John Benjamins Publishing Company
Chapter 9. Structural priming in comprehension of relative clause sentences
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Abstract
The current chapter discusses a structural priming experiment that investigated the on-line processing of English subject- and object- relative clauses. Sixty-one monolingual English-speaking adults participated in a self-paced reading experiment where they read prime-target pairs that fully crossed the relativised element within the relative clause (subject- versus object) across prime and target sentences. Following probabilistic theories of sentence processing, which predict that low frequency structures like object relatives are subject to greater priming effects due to their marked status, it was hypothesised that the normally-observed subject RC processing advantage would be eliminated following priming. The hypothesis was supported, identifying an important role for structural frequency in the processing of relative clause structures.
Abstract
The current chapter discusses a structural priming experiment that investigated the on-line processing of English subject- and object- relative clauses. Sixty-one monolingual English-speaking adults participated in a self-paced reading experiment where they read prime-target pairs that fully crossed the relativised element within the relative clause (subject- versus object) across prime and target sentences. Following probabilistic theories of sentence processing, which predict that low frequency structures like object relatives are subject to greater priming effects due to their marked status, it was hypothesised that the normally-observed subject RC processing advantage would be eliminated following priming. The hypothesis was supported, identifying an important role for structural frequency in the processing of relative clause structures.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction. The acquisition of relative clauses 1
- Chapter 1. Relative clauses 13
- Chapter 2. A connectionist account of the acquisition and processing of relative clauses 39
- Chapter 3. Learning from social interaction 61
- Chapter 4. Relative clause acquisition in Hebrew and the learning of constructions 81
- Chapter 5. Acquisition of relative clauses in Finnish 107
- Chapter 6. Learning to produce Quechua relative clauses 141
- Chapter 7. The acquisition of relative clauses in Japanese 173
- Chapter 8. The acquisition of relative clauses in Cantonese and Mandarin 197
- Chapter 9. Structural priming in comprehension of relative clause sentences 227
- Index 243
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- Introduction. The acquisition of relative clauses 1
- Chapter 1. Relative clauses 13
- Chapter 2. A connectionist account of the acquisition and processing of relative clauses 39
- Chapter 3. Learning from social interaction 61
- Chapter 4. Relative clause acquisition in Hebrew and the learning of constructions 81
- Chapter 5. Acquisition of relative clauses in Finnish 107
- Chapter 6. Learning to produce Quechua relative clauses 141
- Chapter 7. The acquisition of relative clauses in Japanese 173
- Chapter 8. The acquisition of relative clauses in Cantonese and Mandarin 197
- Chapter 9. Structural priming in comprehension of relative clause sentences 227
- Index 243
