The Time Course of Verb Processing in Dutch Sentences

The verb has traditionally been characterized as the central element in a sentence. Nevertheless, the exact role of the verb during the actual ongoing comprehension of a sentence as it unfolds in time remains largely unknown. This paper reports the results of two Cross-Modal Lexical Priming (CMLP) e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psycholinguistic research 2009-06, Vol.38 (3), p.181-199
Main Authors: de Goede, Dieuwke, Shapiro, Lewis P., Wester, Femke, Swinney, David A., Bastiaanse, Roelien
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Cognitive Psychology
Comprehension
Cues
Female
Humans
Indo European Languages
Language Patterns
Language Processing
Language Research
Linguistics
Male
Netherlands
Nouns
Psycholinguistics
Psychology
Reaction Time
Reading Comprehension
Semantics
Sentences
Speech
Speech Perception
Task Performance and Analysis
Time Factors
Verbs
Word Order
Young Adult
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Summary:The verb has traditionally been characterized as the central element in a sentence. Nevertheless, the exact role of the verb during the actual ongoing comprehension of a sentence as it unfolds in time remains largely unknown. This paper reports the results of two Cross-Modal Lexical Priming (CMLP) experiments detailing the pattern of verb priming during on-line processing of Dutch sentences. Results are contrasted with data from a third CMLP experiment on priming of nouns in similar sentences. It is demonstrated that the meaning of a matrix verb remains active throughout the entire matrix clause, while this is not the case for the meaning of a subject head noun. Activation of the meaning of the verb only dissipates upon encountering a clear signal as to the start of a new clause.
ISSN:0090-6905
1573-6555
DOI:10.1007/s10936-009-9117-3