Memory availability and referential access.
Most theories of coreference specify linguistic factors that modulate antecedent accessibility in memory; however, whether non-linguistic factors also affect coreferential access is unknown. Here we examined the impact of a non-linguistic generation task (letter transposition) on therepeated-name penalty, a processing difficulty observed when coreferential repeated names refer to syntactically prominent (and thus more accessible) antecedents. In Experiment 1, generation improved online (event-related potentials) and offline (recognition memory) accessibility of names in word lists. In Experiment 2, we manipulated generation and syntactic prominence of antecedent names in sentences; both improved online and offline accessibility, but only syntactic prominence elicited a repeated-name penalty. Our results have three important implications: first, the form of a referential expression interacts with an antecedent's status in the discourse model during coreference; second, availability in memory and referential accessibility are separable; and finally, theories of coreference must better integrate known properties of the human memory system.
Haskins Laboratories, University of California, Davis ; Department of Psychology and Center for Mind & Brain, University of California, Davis.
Clinton L
CL
Johns
Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Peter C
PC
Gordon
Department of Psychology and Center for Mind & Brain, University of California, Davis ; Department of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, England.
Debra L
DL
Long
Department of Psychology and Center for Mind & Brain, University of California, Davis.
Tamara Y
TY
Swaab