Reflexive pronoun resolution in Portuguese: testing similarity-based interference
In the present study, we test whether, during reflexive pronoun resolution, structural cues guide both the language processing system and its underlying memory-based mechanisms or whether the latter might be influenced by non-structural cues as well. Specifically, we explore the inhibitory effects c...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-11-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Language Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/flang.2024.1473948/full |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1846168232598175744 |
|---|---|
| author | Paula Luegi Márcio Leitão Daniela Avila-Varela Daniela Avila-Varela Jéssica Gomes Armanda Costa |
| author_facet | Paula Luegi Márcio Leitão Daniela Avila-Varela Daniela Avila-Varela Jéssica Gomes Armanda Costa |
| author_sort | Paula Luegi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the present study, we test whether, during reflexive pronoun resolution, structural cues guide both the language processing system and its underlying memory-based mechanisms or whether the latter might be influenced by non-structural cues as well. Specifically, we explore the inhibitory effects caused by similarity-based interference, which may lead to disruption during reading, reflected in slower reading times and lower accuracy rates. We contrast conditions in which two referents, the reflexive antecedent, and a distractor, are of the same or different gender in sentences with a gender-unmarked reflexive, a gender-marked reinforcement reflexive form, or both. The different types of reflexive constructions allow us to tease apart encoding and retrieval interference since while encoding interference is expected both with gender-marked and gender-unmarked reflexives, retrieval interference is only expected with gender-marked reflexives. In two self-paced reading experiments, one in European Portuguese (EP) and one in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), we find strong and consistent offline results that point toward encoding similarity-based interference. However, the online results only partially support this perspective: In EP, we find encoding interference in the gender-unmarked reflexive and the post-critical regions, while in BP, the effect is only marginally significant in the post-critical region. In addition, in BP, but not in EP, we consistently observe the effects of the participants' accuracy on reading time, with less accurate readers being consistently faster. Overall, our results show that during reflexive pronoun resolution, memory interference can have a negative impact, both during online (reading time) and offline (comprehension accuracy) language processing. With the present study, we contribute to the literature by expanding the set of the tested languages and with more evidence of encoding similarity-based interference, not driven by retrieval cues, on language processing. Moreover, our results are in line with previous studies replicating an asymmetry between robust offline results and elusive online effects. Also, in line with previous studies, our results show that similarity-based interference in grammatical sentences is subtle and may easily be hidden by the large variability between participants (e.g., mean accuracy). |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-16be5f9dae1748588d042a82741db02e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2813-4605 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Language Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-16be5f9dae1748588d042a82741db02e2024-11-14T04:46:35ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Language Sciences2813-46052024-11-01310.3389/flang.2024.14739481473948Reflexive pronoun resolution in Portuguese: testing similarity-based interferencePaula Luegi0Márcio Leitão1Daniela Avila-Varela2Daniela Avila-Varela3Jéssica Gomes4Armanda Costa5Center of Linguistics, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalLinguistic Processing Laboratory (LaPROL), Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa, BrazilCenter of Linguistics, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalInstitute for the Future of Education, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Bilbao, SpainCenter of Linguistics, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalCenter of Linguistics, School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, PortugalIn the present study, we test whether, during reflexive pronoun resolution, structural cues guide both the language processing system and its underlying memory-based mechanisms or whether the latter might be influenced by non-structural cues as well. Specifically, we explore the inhibitory effects caused by similarity-based interference, which may lead to disruption during reading, reflected in slower reading times and lower accuracy rates. We contrast conditions in which two referents, the reflexive antecedent, and a distractor, are of the same or different gender in sentences with a gender-unmarked reflexive, a gender-marked reinforcement reflexive form, or both. The different types of reflexive constructions allow us to tease apart encoding and retrieval interference since while encoding interference is expected both with gender-marked and gender-unmarked reflexives, retrieval interference is only expected with gender-marked reflexives. In two self-paced reading experiments, one in European Portuguese (EP) and one in Brazilian Portuguese (BP), we find strong and consistent offline results that point toward encoding similarity-based interference. However, the online results only partially support this perspective: In EP, we find encoding interference in the gender-unmarked reflexive and the post-critical regions, while in BP, the effect is only marginally significant in the post-critical region. In addition, in BP, but not in EP, we consistently observe the effects of the participants' accuracy on reading time, with less accurate readers being consistently faster. Overall, our results show that during reflexive pronoun resolution, memory interference can have a negative impact, both during online (reading time) and offline (comprehension accuracy) language processing. With the present study, we contribute to the literature by expanding the set of the tested languages and with more evidence of encoding similarity-based interference, not driven by retrieval cues, on language processing. Moreover, our results are in line with previous studies replicating an asymmetry between robust offline results and elusive online effects. Also, in line with previous studies, our results show that similarity-based interference in grammatical sentences is subtle and may easily be hidden by the large variability between participants (e.g., mean accuracy).https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/flang.2024.1473948/fullreflexive pronoun resolutionPortuguese gender-marked and gender-unmarked reflexivessimilarity-based interferenceBinding Principle Aencoding and retrieval interference |
| spellingShingle | Paula Luegi Márcio Leitão Daniela Avila-Varela Daniela Avila-Varela Jéssica Gomes Armanda Costa Reflexive pronoun resolution in Portuguese: testing similarity-based interference Frontiers in Language Sciences reflexive pronoun resolution Portuguese gender-marked and gender-unmarked reflexives similarity-based interference Binding Principle A encoding and retrieval interference |
| title | Reflexive pronoun resolution in Portuguese: testing similarity-based interference |
| title_full | Reflexive pronoun resolution in Portuguese: testing similarity-based interference |
| title_fullStr | Reflexive pronoun resolution in Portuguese: testing similarity-based interference |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reflexive pronoun resolution in Portuguese: testing similarity-based interference |
| title_short | Reflexive pronoun resolution in Portuguese: testing similarity-based interference |
| title_sort | reflexive pronoun resolution in portuguese testing similarity based interference |
| topic | reflexive pronoun resolution Portuguese gender-marked and gender-unmarked reflexives similarity-based interference Binding Principle A encoding and retrieval interference |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/flang.2024.1473948/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulaluegi reflexivepronounresolutioninportuguesetestingsimilaritybasedinterference AT marcioleitao reflexivepronounresolutioninportuguesetestingsimilaritybasedinterference AT danielaavilavarela reflexivepronounresolutioninportuguesetestingsimilaritybasedinterference AT danielaavilavarela reflexivepronounresolutioninportuguesetestingsimilaritybasedinterference AT jessicagomes reflexivepronounresolutioninportuguesetestingsimilaritybasedinterference AT armandacosta reflexivepronounresolutioninportuguesetestingsimilaritybasedinterference |