scholarly journals Unifying structural priming effects on syntactic choices and timing of sentence generation

2016 ◽  
Vol 91 ◽  
pp. 59-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrien Segaert ◽  
Linda Wheeldon ◽  
Peter Hagoort
Keyword(s):  
Structural Priming ◽  
Sentence Generation ◽  
Priming Effects

The role of constituent order and level of embedding in cross-linguistic structural priming

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
GUNNAR JACOB ◽  
KALLIOPI KATSIKA ◽  
NEILOUFAR FAMILY ◽  
SHANLEY E. M. ALLEN
Keyword(s):  
Priming Effect ◽  
Target Sentence ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Tree Representation ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Hierarchical Tree ◽  
Constituent Order

In two cross-linguistic priming experiments with native German speakers of L2 English, we investigated the role of constituent order and level of embedding in cross-linguistic structural priming. In both experiments, significant priming effects emerged only if prime and target were similar with regard to constituent order and also situated on the same level of embedding. We discuss our results on the basis of two current theoretical accounts of cross-linguistic priming, and conclude that neither an account based on combinatorial nodes nor an account assuming that constituent order is directly responsible for the priming effect can fully explain our data pattern. We suggest an account that explains cross-linguistic priming through a hierarchical tree representation. This representation is computed during processing of the prime, and can influence the formulation of a target sentence only when the structural features specified in it are grammatically correct in the target sentence.

scholarly journals Structural Priming Is Supported By Different Components Of Non-Declarative Memory: Evidence From Priming Across The Lifespan

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelien Heyselaar ◽  
Linda Wheeldon ◽  
Katrien Segaert
Keyword(s):  
Declarative Memory ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Experimental Session ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Conceptual Memory ◽  
And Performance

AbstractStructural priming is the tendency to repeat syntactic structure across sentences and can be divided into short-term (prime to immediately following target) and long-term (across an experimental session) components. This study investigates how non-declarative memory could support both the transient, short-term and the persistent, long-term structural priming effects commonly seen in the literature. We propose that these characteristics are supported by different subcomponents of non-declarative memory: Perceptual and conceptual non-declarative memory respectively. Previous studies have suggested that these subcomponents age differently, with only conceptual memory showing age-related decline. By investigating how different components of structural priming vary across the lifespan, we aim to elucidate how non-declarative memory supports two seemingly different components of structural priming. In 167 participants ranging between 20 and 85 years old, we find no change in short-term priming magnitude and performance on perceptual tasks, whereas both long-term priming and conceptual memory vary with age. We suggest therefore that the two seemingly different components of structural priming are supported by different components of non-declarative memory. These findings have important implications for theoretical accounts of structural priming.

scholarly journals Structural priming persists for one month in young adults

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelien Heyselaar ◽  
Katrien Segaert
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Implicit Learning ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Learning Theories ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Age Related

Implicit learning theories suggest that we update syntactic knowledge based on prior experience (e.g., (Chang et al., 2006). To determine the limits of the extent to which implicit learning can influence syntactic processing, we investigated whether structural priming effects persist up to one month post-exposure, and whether they persist less long in healthy older (compared to younger) adults. We conducted a longitudinal experiment with three sessions: Session A, session B (one week after A), and session C (four weeks after B). For young adults, we found passive priming effects to persist and accumulate across sessions (one week and four weeks). However, for older adults the effects persisted for one week but not four. This suggests that for young adults, who unlike older adults experience no age-related decline in implicit memory, the limit to the duration of structural priming persistence is longer than four weeks. In a second longitudinal experiment with two sessions one-week apart we found that priming in session A affected syntactic processing in a different, independent task in session B, both for young and older adults. Experiment 2 suggests that implicit persistence of the learned syntax is not limited to a specific context or task. Together, our findings give insight into how structural priming can contribute to language change throughout the lifespan, showing that implicit learning is a pervasive and robust mechanism that contributes to syntactic processing.

How multiple sources of experience influence bilingual syntactic choice: Immediate and cumulative cross-language effects of structural priming, verb bias, and language dominance

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 710-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
GERRIT JAN KOOTSTRA ◽  
WILLEMIJN J. DOEDENS
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Language Dominance ◽  
Verb Bias ◽  
Syntactic Information ◽  
Language Effects ◽  
Cross Language ◽  
L1 And L2

We investigated trial-by-trial and cumulative cross-language effects of structural priming and verb bias on L1 and L2 dative syntactic choices (e.g., ‘boy-give-ball-to-girl’ [PO structure] vs. ‘boy-give-girl-ball’ [DO structure]). Dutch-dominant Dutch–English bilinguals listened to a prime sentence with a DO or PO structure in one language and then described a picture in the other language, using verbs that varied in their bias towards the PO or DO structure in Dutch and English. We found effects of cross-language structural priming and verb bias on syntactic choice, some of which were influenced by the participants’ language dominance. In addition, we found cumulative forms of structural priming, leading to cross-language priming effects between experimental blocks. We discuss these results in terms of models on the representation of lexical and syntactic information in bilinguals, and point out how the observed effects can be related to experience-based mechanisms of language use and contact-induced language change.

Using structural priming to test links between constructions: English caused-motion and resultative sentences inhibit each other

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Ungerer
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Effect ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Similar Magnitude ◽  
Grammatical Knowledge ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Slowing Down ◽  
Subsequent Processing ◽  
Cognitive Linguistic

Abstract Cognitive-linguistic theories commonly model speakers’ grammatical knowledge as a network of constructions related by a variety of associative links. The present study proposes that structural priming can provide psycholinguistic evidence of such links, and crucially, that the method can be extended to non-alternating constructions (i.e., constructions that differ in both form and meaning). In a comprehension priming experiment using the “maze” variant of self-paced reading, English caused-motion sentences were found to have an inhibitory effect by slowing down participants’ subsequent processing of resultatives, and vice versa, providing evidence that speakers store distinct but related representations for the constructions. Priming effects of a similar magnitude emerged in both directions, suggesting that the constructions are bidirectionally related, while not supporting previous claims about a metaphorical asymmetry between the patterns. Moreover, priming was only marginally affected when prime and target contained the same rather than different verbs, demonstrating that cross-constructional priming in comprehension can be observed in the absence of a “lexical boost”. The results raise questions for follow-up research on the role of inhibition in the grammatical network and the extension of structural priming to other types of constructional links.

scholarly journals Role of structural priming in contact-induced change: Subject pronoun expression in L1 Turkish by Turkish-Dutch bilinguals

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hande Sodacı ◽  
Ad Backus ◽  
Gerrit Jan Kootstra
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Pronoun Use ◽  
Subject Pronoun ◽  
Null Pronoun ◽  
Cross Language

Subject pronoun expression has been extensively studied for effects of language contact, but it is fairly recent that these studies started including cross-language structural priming paradigms. The earlier studies on subject pronoun use in Turkish spoken by Turkish-Dutch bilinguals did not find any difference from monolingual speakers of Turkish but reported a few instances of unconventional use of subject pronouns, indicating the influence of Dutch on Turkish. This study aimed to determine whether structural priming may have a part in the unconventional variation observed in subject pronoun use in Turkish in contact with Dutch. Twenty-eight Turkish-Dutch bilinguals listened to short stories and responded to subsequently presented instructive sentences. These sentences were prime sentences, which contained either an overt or a null subject pronoun. Priming effects were investigated in monolingual and bilingual settings by presenting the stories in Turkish in the former and in Dutch in the latter. Results yielded a higher likelihood of using overt subject pronouns in the bilingual than in the monolingual setting following a prime sentence with an overt rather than a null pronoun. Our findings, which are based on a structure and a language that have not yet been studied much in relation to structural priming (i.e., subject pronoun use in Turkish), strengthen the empirical basis of how structural priming influences syntactic choices in language contact settings.

scholarly journals Lingering misinterpretation in native and nonnative sentence processing: Evidence from structural priming

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Hiroki Fujita ◽  
Ian Cunnings
Keyword(s):  
Eye Tracking ◽  
Sentence Processing ◽  
Priming Effect ◽  
Target Sentence ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Correct Interpretation ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
L1 And L2 ◽  
Accuracy Rates ◽  
Comprehension Accuracy

Abstract Native (L1) and nonnative (L2) speakers sometimes misinterpret temporarily ambiguous sentences like “When Mary dressed the baby laughed happily.” Recent studies suggest that the initially assigned misinterpretation (“Mary dressed the baby”) may persist even after disambiguation, and that L2 speakers may have particular difficulty discarding initial misinterpretations. The present study investigated whether L2 speakers are more persistent with misinterpretation compared with L1 speakers during sentence processing, using the structural priming and eye tracking while reading tasks. In the experiment, participants read prime followed by target sentences. Reading times revealed that unambiguous but not ambiguous prime sentences facilitated processing of the globally correct interpretation of ambiguous target sentences. However, this priming effect was only observed when the prime and target sentence shared the same verb. Comprehension accuracy rates were not significantly influenced by priming effects but did provide evidence of lingering misinterpretation. We did not find significant L1/L2 differences in either priming effects or persistence of misinterpretation. Together, these results suggest that initially assigned misinterpretations linger in both L1 and L2 readers during sentence processing and that L1 and L2 comprehension priming is strongly lexically mediated.

scholarly journals The development of shared syntax in second language learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT J. HARTSUIKER ◽  
SARAH BERNOLET
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Explicit Memory ◽  
Second Language Learning ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Structural Priming ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Memory Processes ◽  
L1 And L2

According to Hartsuiker et al.'s (2004) shared-syntax account bilinguals share syntactic representations across languages whenever these representations are similar enough. But how does such a system develop in the course of second language (L2) learning? We will review recent work on cross-linguistic structural priming, which considered priming in early second language learners and late second language learners as a function of proficiency. We will then sketch our account of L2 syntactic acquisition. We assume an early phase in which the learner relies on transfer from L1 and imitation, followed by phases in which language- and item-specific syntactic representations are added and in which such representations become increasingly abstract. We argue that structural priming effects in L2 (and between L1 and L2) depend on the structure of this developing network but also on explicit memory processes. We speculate that these memory processes might aid the formation of new representations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document