ABSTRACT

Previous studies have reported that temporarily ambiguous sentences sometimes cause reading disruption (garden-path effects). These studies have interpreted their finding as indicating that the human sentence processing device (the processor) initially assigns incorrect structures and subsequently attempts revision. That is a logical interpretation. However, no previous studies have demonstrated evidence of a causal relationship between garden-path effects and initial misanalysis. Besides, there is currently limited evidence regarding whether the processor conducts revision. The present study reports two self-paced reading experiments that investigated these fundamental issues about garden-path effects. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the processor initially misanalyses temporarily ambiguous sentences and consequently encounters garden-path effects and persists with initial misinterpretations. Experiment 2 similarly observed garden-path effects. Additionally, there was evidence that the processor constructs globally correct structures during revision. These findings provide evidence that garden-path effects result from initial misanalysis, and the processor conducts revision upon disambiguation.

摘要

以前的研究报告说，暂时模棱两可的句子有时会导致阅读中断（花园路径效应）。这些研究将他们的发现解释为表明人类句子处理设备（处理器）最初分配了错误的结构，随后尝试修改。这是一个合乎逻辑的解释。然而，之前的研究没有证明花园路径效应和最初的错误分析之间存在因果关系的证据。此外，目前关于处理器是否进行修订的证据有限。本研究报告了两个自定进度的阅读实验，这些实验调查了有关花园小径效应的这些基本问题。实验 1 表明，处理器最初会错误分析暂时模棱两可的句子，因此会遇到花园小径效应，并坚持最初的误解。实验 2 同样观察到花园小径效应。此外，有证据表明处理器在修订期间构建了全局正确的结构。这些发现提供了证据，证明花园路径效应是由最初的错误分析引起的，处理器在消除歧义后进行修订。