Semantic Influences on Thematic Role Assignment: Evidence from Normals and Aphasics

We report two studies that examine the role of semantic influences in the assignment of thematic roles. Semantic factors were manipulated by contrasting sentences in which one noun argument was a plausible filler of only one thematic role (e.g., the painting inThe artist disliked the painting) with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain and language 1998-04, Vol.62 (2), p.255-297
Main Authors: Saffran, Eleanor M., Schwartz, Myrna F., Linebarger, Marcia C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Aphasia - diagnosis
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Disorders of higher nervous function. Focal brain diseases. Central vestibular syndrome and deafness. Brain stem syndromes
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hormones and behavior
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes)
Neurology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Reaction Time
Semantics
Speech - physiology
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Summary:We report two studies that examine the role of semantic influences in the assignment of thematic roles. Semantic factors were manipulated by contrasting sentences in which one noun argument was a plausible filler of only one thematic role (e.g., the painting inThe artist disliked the painting) with sentences in which both noun arguments were plausible fillers of both thematic roles (e.g.,The robin ate the insect). Subjects were required to make plausibility judgments to sentences presented auditorily. Experiment 1 examined RTs of normal subjects on the plausibility judgment task. In Experiment 2, the same sentences were presented to aphasic patients identified as “asyntactic” comprehenders. In Experiment 1, RTs were speeded by semantic constraints on thematic assignment, particularly when the role-constrained NP occurred early in the sentence (as inThe painting was disliked by the artist). The aphasic performance patterns in Experiment 2 paralleled those of normal subjects, but in greatly exaggerated fashion. The patients exhibited high error rates on sentences where semantic constraints conflicted with the syntactically based assignments, even on sentences with canonical (S-V-O) word order (e.g., #The deer shot the hunter).
ISSN:0093-934X
1090-2155
DOI:10.1006/brln.1997.1918