Chapter 13: Language Comprehension
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Bridging (or backward) inference
Book definition: “In sentence comprehension, an inference that connects the sentence to the prior context. Contrast with elaborative inference. (p. 329)”
Center-embedded sentences
Book definition: “A sentence in which one clause is embedded within another; for example, ‘The boy whom the girl liked was sick’. (p. 319)”
Constituent
Book definition: “A subpattern that corresponds to a basic phrase, or unit, in a sentence’s surface structure. (p. 315)”
Elaborative (or forward) inference
Book definition: “In sentence comprehension, an inference that connects a text to possible material not yet asserted. Contrast with bridging (or backward) inference. (p. 329)”
Garden-path sentence
Book definition: “A sentence with a transient ambiguity that causes us to make the wrong interpretation initially and then have to correct ourselves. (p. 323)”
Immediacy of interpretation
Book definition: “The principle of language processing stating that people commit to an interpretation of a word and its role in a sentence as soon as they process the word. (p. 317)”
Interactive processing
Book definition: “The position that semantic and syntactic cues are simultaneously brought to bear in interpreting a sentence. Contrast with modularity. (p. 326)”
N400
Book definition: “A negativity in the event-related potential (ERP) at about 400 ms after the processing of a semantically difficult word. (p. 322)”
P600
Book definition: “A positivity in the event-related potential (ERP) at about 600 ms after the processing of a syntactically difficult word. (p. 322)”
Parsing
Book definition: “The process by which the words in a linguistic message are transformed into a mental representation of their combined meaning. (p. 313)”
Principle of minimal attachment
Book definition: “A rule of parsing that interprets a sentence in a way that results in minimal complication of the phrase structure. (p. 324)”
Situational model
Book definition: “A representation of the events and situations described in a text. (p. 334)”
Transient ambiguity
Book definition: “A temporary ambiguity within a sentence that is resolved by the end of the sentence. (p. 323)”
Utilization
Book definition: “The process by which language comprehenders respond to the meaning of a linguistic message. (p. 313)”