Probabilistic and Selectional Biases in Ambiguity Resolution during Real-time Sentence Processing
Abstract
This study examines the influence of lexical frequency bias and selectional constraints on the resolution of complement ambiguity during sentence processing. Some argue that in complement ambiguity resolution, lexical frequency bias and selectional constraints lead to the clausal complement before disambiguation, while others claim that the nominal complement is maintained until the disambiguating verb appears. The present study investigates this issue in two reading experiments using a temporal adjunct. The results suggested the rapid influence of lexical frequency bias and selectional constraints. However, the temporal adjunct introduces a bias towards the nominal complement, and ultimately overrides the influence of the lexical frequency bias and selectional constraints. These results suggest that processing preferences dynamically change, influenced by multiple biases.