Transcript Additional slides

Sentence Structure

The two sentence contexts differed in the number of
noun-phrase agreements

Sentences provided only structural information about
verb by using only ‘she & ‘her to identify participants
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There were no direct clues as to the identity of the
subject or object of verb

Nonsense verbs were heard during the “
blank screen” interval:
– preceding first repetition of event
– repeated 9 times during
– between 3 repetitions of each event.
Table 1 - Stimulus events and sentences
Unfamiliar motion events
Stimulus sentences
Participant A pulls B backwards
along a slippery surface by pulling
on B’s backpack.
She stipes (her) over there!
A rolls B toward her on a wheeled
dolly by pulling on a feather boa
tied around B’s feet.
She braffs (her) over there!
A wheels B forward and back in a
red wagon.
She pilks (her) back and forth!
A rotates B on a swivel stool by
pulling on the ends of a scarf
around B’s waist.
She gishes (her) around!
She stipes (her) over there!
She braffs (her) over there!
She pilks (her) back and forth!
She gishes (her) around!
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Depending on which condition the child was
assigned to the experimenter asked either:
“Which one (verb)ed the other…? Point!”
(TRANSITIVE CONDITION)
OR
“Which one (verb)ed…? Point!”
(INTRANSITIVE CONDITION)
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This experiment was also run with adults