G4) Processing sentences with local ambiguities

Tasks:

• Write out all the test sentences used in the self-paced reading experiment under http://www.intro2psycholing.net/experiments/sentence_processing/self_paced/selfpaced_index.php and analyse them.
• Which of the sentences do you think belong to the two sets of 12 test items involving ambiguous items and being analysed here? Why does the experiment include filler sentences? How many are they and how are they distributed?
• Get a few fellow students with good competence in English to carry out the experiment for you without informing them about its purpose.
• Note down the results the program provides and compare them to the results described at http://www.intro2psycholing.net/resources/experiments/selfpaced.php.

Notes:

• In the online experiment, instead of the arrow (>) you have to press the full stop (.) on a German keyboard.
• If you do not get the expected results, a reason may be that reaction time experiments are subject to many distorting factors.
• Which problems did you notice with the experiment? What could an experimenter do to prevent these from arising and to obtain undistorted results?

Source:

Companion website of: Warren, Paul (2013) Introducing Psycholinguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://www.intro2psycholing.net/index.php