Reflexives and pronouns in sentence processing : an experimental study of children and adults
Research investigating how adults make use of structural and non-structural information during online processing of reflexives and pronouns has yielded conflicting results. Some have concluded that structural constraints are privileged in being applied early in processing (Nicol & Swinney, 1989; Sturt, 2003), while others maintain that non-structural factors such as discourse prominence can also influence early processing (Badecker & Straub, 2002). While results from the few studies on children seem to support the former view (McKee, Nicol, & McDaniel, 1993; Love, Walenski, & Swinney, 2009), children's processing of reflexives and pronouns has not been studied using a continuous time- sensitive measure. Similarly, a number of studies have examined adults' on line processing of cataphoric pronouns (Cowart& Cairns, 1987; van Gompel & Liversedge, 2003; Kazanina, Lau, Lieberman, Yoshida, & Phillips, 2007), but this has not yet been investigated in children. The aim of this thesis was to fill this gap in the literature by systematically comparing adults' and children's performance on reflexives, forwards pronouns and cataphoric pronouns, using the time-sensitive method of eye-tracking-while-listening. It ,was found
Clackson, Kaili
Reflexives and pronouns in sentence processing : an experimental study of children and adults. Research investigating how adults make use of structural and non-structural information during online processing of reflexives and pronouns has yielded conflicting results. Some have concluded that structural constraints are privileged in being applied early in processing (Nicol & Swinney, 1989; Sturt, 2003), while others maintain that non-structural factors such as discourse prominence can also influence early processing (Badecker & Straub, 2002). While results from the few studies on children seem to support the former view (McKee, Nicol, & McDaniel, 1993; Love, Walenski, & Swinney, 2009), children's processing of reflexives and pronouns has not been studied using a continuous time- sensitive measure. Similarly, a number of studies have examined adults' on line processing of cataphoric pronouns (Cowart& Cairns, 1987; van Gompel & Liversedge, 2003; Kazanina, Lau, Lieberman, Yoshida, & Phillips, 2007), but this has not yet been investigated in children. The aim of this thesis was to fill this gap in the literature by systematically comparing adults' and children's performance on reflexives, forwards pronouns and cataphoric pronouns, using the time-sensitive method of eye-tracking-while-listening. It ,was found
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