language 7-8 - shallow processing

What is shallow processing?

A type of processing where the meaning of a sentence is not fully analyzed, allowing for a general understanding despite incomplete information

What percentage of people notice that a man can't remarry because he must be dead to have a widow? (sanford and sturt 2002 - shallow processing)

Only 30% notice this detail.

why is shallow processing useful?

need to get jist of things even when delivered badly - system tolerance

What is the overarching goal of the language comprehension system according to traditional models?

To deliver an accurate representation of the writer's utterance by fully analyzing the meaning of every word.

What did Just and Carpenter (1980) propose about word interpretation? (trad model)

Readers interpret words while fixating on them and continue to fixate until they are processed.

What did McDonald et al. (1994) state about partial sentence analysis? (trad model)

They acknowledged that it can fulfill the communicative goal of the listener, though it is considered a degenerate case.

What is incomplete semantic commitment? (shows shallow processing)

sanford and sturt 2002 - A phenomenon where readers do not fully commit to the exact reference of a word but can still make sense of the sentence.

What is a garden path sentence? (shallow processing evid)

christianson 2001 - A sentence that initially leads to an incorrect interpretation, requiring reanalysis to understand the correct meaning. but dont completely throw away initial interpretation

What did Ferreira (2003) find regarding passive sentences? (shallow process evid) - what is the term for this?

Participants misinterpret passive sentences more often than active ones as meaning isnt as obvious, creating incorrect interpretations based on world knowledge. called pragmatic normalisation - use world to make sense

what was found with semantic anomalies? what types of anomalies? (shallow process evid)

Easy to detect anomalies - spread warm bread with socks (kutas and hillyard 1980)

Hard to detect - how many animals did moses take on the ark (erikson and mattson 1981)

2 reasons why anomalies arent spotted?

reduced awareness hypothesis - The idea that anomalies may be registered but not reported because they are not in conscious awareness. shallow processing - full meanings of anonamolous words are not received with representation of discourse

What did Bohan and Sanford (2008) study regarding anomaly detection?

They examined eye movements while reading hard-to-detect anomalies e.g. told robbers negotiated with hostage but wouldnt negotiate with a hostage, compared reading time in detect, non detect and control condition. Found: no effect on 1st reading of word, detect condition took longer than non

What did Sanford et al. (2011) find using ERP in anomaly detection?

did similar study but with erp and had 3 stories. easy to detect anomalies - bigger spike for anomalous, hard to detect - no difference in anomalous and non condition as words fit better in sentence

What is the survivors problem in shallow processing (barton and sanford 1993)?

ppt spotted you would bury survivors in sentence but didnt detect when referred to as injured, for air crash survivor 33% noticed but more noticed in bike crash

What is logical subordination in depth of processing according to Baker and Wagner (1987)?

A method that distinguishes focal information from extra information, affecting the likelihood of spotting false information e.g. asked if subordinate or main sentence was true but both contained false info, more likely spot false info in main sentence as info more prominent

What did Bredart and Modolo (1988) discover about linguistic focus in depth processing?

The focus on certain elements in a sentence affects the depth of processing and the ability to spot changes e.g. focus on moses or the 2 animals on ark - spot false info when focus is on moses (false info)

What did Strut et al. (2004) find regarding text change detection?

changed word in text and asked if anything changed, words processed deeper = can spot change better e.g. focused and unfocused sentence - when cider changed to unrelated word could spot better than related word change

what did strut 2004 find about discourse focus?

focused and unfocused condition, sentence made ppt wonder which man got in trouble. found: unrelated = focused/unfocused sentence had little impact, but in related detected more in focused

What is the granularity hypothesis in text change detection?

The idea that the fineness of detail in a representation increases detection of related words.

What did Bredart and Doquier (1989) study regarding attention-grabbing devices?

work similar to focus devices, stated moses took 2 animals on ark. either highlighted moses or 2, moses = 86.5% detect, 2 = 68.3% detect.

how did sanford 2006 support attention grabbing devices?

critical words in italics or vocal stress on word = easier detection

What is the main critique of detection tasks in shallow processing studies?

Participants may not read the materials as they would in everyday life, affecting the validity of the results.