Journal article
Meaningfulness Beats Frequency in Multiword Chunk Processing
Cognitive science, Vol.44(10), pp.e12885-n/a
10/01/2020
DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12885
PMID: 32996628
Abstract
Whereas a growing bulk of work has demonstrated that both adults and children are sensitive to frequently occurring word sequences, little is known about the potential role of meaning in the processing of such multiword chunks. Here, we take a first step toward assessing the contribution of meaningfulness in the processing of multiword sequences, using items that varied in chunk meaningfulness. In a phrasal-decision study, we compared reaction times for triads of three-word sequences, corresponding to idiomatic expressions, compositional phrases, and phrasal fragments, while controlling for phrase and substring frequencies. Chunk meaningfulness, as assessed by a separate subjective rating study, was found to speed up decision times for all three types of strings: The more meaningful a multiword sequence was judged to be, the faster it was processed, independently of whether it was idiomatic, compositional in nature, or a phrasal fragment. These results highlight the importance of taking meaning into account when considering the processing of multiword chunks, consistent with predictions of construction-based approaches to language.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Meaningfulness Beats Frequency in Multiword Chunk Processing
- Creators
- Hajnal Jolsvai - Oracle (United States)Stewart M McCauley - University of IowaMorten H Christiansen - Cornell University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Cognitive science, Vol.44(10), pp.e12885-n/a
- DOI
- 10.1111/cogs.12885
- PMID
- 32996628
- NLM abbreviation
- Cogn Sci
- ISSN
- 0364-0213
- eISSN
- 1551-6709
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 17
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/01/2020
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Record Identifier
- 9984258843702771
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