title: Distinguishing discrete and gradient category structure in language: Insights from verb-particle constructions.
abstract: The current work uses memory errors to examine the mental representation of verb-particle constructions (VPCs; e.g., make up the story, cut up the meat). Some evidence suggests that VPCs are represented by a cline in which the relationship between the VPC and its component elements ranges from highly transparent (cut up) to highly idiosyncratic (make up). Other evidence supports a multiple class representation, characterizing VPCs as belonging to discretely separated classes differing in semantic and syntactic structure. We outline a novel paradigm to investigate the representation of VPCs in which we elicit illusory conjunctions, or memory errors sensitive to syntactic structure. We then use a novel application of piecewise regression to demonstrate that the resulting error pattern follows a cline rather than discrete classes. A preregistered replication verifies these findings, and a final preregistered study verifies that these errors reflect syntactic structure. This provides evidence for gradient rather than discrete representations across levels of representation in language processing. (PsycINFO Database Record
authors.affiliation: Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University.
authors.forename: Laurel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brehm
authors.affiliation: Department of Linguistics, Northwestern University.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goldrick
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008037:Linguistics; D008606:Mental Processes; D008960:Models, Psychological; D011930:Reaction Time; D012044:Regression Analysis