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Poirier J, Walenski M, Shapiro LP. The role of parallelism in the real-time processing of anaphora. Lang Cogn Process. 2012;27(6):868-886doi: 10.1080/01690965.2011.601623.
Poirier, J., Walenski, M., & Shapiro, L. P. (2012). The role of parallelism in the real-time processing of anaphora. Language and cognitive processes, 27(6), 868-886. https://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2011.601623
Poirier, Josée, et al. "The role of parallelism in the real-time processing of anaphora." Language and cognitive processes vol. 27,6 (2012): 868-886. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/01690965.2011.601623
Poirier J, Walenski M, Shapiro LP. The role of parallelism in the real-time processing of anaphora. Lang Cogn Process. 2012 Jun 01;27(6):868-886. doi: 10.1080/01690965.2011.601623. PMID: 23741080; PMCID: PMC3670214.
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Lang Cogn Process. 2012 Jun 01;27(6):868-886. doi: 10.1080/01690965.2011.601623.

The role of parallelism in the real-time processing of anaphora.

Language and cognitive processes

Josée Poirier, Matthew Walenski, Lewis P Shapiro

Affiliations

  1. Joint Doctoral Program in Language and Communicative Disorders, San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego, CA, USA ; Laboratoire de Neurosciences Fonctionnelles et Pathologies, CNRS FRE 3291, Université de Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France.

PMID: 23741080 PMCID: PMC3670214 DOI: 10.1080/01690965.2011.601623

Abstract

Parallelism effects refer to the facilitated processing of a target structure when it follows a similar, parallel structure. In coordination, a parallelism-related conjunction triggers the expectation that a second conjunct with the same structure as the first conjunct should occur. It has been proposed that parallelism effects reflect the use of the first structure as a template that guides the processing of the second. In this study, we examined the role of parallelism in real-time anaphora resolution by charting activation patterns in coordinated constructions containing anaphora, Verb-Phrase Ellipsis (VPE) and Noun-Phrase Traces (NP-traces). Specifically, we hypothesised that an expectation of parallelism would incite the parser to assume a structure similar to the first conjunct in the second, anaphora-containing conjunct. The speculation of a similar structure would result in early postulation of covert anaphora. Experiment 1 confirms that following a parallelism-related conjunction, first-conjunct material is activated in the second conjunct. Experiment 2 reveals that an NP-trace in the second conjunct is posited immediately where licensed, which is earlier than previously reported in the literature. In light of our findings, we propose an intricate relation between structural expectations and anaphor resolution.

Keywords: Anaphora; Ellipsis; Parallelism; Unaccusative verbs

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