicated that assigning a property to only one member of an undifferentiated dual set introduced pointers to both members. These results demonstrate that pointers can be established to referents within a plural set without picking them out via anaphors; they set boundaries on the kinds of implicit contrasts between referents that establish pointers; and they illustrate that extremely subtle properties of the semantic and referential context can affect early parsing decisions.

中文翻译：

---

从对偶集构建复杂的参考对象

已经对允许单独介绍的个体加入复数集并表示为复杂参考对象的条件进行了相当多的心理语言学研究（例如，Eschenbach 等，1989；Garrod & Sanford，1982；Koh & Clifton，2002 ；Koh 等人，2008 年；Moxey 等人，2004 年；Sanford 和 Lockhart，1990 年）。目前的论文报告了三个眼动追踪实验，这些实验调查了一个不太了解的问题，即什么条件允许将指针分配给以前未区分的集合中的个体，将其变成复杂的参考对象。实验利用 Patson 和 Ferreira (2009) 中使用的方法来区分复杂的参考对象和未区分的集合。实验 1 和 2 表明，通过连接修饰符或比较修饰符将不同的属性分配给未分化对偶集的成员，将其转化为复杂的参考对象。实验 3 表明，仅将属性分配给未分化对偶集的一个成员会引入指向这两个成员的指针。这些结果表明，可以建立指向复数集合中所指对象的指针，而无需通过照应来挑选它们；它们为建立指针的所指对象之间的隐式对比类型设置了界限；他们说明语义和参考上下文的极其微妙的属性会影响早期的解析决策。实验 3 表明，仅将属性分配给未分化对偶集的一个成员会引入指向这两个成员的指针。这些结果表明，可以建立指向复数集合中所指对象的指针，而无需通过照应来挑选它们；它们为建立指针的所指对象之间的隐式对比类型设置了界限；他们说明语义和参考上下文的极其微妙的属性会影响早期的解析决策。实验 3 表明，仅将属性分配给未分化对偶集的一个成员会引入指向这两个成员的指针。这些结果表明，可以建立指向复数集合中所指对象的指针，而无需通过照应来挑选它们；它们为建立指针的所指对象之间的隐式对比类型设置了界限；他们说明语义和参考上下文的极其微妙的属性会影响早期的解析决策。