Four experiments investigated how verb-specific lexical information is used in resolving the noun phrase complement/tensed sentence complement ambiguity, extending prior research (Ferreira & Henderson, 1990; Holmes, Stowe, & Cupples, 1989; Trueswell, Tannenhaus, & Kello, 1993). Predictions from the Constraint Satisfaction Approach (MacDonald, 1994; MacDonald, Pearlmutter, & Seidenberg, 1994a; 1994b; Tannenhaus & Trueswell, 1994; Trueswell, Tannenhaus, & Kello, 1993) and the Lexical Filtering Proposal (Clifton, Speer, & Abney, 1991; Ferreira & Henderson, 1990; 1991; Frazier, 1987; Frazier & Clifton, 1989) were contrasted. The former approach assumes that lexical information is used to guide the analysis of syntactically ambiguous phrases, predicting that comparable effects of verb bias should be observed for ambiguous versus unambiguous tensed sentence complements as for sentences containing temporarily ambiguous noun phrase complements and for sentences containing unambiguous tensed sentence complements. The latter proposal, an extension of the Garden Path Model (Frazier, 1978; Frazier & Fodor, 1978; Frazier, & Rayner, 1982), assumes that lexical information may be used when it becomes available; however, the analysis of syntactically ambiguous phrases is not delayed until lexical information becomes available, but instead is made in accordance with the syntactic parsing principles Minimal Attachment and Late Closure. Therefore, larger effects of verb bias are predicted for ambiguous versus unambiguous tensed sentence complements than for sentences containing temporarily ambiguous noun phrase complements or for sentences containing unambiguous tensed sentence complements. In Experiments 1-3, two self-paced reading methods (phrase by phrase and word by word presentation) and eye tracking were used to compare reading time on sentences containing ambiguous and unambiguous tensed sentence complements, containing either short or long ambiguous noun phrases, preceded by either NP-biased verbs, i.e., verbs generally occurring most frequently with noun phrase complements, or S-biased verbs, i.e., verbs generally occurring most frequently with tensed sentence complements. In Experiment 4, eye tracking was used to compare reading time on sentences containing temporarily ambiguous tensed sentence complements, temporarily ambiguous noun phrase complements, and unambiguous tensed sentence complements, containing either short or long ambiguous noun phrases, preceded by either NP-biased or S-biased verbs. Results from these four experiments are most compatible with the Lexical Filtering Proposal. Implications for models of human sentence processing are discussed.

To investigate the cognitive processes involved in language comprehension, this research examined the role of naturally occurring mental imagery in facilitating college students' understanding of lengthy narrative prose. During hour-long individual interviews, 40 undergraduates read silently or listened to a 1700 word short story. Subjects were asked to free recall as much as they could of the story and to answer higher level comprehension questions which involved verbal reasoning strategies such as inference and drawing conclusions regarding character development and motivation, theme, plot, and personal relevance. Subjects were also asked to describe the mental images they experienced, if any, and to rate the vividness of their mental images. Two instruments designed for this study, the Prose Comprehension Interview and the Mental Imagery Interview, were used to elicit subjects' oral self-reports on their comprehension and use of mental imagery. All subjects reported the existence of mental images, and the number of reported images was related significantly to literal comprehension, as measured by the number of memories reported on the free recall task. The number of reported images was not related significantly to subject responses on higher level comprehension questions. Although listeners reported significantly more images than readers, there was no significant difference between the comprehension of readers and listeners, at either the literal level or the higher levels of comprehension. A content analysis of the images reported by good comprehenders (the 7 top scoring subjects) and poor comprehenders (the 7 bottom scoring subjects) revealed qualitatively, as well as quantitatively different images between the two groups. Good comprehenders not only reported more images, but they also reported abstract, inferential, and objective images more often than did the poor comprehenders, who reported concrete, literal, and subjective images more often. Good comprehenders appeared to distinguish themselves from poor comprehenders by their ability to use their images to reason inferentially, draw conclusions, and make appropriate judgments. The findings of this study suggest that it is not simply the existence and frequency of mental images that facilitate reading and listening comprehension. It appears, instead, that the quality of our mental images, along with the way we reason and make use of our images, also contribute to our comprehension of the written and spoken word.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of participation in a cross-age tutoring program on fourth and fifth grade English as a second language (ESL) students. The sixteen intermediate ESL students tutored first grade and kindergarten students in reading two days a week, for twenty minutes over a nineteen week period. It was hypothesized that tutors would improve their attitudes toward school and toward reading, that their perceptions of control would increase in the area of self control, and that they would make greater gains in reading achievement than other ESL students in their school. Tutors were interviewed to ascertain their attitudes toward school and toward school and toward reading. Classroom teachers completed surveys assessing their perceptions of the tutors' attitudes toward school and toward reading. These measures and The Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control were administered in both the fall and spring. The district annual achievement test was used to measure gains in reading achievement. The tutors in the study made gains in their perceptions of self control in the cognitive domain. Their attitudes toward reading improved, also. There was no change in the students' perceptions of control in the social domain. Their attitudes toward school improved, but the gain was not statistically significant. The students did not make greater gains in reading achievement than the control greater gains in reading achievement.

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