Question 1

Which outcome suggests that participants process meaning during the shadowing task?
A) Participants' shadowing slows down when the sentence they are repeating combines meaningful words in nonsensical ways.
B) Participants say that they are processing the meaning as they shadow what they hear.
C) Researchers ask the participants to report the gist of each sentence.
D) Shadowing is the process of understanding.

Accepted Answer

Participants' slower shadowing when the sentence they are repeating combines meaningful words in nonsensical ways suggests that they are processing meaning during the task.

Question 2

Which sentence is a garden path sentence?
A) The lawyer with a wart was hit by the gang leader.
B) The gang leader hit the lawyer with a wart.
C) The cruel man beat his puppy using a thick stick.
D) The puppy was beaten with a thick stick by the cruel man.

Accepted Answer

Garden path sentences lead the reader towards one interpretation that turns out to be wrong, requiring reevaluation. Sentence B initially suggests "with a wart" describes how the gang leader hit the lawyer, but it actually describes the lawyer, leading to a momentary misunderstanding.

Question 3

In the sentence The stew simmered on the stove turned out to be delicious, the phrase simmered on the stove is ambiguous because it is missing certain function words. This grammatical structure is known as a
A) conjoined clause.
B) reduced relative clause.
C) sentence complement.
D) main clause.

Accepted Answer

The phrase "simmered on the stove" is a reduced relative clause because it is missing the relative pronoun "that" or "which" and the verb "was". A complete relative clause would be "The stew that simmered on the stove was delicious."

Question 4

In the sentence The cruel man beat his puppy with a thick stick, _______ is the indirect object.
A) the cruel man
B) beat his puppy
C) puppy
D) a thick stick

Accepted Answer

The answer of In the sentence The cruel man beat...

Question 5

In the sentence The cruel man beat his puppy with a thick stick, _______ is the subject.
A) the cruel man
B) beat
C) his puppy
D) a thick stick

Accepted Answer

The subject of a sentence is the person, place, thing, or idea that is doing or being something. In this sentence, the person doing the action is "the cruel man," making it the subject.

Question 6

Grammatically, _______ exemplifies a sentence in passive voice; whereas _______ uses an active voice.
A) The man jumped on the trampoline; The man is jumping on the trampoline
B) The plumber was sued by the baker; The baker sued the plumber
C) The horse is racing past the fence; The horse who was raced past the fence tripped
D) The thief is taking the jewels; The jewels were taken by the thief

Accepted Answer

In option B, "The plumber was sued by the baker" is an example of a sentence in the passive voice as the focus is on the receiver of the action. In contrast, "The baker sued the plumber" in the same option uses active voice as the focus is on the doer of the action. The other options have both sentences either in active or in passive form.

Question 7

Imagine that you are designing a study to evaluate whether certain types of sentences are ambiguous and lead to misunderstanding. Which technique would permit the most natural environment for your study?
A) Self-paced reading task
B) Shadowing task
C) Moving window paradigm
D) Eye-tracking reading task

Accepted Answer

Eye-tracking reading task would permit the most natural environment for the study as it allows participants to read sentences on a computer screen while their eye movements are recorded. This allows for a more natural reading experience and can capture the exact moment when ambiguity or misunderstanding occurs. The other techniques listed (self-paced reading task, shadowing task, moving window paradigm) may be more controlled but are not as naturalistic.

Question 8

Refer to the example, in which participants read through sentences a phrase at a time, pressing a button to advance from step 1 through 3.
1. The British ---- ------- -- -------- -------.
2. --- ------- left waffles -- -------- -------.
3. --- ------- ---- ------- on Falkland Islands.
-The above stimulus is an example of which research method?
A) Lexical decision task
B) Shadowing task
C) Eye-tracking method
D) Moving window paradigm

Accepted Answer

The stimulus is an example of the moving window paradigm, in which participants read through sentences a phrase at a time and are prompted to advance to the next phrase with a button press. The lexical decision task involves identifying whether a string of letters presented on a screen is a real word or a non-word. The shadowing task involves repeating back auditory stimuli immediately after they are presented. Eye-tracking methods involve tracking where a participant's eyes move on a screen while they complete a task.

Question 9

Consider the sentence Let's eat grandma. Which vocal cue would help disambiguate the sentence?
A) A pause between the word eat and the word grandma
B) A rising intonation at the end of the sentence
C) Articulating grandma clearly
D) Speaking the sentence at an even speed

Accepted Answer

A pause between the word eat and the word grandma would help disambiguate the sentence by indicating that the speaker is not suggesting to actually eat their grandmother, but rather suggesting that they eat with their grandmother.

Question 10

The garden path theory stipulates that parsers rely on _______ to make initial predictions about the meaning of an ambiguous sentence.
A) strict rules
B) heuristics
C) interactive model processes
D) phonetic cues

Accepted Answer

The garden path theory suggests that when confronted with ambiguous sentences, parsers initially rely on heuristics (i.e. mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb") to make predictions about the sentence's meaning. These heuristics are based on the structure and order of the words in the sentence, and can sometimes lead to misinterpretations or "garden paths" that require backtracking and re-analysis by the parser. Strict rules, interactive model processes, and phonetic cues are not typically part of this initial prediction process.

Question 11

The garden path theory places emphasis on the _______ rather than _______ of processing during the initial parsing phase.
A) phonetics; syntax
B) speed; accuracy
C) semantics; syntax
D) rules; short cuts

Accepted Answer

The garden path theory emphasizes the speed of processing during the initial parsing phase rather than the accuracy, suggesting that individuals often take the quickest path to understanding sentences even if it leads to misunderstandings that need to be corrected later.

Question 12

_______ suggested that people often use heuristics to solve problems, and sometimes these shortcuts in thought lead us to make errors in judgments.
A) Maryellen McDonald
B) John McIntyre
C) Daniel Kahneman
D) Tom Bever

Accepted Answer

The statement is referring to the work of Daniel Kahneman, who is known for his research on cognitive biases and heuristics in decision making. The other answer choices are not known for this specific area of study.

Question 13

Understanding thematic relations of a verb
A) always results in the disambiguation of a garden path sentence.
B) does not help to disambiguate a garden path sentence.
C) allows a listener to make inferences about the event and participant relationships being described in a sentence.
D) is helpful for resolving ambiguities involving reduced relative clauses, but not other ambiguities.

Accepted Answer

Understanding the thematic relations of a verb allows a listener to make inferences about the event and participant relationships being described in a sentence. This can help with understanding the overall meaning of the sentence and disambiguating it, but it is not a guarantee that all ambiguities will be resolved.

Question 14

Which sentence contains an intransitive verb?
A) The long letter arrived.
B) Tim wrote a note to Arianna.
C) The portrait artist drew a face.
D) The dog ate my homework.

Accepted Answer

The verb "arrived" does not take an object and is therefore an intransitive verb.

Question 15

Which sentence contains a sentential complement verb?
A) The yellow bird sings sweetly.
B) The weary traveler slept.
C) The police office recommended that she not drive at night.
D) Please hand me the largest wrench.

Accepted Answer

The sentential complement verb in this sentence is "drive," which is the verb in the subordinate clause "that she not drive at night." The main clause is "The police officer recommended," and the subordinate clause acts as the complement to the main verb "recommended."

Question 16

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.

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.

Question 17

Refer to the figure.
 Based on the results of the experiment illustrated, how does context affect a subject's ability to make sense of the ambiguous component in the sentence Put the apple on the towel in the box?
A) The pencil does not aid the listener in A, but the apple in B provides context, helping the subject avoid confusion.
B) The listener is confused in both A and B. Since they do not know to look only at the apple on the towel, they look at the single apple first.
C) The time spent looking at the towel in A demonstrates a clear understanding of the sentence.
D) The two sets of timelines of eye-gaze duration in A and B show that context does not affect the listener's ability to disambiguate sentence.

Accepted Answer

In the first scenario (A), the subject does not have any context to help them disambiguate the sentence, and the pencil provides no help. In the second scenario (B), the subject is provided with the context of the box and the apple, which helps them to disambiguate the sentence and focus on the correct object (the apple on the towel). Therefore, context (in this case, the presence of the box and the apple) can aid a subject's ability to make sense of an ambiguous component in a sentence.

Question 18

Refer to the figure.
 Based on eye movements, which statement about subjects' perceptions of the two sentences is true?
A) Both sentences reveal some initial misinterpretation by listeners.
B) The first sentence reveals some initial misinterpretation, whereas the second sentence is smoothly and correctly parsed.
C) The second sentence reveals some initial misinterpretation, whereas the first sentence is smoothly and correctly parsed.
D) Listeners are able to use context to avoid misinterpretation in both sentences.

Accepted Answer

The eye movements in the first sentence indicate that there was initial confusion or misinterpretation, as evidenced by longer fixation times on certain words. However, in the second sentence, the eye movements are smoother and more consistent, suggesting that the sentence was more easily parsed and understood. Therefore, choice B is the best option.

Question 19

Chambers et al. (2004) used an eye movement study to compare where people would look when given instructions about eggs that were either in their shell or cracked in a container. This study suggested that _______ plays an important role in disambiguating spoken language, supporting the _______.
A) frequency-based information; garden path theory
B) frequency-based information; constraint-based approach
C) context; garden path theory
D) context; constraint-based approach

Accepted Answer

The study by Chambers et al. suggests that context plays an important role in disambiguating spoken language, which supports the constraint-based approach to language comprehension. The study did not specifically focus on frequency-based information or the garden path theory.

Question 20

In which situation would speakers be most likely to use prosodic cues that are helpful for disambiguating spoken language?
A) Working together with a friend to build a birdhouse
B) Giving instructions for building a birdhouse over the phone to a friend
C) Reading instructions for building a birdhouse aloud to a friend
D) Recording instructions for building a birdhouse to be heard by a friend at a later time

Accepted Answer

The answer of In which situation would speakers be most...

Quiz 8: Understanding Sentence Structure and Meaning

Which outcome suggests that participants process meaning during the shadowing task?

Which sentence is a garden path sentence?

In the sentence The stew simmered on the stove turned out to be delicious, the phrase simmered on the stove is ambiguous because it is missing certain function words. This grammatical structure is known as a

In the sentence The cruel man beat his puppy with a thick stick, _______ is the indirect object.

In the sentence The cruel man beat his puppy with a thick stick, _______ is the subject.

Grammatically, _ exemplifies a sentence in passive voice; whereas _ uses an active voice.

Imagine that you are designing a study to evaluate whether certain types of sentences are ambiguous and lead to misunderstanding. Which technique would permit the most natural environment for your study?

Consider the sentence Let's eat grandma. Which vocal cue would help disambiguate the sentence?

The garden path theory stipulates that parsers rely on _______ to make initial predictions about the meaning of an ambiguous sentence.

The garden path theory places emphasis on the _ rather than _ of processing during the initial parsing phase.

_______ suggested that people often use heuristics to solve problems, and sometimes these shortcuts in thought lead us to make errors in judgments.

Understanding thematic relations of a verb

Which sentence contains an intransitive verb?

Which sentence contains a sentential complement verb?

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

Refer to the figure. Based on the results of the experiment illustrated, how does context affect a subject's ability to make sense of the ambiguous component in the sentence Put the apple on the towel in the box?

Refer to the figure. Based on eye movements, which statement about subjects' perceptions of the two sentences is true?

Chambers et al. (2004) used an eye movement study to compare where people would look when given instructions about eggs that were either in their shell or cracked in a container. This study suggested that _ plays an important role in disambiguating spoken language, supporting the _.

In which situation would speakers be most likely to use prosodic cues that are helpful for disambiguating spoken language?