The interaction of grammatically distinct agreement dependencies in predictive processing

Abstract

Previous research has found that comprehenders sometimes predict information that is grammatically unlicensed by sentence constraints. An open question is why such grammatically unlicensed predictions occur. We examined the possibility that unlicensed predictions arise in situations of information conflict, for instance when comprehenders try to predict upcoming words while simultaneously building dependencies with previously encountered elements in memory. German possessive pronouns are a good testing ground for this hypothesis because they encode two grammatically distinct agreement dependencies: a retrospective one between the possessive and its previously mentioned referent, and a prospective one between the possessive and its following nominal head. In two visual world eye-tracking experiments, we estimated the onset of predictive effects in participants' fixations. The results showed that the retrospective dependency affected resolution of the prospective dependency by shifting the onset of predictive effects. We attribute this effect to an interaction between predictive and memory retrieval processes.

Prediction advantage as retrieval interference: an ACT-R model of processing possessive pronouns

“…Thus, German possessives provide a good test case to examine whether retrieval and prediction mechanisms interact during sentence processing. Stone et al (2021) addressed this question in a visual world eye-tracking study and reported an interaction between these mechanisms: Participants predicted the upcoming possessum noun faster when the possessum and possessor matched in gender than when they mismatched, i.e., a prediction advantage. Here, we provide an explanation of this prediction advantage by modeling the eye-tracking experiments of Stone et al (2021).…”

“…Stone et al (2021) addressed this question in a visual world eye-tracking study and reported an interaction between these mechanisms: Participants predicted the upcoming possessum noun faster when the possessum and possessor matched in gender than when they mismatched, i.e., a prediction advantage. Here, we provide an explanation of this prediction advantage by modeling the eye-tracking experiments of Stone et al (2021). Our model uses the sentence processing mechanism in the CBR theory and the principles of ACT-R. By doing this, the model extends the CBR architecture and further proposes that the prediction advantage is due to similaritybased interference during the antecedent retrieval process.…”

“…Data: Stone et al (2021), Experiment 2 Stone et al (2021) reported two visual world eye tracking studies. We first describe and model the second experiment (Experiment 2), and then extend the model to the first experiment (Experiment 1).…”

“…Next, we illustrate a model of the two experiments described in Stone et al (2021). The model is an extension of the sentence processing mechanism from CBR that is tailored to the task of selecting the target object on screen after processing an input sentence.…”

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We propose a retrieval interference-based explanation of a prediction advantage effect observed in Stone et al (2021). They reported two dual-task eye-tracking experiments in which participants listened to instructions involving German possessive pronouns, e.g.

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