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.

Question

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.

Quizplus · 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.

Refer to the Figure