Following the Garden Path

Psycholinguistics and the Perception of Language

Field Background

Garden Path Sentences Outline

Thematic Roles Assigned along the Garden Path Linger
(Christianson et al. 2001)

Younger and Older Adults’ “Good-Enough” Interpretations of

Garden-Path Sentences (Christianson et al. 2006)

Research Proposal
Background

• Linguistics – study of language and its structure

• 4 Key Components:
• 1. Phonetics – sound patterns
• 2. Syntax – constituent order
• 3. Lexicon – vocabulary
• 4. Semantics – meaning
Perception of Language

• Psycholinguistics – branch that investigates the processes

behind the development of language and language expertise
• “Can you think without knowing a language?”
• What happens when you hear a word?
• 1.Your brain receives the input in sequential order
• 2. The brain tries to figure out what’s next (Ex. Autofill)
Perception of Language

• Word Distinguishing Task

• Multilingual individuals distinguish words in the languages they
know
• Inhibition occurs in order to convey the correct language
• Ex. Fork
• Language can convey culture and can change our perception of the
world
• Ex. Color (visual perception)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5WWy_0VLS4
Garden Path Sentence

• Garden-Path Sentence - sentence that leads the parser to

create an initial parse that needs reanalysis
• Induces observable delays in processing
• Process of recovery would allow insight into underlying
mechanisms
• Upcoming example
Executive Functioning Task

• While ---- ------- --- ---- ---- -- -- --- ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- Anna ------- --- ---- ---- -- -- --- ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- ---- dressed --- ---- ---- -- -- --- ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- ---- ------- the ---- ---- -- -- --- ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- ---- ------- --- baby ---- -- -- --- ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- ---- ------- --- ---- spit -- -- --- ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- ---- ------- --- ---- ---- up -- --- ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- ---- ------- --- ---- ---- -- on --- ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- ---- ------- --- ---- ---- -- -- the ---

Executive Functioning Task

• ---- ---- ------- --- ---- ---- -- -- --- bed

Garden Path Sentence Example

• PAUSE
• Close your eyes
• I will now ask a question that requires a yes or
no answer. Raise your hand for yes. Keep your
hand down for no.
Garden Path Sentence Example

• Did Anna dress the baby?

Garden Path Sentence Example

• Question: Did Anna dress the baby?

• Y = Incorrect Response
• N = Correct Response
• While Anna dressed(,) the baby spit up on the bed
• the baby = ambiguous noun phrase (ambiguous region)
• spit up = disambiguating verb (disambiguating region)
Garden Path Sentence (cont.)

• Much of the experiments gave evidence of comprehension but not

interpretation
• Comprehension = Understanding objectively
• Interpretation = Understanding subjectively
• Comprehension questions asked in order to see if participants paid
attention
• Ex. While Anna dressed the baby spit up on the bed
• Did the baby spit?
Garden Path Sentence Experiments

• Christianson et al. (2001): Wanted to study interpretation

• What happened to the original, incorrect analysis derived from
the initial parse?
• Is there a reanalysis that does not fit with the general reasoning
argument?
 Christianson et al. 2001 Experiment

• Part 1: Examined interpretation & confidence

• 1(a) – While Bill hunted the deer (that was
brown and graceful) ran into the woods.
• 1(b) – While Bill hunted the deer (that was
brown and graceful) paced in the zoo.
(implausible)
• 1(c) – While Bill hunted the pheasant the deer
(that was brown and graceful) ran into the
woods. (non-GP)
 Christianson et al. 2001 Experiment

• Part 2: Pragmatic inference?

• 2(a) - While Bill hunted (the brown and
graceful deer)/(the deer that was brown
and graceful) ran into the woods.
• 2(b) - (The brown and graceful deer)/(the
deer that was brown and graceful) ran into
the woods while Bill hunted.
 Christianson et al. 2001 Experiment

• Part 3: Change transitive verb (hunt)

with reflexive absolute transitive (RAT)
• Why? Pragmatic inference should not
occur because if the sentence was fully
analyzed correctly, then Anna must be
dressing herself, not the baby.
Christianson et al. 2001 Results

• “Good enough” Sentence Processing

• Evidence against general reasoning argument
• Processor okay with incomplete analysis as long as it makes sense
Christianson et al. (2006)

• Same experimental paradigm but tested different age groups

• Asked if misinterpretation effect increased for older generations
• Evidence points toward decreased cognitive efficiency with age
• (Semantic Interference)
• (Decreased inhibition)
• Results: Neither semantic interference or decreased inhibition was proven
• Age did become a factor with syntactic structure and age invariance does come
into play
Research Proposal

• So far... Research has focused on visual representation of garden-path

sentences
• Recovery and initial parsing has been documented for L1 learners
• I want to use the same experimental paradigm but use auditory cues
along with visual representation
• Will auditory signals help increase processing time?
• Will emphasis on key words help deter the garden-path effect?
• Will this change with L1 vs L2 learners?