Adaptation in Pronoun Resolution: Evidence from Brazilian and European Portuguese

Autor/inn/en	Fernandes, Eunice G.; Luegi, Paula; Correa Soares, Eduardo; de la Fuente, Israel; Hemforth, Barbara
Titel	Adaptation in Pronoun Resolution: Evidence from Brazilian and European Portuguese
Quelle	In: Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 44 (2018) 12, S.1986-2008 (23 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Fernandes, Eunice G.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0278-7393
DOI	10.1037/xlm0000569
Schlagwörter	Portuguese; Form Classes (Languages); Adjustment (to Environment); Probability; Comprehension; Ambiguity (Semantics); Inferences; Foreign Countries; College Students; Portugal (Lisbon); Brazil; France (Paris) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Portugiesischunterricht; Analytischer Sprachbau; Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung; Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie; Verstehen; Verständnis; Inference; Inferenz; Ausland; Collegestudent; Brasilien
Abstract	Previous research accounting for pronoun resolution as a problem of probabilistic inference has not explored the phenomenon of adaptation, whereby the processor constantly tracks and adapts, rationally, to changes in a statistical environment. We investigate whether Brazilian (BP) and European Portuguese (EP) speakers adapt to variations in the probability of occurrence of ambiguous overt and null pronouns, in two experiments assessing resolution toward subject and object referents. For each variety (BP, EP), participants were faced with either the same number of null and overt pronouns (equal distribution), or with an environment with fewer overt (than null) pronouns (unequal distribution). We find that the preference for interpreting overt pronouns as referring back to an object referent (object-biased interpretation) is higher when there are fewer overt pronouns (i.e., in the unequal, relative to the equal distribution condition). This is especially the case for BP, a variety with higher prior frequency and smaller object-biased interpretation of overt pronouns, suggesting that participants adapted incrementally and integrated prior statistical knowledge with the knowledge obtained in the experiment. We hypothesize that comprehenders adapted rationally, with the goal of maintaining, across variations in pronoun probability, the likelihood of subject and object referents. Our findings unify insights from research in pronoun resolution and in adaptation, and add to previous studies in both topics: They provide evidence for the influence of pronoun probability in pronoun resolution, and for an adaptation process whereby the language processor not only tracks statistical information, but uses it to make interpretational inferences. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01