The Representation of Verbs: Evidence from Syntactic Priming in Language Production

doi:10.1006/jmla.1998.2592

Journal of Memory and Language

Volume 39, Issue 4, November 1998, Pages 633-651

https://doi.org/10.1006/jmla.1998.2592 Get rights and content

Abstract

We report five experiments that investigate syntactic priming (982592) using a written completion task. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that priming occurs if the prime and target contain different verbs, but that stronger priming occurs if the verb is repeated. Experiment 1 also showed that priming occurs even if the detailed structure of prime and target differ. Experiments 3, 4, and 5 found that priming was unaffected by whether tense, aspect, or number of the verb stayed the same or differed between prime and target. We argue that these results provide evidence about the representation of syntactic information within the lemma stratum. We use these results to extend the model proposed by982592, 1993). In particular, we argue that combinatorial information is phrasal in nature, is associated with the verb's lemma rather than a particular form of the verb, and is shared between different lemmas.

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^☆: The order of authorship is arbitrary. We thank Stuart Boutell, Mike Burton, Andrew Stewart, and three anonymous reviewers and acknowledge Louise McMorris, Emily McIntosh, Ruth McNicol, and Nicola Meechan in assisting with experiments. The research was supported by British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships (awarded to M.P and H.B.), an EPSRC Research Studentship (awarded to H.B.), and ESRC research grant no. R000237418.

^☆☆: Address reprint requests to Martin Pickering, Human Communication Research Centre, Department of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Florentine House, 53 Hillhead Street, Glasgow G12 8QF, UK. E-mail:[email protected].

^★: W. D. Marslen-Wilson

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Regular ArticleThe Representation of Verbs: Evidence from Syntactic Priming in Language Production☆,☆☆,★

Abstract

Cognition

Cognitive Psychology

Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior

Cognition

Cognition

Cognition

Cognitive Psychology

Journal of Memory and Language

Cognition

Cognition

Journal of Memory and Language

Meaning, sound, and syntax: Lexical priming in language production

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition

Closed class immanence in sentence production

Cognition

Framing sentences

Cognition

From conceptual roles to structural relations: Bridging the syntactic cleft

Psychological Review

Syntactic priming: Investigating the mental representation of language

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research

Lexical access in speech production

Lexical representation and process

Aspects of the theory of syntax

Regular Article
The Representation of Verbs: Evidence from Syntactic Priming in Language Production☆,☆☆,★