In their 1998 study, John Trueswell and Al Kim (1998) found that they could steer readers toward one or another interpretation of a garden path sentence by subliminally presenting an unrelated verb that was biased toward either a direct object or a sentential complement frame. This shows
A) that inhibiting the activation of phonetic neighbors helps disambiguate a garden path sentence.
B) that readers must consciously select the right verb frame in disambiguating garden path sentences.
C) the importance of discourse context in disambiguating garden path sentences.
D) that it is possible to use a word to prime similar verb frames as well as similar meanings.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The study found that presenting a biased verb primed readers toward a certain verb frame, indicating that it is possible to use a word to prime similar verb frames and meanings. This suggests that readers are not always consciously selecting the right verb frame in disambiguating garden path sentences, but can be influenced by the presentation of related words. It also highlights the importance of individual words and their relationships in discourse context in guiding sentence interpretation.

In Their 1998 Study, John Trueswell and Al Kim (1998)