Reading involves the dynamic construction of a mental model corresponding to the situation described in a text. This representation draws on the semantic and grammatical content of the text and also involves inferences for unstated information and the sequencing of events in time. In the current study, an eye-tracking methodology was used to explore the critical role of grammatical aspect in this process. The results showed that, following an event expressed in imperfective aspect, the reading of a necessarily later event was slowed compared to when the earlier event was expressed in perfective aspect. However, the effect depended on world knowledge—when the first event was typically of short duration, it did not evoke an "ongoing" interpretation to the same degree compared to when it was of long duration. The results highlight comprehenders' use of world knowledge and subtle grammatical cues in the representation of event information during on-line reading.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/25858 |
| Date | 12 January 2011 |
| Creators | Mozuraitis, Mindaugas |
| Contributors | Daneman, Meredyth, Chambers, Craig |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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