Lingering misinterpretations in garden-path sentences: evidence from a paraphrasing task.
Using a forced-choice question-answering paradigm, K. Christianson, A. Hollingworth, J. F. Halliwell, and F. Ferreira (2001) showed that the original misinterpretation built during the analysis of a garden-path sentence lingers even after reanalysis has occurred. However, their methodology has been questioned (R. P. G. van Gompel, M. J. Pickering, J. Pearson, & G. Jacob, 2006). In this study, the authors report evidence for lingering misinterpretations using a paraphrasing methodology, which is less biased than previous methodologies. Using paraphrasing, they found that garden-path sentences are paraphrased according to a partially reanalyzed interpretation. This finding suggests that the arguments put forward by Christianson et al. are correct: Comprehenders' final interpretations of sentences are often incorrect and do not correspond to the initial input. These findings support the theory that comprehension can occur in a "good-enough" manner (F. Ferreira, V. Ferraro, & K. G. D. Bailey, 2002; F. Ferreira & N. Patson, 2007).
Patson
Nikole D
ND
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. ndh11@pitt.edu
Darowski
Emily S
ES
Moon
Nicole
N
Ferreira
Fernanda
F
D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D011932:Reading; D012660:Semantics