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The Reading Signatures of Agreement Attraction.

The Reading Signatures of Agreement Attraction.

Authors :
Lago S
Acuña Fariña C
Meseguer E
Source :
Open mind : discoveries in cognitive science [Open Mind (Camb)] 2021 Nov 01; Vol. 5, pp. 132-153. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Nov 01 (Print Publication: 2021).
Publication Year :
2021

Abstract

The comprehension of subject-verb agreement shows "attraction effects," which reveal that number computations can be derailed by nouns that are grammatically unlicensed to control agreement with a verb. However, previous results are mixed regarding whether attraction affects the processing of grammatical and ungrammatical sentences alike. In a large-sample eye-tracking replication of Lago et al. (2015), we support this "grammaticality asymmetry" by showing that the reading profiles associated with attraction depend on sentence grammaticality. In ungrammatical sentences, attraction affected both fixation durations and regressive eye-movements at the critical disagreeing verb. Meanwhile, both grammatical and ungrammatical sentences showed effects of the attractor noun number prior to the verb, in the first- and second-pass reading of the subject phrase. This contrast suggests that attraction effects in comprehension have at least two different sources: the first reflects verb-triggered processes that operate mainly in ungrammatical sentences. The second source reflects difficulties in the encoding of the subject phrase, which disturb comprehension in both grammatical and ungrammatical sentences.<br />Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.<br /> (© 2021 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
2470-2986
Volume :
5
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Open mind : discoveries in cognitive science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
35024528
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1162/opmi_a_00047