Yang Fang, Mo Lun, Louwerse Max M
University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, USA.
J Psycholinguist Res. 2013 Jun;42(3):227-37. doi: 10.1007/s10936-012-9215-5.
An eye tracking study investigated the effects of local and global discourse context on the processing of subject and object relative clauses, whereby the contexts favored either a subject relative clause interpretation or an object relative clause interpretation. The fixation data replicated previous studies showing that object relative clause sentences were more difficult to process than subject relative sentences. Crucially, however, the reading difficulty asymmetry between subject and object relative clause sentences disappeared when the sentences were presented with a local or a global discourse context that favored the objects in the object relative clauses. These findings demonstrate that the evidence for a syntax-based account of sentence processing is found when sentences are presented in isolation. However, if sentences are placed more naturally, in context, discourse factors outweigh the initial structural assignment.
一项眼动追踪研究调查了局部和整体语篇语境对主语关系从句和宾语关系从句加工的影响，其中语境要么有利于主语关系从句的解释，要么有利于宾语关系从句的解释。注视数据重复了先前的研究，表明宾语关系从句句子比主语关系从句句子更难加工。然而，至关重要的是，当句子在有利于宾语关系从句中宾语的局部或整体语篇语境中呈现时，主语和宾语关系从句句子之间的阅读难度不对称消失了。这些发现表明，当句子单独呈现时，会找到基于句法的句子加工解释的证据。然而，如果句子更自然地置于语境中，语篇因素就会超过最初的结构分配。
