Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to investigate active memory processes during reading. Subjects read two-clause sentences one word at a time at a self-paced rate. Following each sentence a probe word was presented; subjects were to decide if this word occurred in the sentence they had just read. The first experiment examined clausal effects during reading. Reaction times to items from the final clause were shorter than those to items from a previous clause even when the same number of words intervened. The second experiment used the clause effect to address the issue of proniminal reference. Results indicated that a pronoun in the final clause activated the meaning of its antecedent, thus demonstrating that the method is sensitive to both surface and meaning codes in active memory.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Aaronson, D., &Scarborough, H. S. Performance theories for sentence coding: Some quantitative evidence.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1976,2, 56–70.
Baddeley, A. D., &Hitch, G. Working memory. In G. H. Bower (Ed.),The psychology of learning and motivation (Vol. 8). New York: Academic Press, 1974.
Battig, W. F., &Montague, W. E. Category norms for verbal items in 56 categories: A replication and extension of the Connecticut category norms.Journal of Experimental Psychology Monograph, 1969,80(3, Pt. 2).
Bever, T. G., Lackner, J. R., &Kirk, R. The underlying structures of sentences are the primary units of immediate speech processing.Perception & Psychophysics, 1969,5, 225–231.
Caplan, D. Clause boundaries and recognition latencies for words in sentences.Perception & Psychophysics, 1972,12, 73–76.
Clark, H. H., &Sengul, C. J. In search of referents for nouns and pronouns.Memory & Cognition, 1979,7, 35–41.
Fodor, J. A., &Bever, T. G. The psychological reality of linguistic segments.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1965,4, 414–420.
Fodor, J. A., Bever, T. G., &Garrett, M. F.The psychology of language. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974.
Jarvella, R. J. Syntactic processing of connected speech.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1971,10, 409–416.
Kennedy, A. Contextual effects in reading and recognition. In A. Kennedy & A. Wilkes (Eds.),Studies in long term memory. New York: Wiley, 1975.
Levin, H., &Kaplan, E. L. Grammatical structure in reading. In H. Levin & J. P. Williams (Eds.),Basic studies on reading. New York: Basic Books, 1970.
Norman, D. A., &Rumeliiart, D. E.Explorations in cognition. San Francisco: Freeman, 1975.
Patberg, J. P., &Yonas, A. The effects of the reader’s skill and the difficulty of the text on the perceptual span in reading.Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 1978,4, 545–552.
Posner, M. I.Cognition: An introduction. Glenview, Ill: Scott, Foresman, 1973.
Posner, M. I., Lewis, J. L., &Conrad, C. Component processes in reading: A performance analysis. In J. Kavanaugh & I. Mattigly (Eds.),Language by ear and by eye. Cambridge, Mass: M.I.T. Press, 1972.
Ratcliff, R., &McKoon, G. Priming in item recognition: Evidence for the propositional structure of sentences.Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 1978,17, 403–417.
Rayner, K., &McConkie, G. W. Perceptual processes in reading: The perceptual spans. In A. Reber & D. Scarborough (Eds.),Toward a psychology of reading. Hillsdale, N.J: Erlbaum, 1977.
Springston, V. J.Some cognitive aspects of presupposed coreferential anaphora. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1975.
Winograd, T.Understanding natural language. New York: Academic Press, 1972.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This paper is based on a thesis submitted to the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree. Portions of this research were presented at the meeting of the Western Psychological Asseciation in San Diego, Cafifornia, on April 6, 1979.
This work was supported by Grant NIE-G-77-0008 from the National Institute of Education while the author held Public Health Service Traineeship 5-T01-GM02165 granted to the University of Oregon.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Chang, F.R. Active memory processes in visual sentence comprehension: Clause effects and pronominal reference. Memory & Cognition 8, 58–64 (1980). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197552
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197552