PRONOUN RESOLUTION IN TWO-CLAUSE SENTENCES.
Item
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Title
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PRONOUN RESOLUTION IN TWO-CLAUSE SENTENCES.
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Identifier
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AAI8614690
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identifier
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8614690
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Creator
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MATTHEWS, ALISON.
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Contributor
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Martin Chodorow
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Date
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1986
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Language, Linguistics
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Abstract
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This dissertation examines the resolution of anaphoric pronoun references in two-clause sentences with the pronoun in the second clause and potential antecedents in the first. Evidence suggests that pronoun resolution involves a search of short-term memory. Experiments were performed to evaluate the predictions of linear, hierarchical, and parallel function searches in a word-by-word reading comprehension task. The results of Experiment 1 showed that when gender cues are present, pronoun coreference is resolved more quickly than when the cues are absent and in their absence, there were strong effects of left-right position of the antecedent on comprehension time. Experiment 2 varied the linear position and syntactic level of embedding of the antecedents in order to test the linear and hierarchical search models. Results were most consistent with a left-to-right, top-down breadth-first search such as that proposed by Hobbs (1978). Main subordinate clause order had no effect. Experiment 3 tested the predictions of the parallel function model using pronouns that had the same grammatical role as the contextually appropriate antecedent or a different grammatical role. Results indicated no significant effect of parallel function, although the positional differences found in Experiments 1 and 2 were once again obtained. The failure to find an effect of pronoun position suggests that the search may begin at the topmost node of the preceding clause rather than at the pronoun, requiring a modification of Hobb's model. Experiment 4 examined the psychological mechanism underlying the search for antecedents. Work by Holmes and Forster (1979) and Mehler et al (1978) indicate that the memory strength of adjectives and adverbs in a sentence may be related to their position and level of embedding. Experiment 4 used a rapid serial visual presentation task to measure memory for nouns as a function of these variables. Results for nouns showed significant effects of position and level of probability of recall. This suggests that the left-to-right, top-down breadth-first search order may simply reflect the memory strength of the noun phrases which are potential antecedents for an anaphoric pronoun.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
