A fundamental question in psycholinguistic theory is whether equivalent success in sentence comprehension may come about by different underlying operations. Of special interest is whether adult aging, especially when accompanied by reduced hearing acuity, may shift the balance of reliance on formal syntax vs. plausibility in determining sentence meaning. In two experiments participants were asked to identify the thematic roles in grammatical sentences that contained either plausible or implausible semantic relations. Comprehension of sentence meanings was indexed by the ability to correctly name the agent or the recipient of an action represented in the sentence. In Experiment 1 young and older adults’ comprehension was tested for plausible and implausible sentences with the meaning expressed with either an active-declarative or a passive syntactic form. In Experiment 2 comprehension performance was examined for young adults with age-normal hearing, older adults with good hearing acuity, and age-matched older adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss for plausible or implausible sentences with meaning expressed with either a subject-relative (SR) or an object-relative (OR) syntactic structure. Experiment 1 showed that the likelihood of interpreting a sentence according to its literal meaning was reduced when that meaning expressed an implausible relationship. Experiment 2 showed that this likelihood was further decreased for OR as compared to SR sentences, and especially so for older adults whose hearing impairment added to the perceptual challenge. Experiment 2 also showed that working memory capacity as measured with a letter-number sequencing task contributed to the likelihood that listeners would base their comprehension responses on the literal syntax even when this processing scheme yielded an implausible meaning. Taken together, the results of both experiments support the postulate that listeners may use more than a single uniform processing strategy for successful sentence comprehension, with the existence of these alternative solutions only revealed when literal syntax and plausibility do not coincide.

In two experiments, we used an interruption-and-recall (IAR) task to explore listeners’ ability to monitor the capacity of working memory as new information arrived in real time. In this task, listeners heard recorded word lists with instructions to interrupt the input at the maximum point that would still allow for perfect recall. Experiment 1 demonstrated that the most commonly selected segment size closely matched participants’ memory span, as measured in a baseline span test. Experiment 2 showed that reducing the sound level of presented word lists to a suprathreshold but effortful listening level disrupted the accuracy of matching selected segment sizes with participants’ memory spans. The results are discussed in terms of whether online capacity monitoring may be subsumed under other, already enumerated working memory executive functions (inhibition, set shifting, and memory updating).

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Social and economic systems worldwide are changing rapidly. These changes are accompanied by an increasing global demand for natural resources, including land, water, minerals, energy sources, food and timber. Today's foremost challenge lies in fi ding the tools not only to address the complexity of these interrelated trends, but also to implement strategies to balance environmental needs with socioeconomic requirements. This volume of State of the Apes contributes to this search by presenting original research and analysis, topical case studies and emerging best practice from a range of key stakeholders to examine the interface between ape conservation and industrial agriculture. In assessing the drivers behind agricultural expansion and land investments, it sheds light on governance challenges and legal frameworks that shape land use.Aimed at policy-makers, industry experts and decision-makers, academics, researchers and NGOs, this volume is designed to inform debate, practice and policy in ways that will help to reconcile the goals of industrial agriculture with those of ape conservation and welfare, and social and economic development.This title is available as an open access eBook via Cambridge Books Online and at www.stateoftheapes.com.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/00ACF92E40EE0314C8570FBC7CE2F971 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 52.183.12.225, on 11 Apr 2019 at 03:55:44, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. State of the Apes Series editors Helga RainerArcus FoundationAlison White Annette Lanjouw Arcus FoundationThe world's primates are among the most endangered of all tropical species. All great ape species -gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo and orangutan -are classified as either Endangered or Critically Endangered. Furthermore, nearly all gibbon species are threatened with extinction. Whilst linkages between ape conservation and economic development, ethics and wider environmental processes have been acknowledged, more needs to be done to integrate biodiversity conservation within broader economic, social and environmental communities if those connections are to be fully realized and addressed.Intended for a broad range of policy-makers, industry experts and decision-makers, academics, researchers, and NGOs, the State of the Apes series will look at the threats to these animals and their habitats within the broader context of economic and community development. Each publication presents a different theme, providing an overview of how these factors interrelate and affect the current and future status of apes, with robust statistics, welfare indicators, official and various other reports providing an objective and rigorous analysis of relevant issues. Other Titles in this SeriesArcus Foundation. 2014 It furthers the University's mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence.www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridg...

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