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Paper in preparation. Some of the material was presented at the
Computational Psycholinguistics Conference, University of California,
Berkeley, August 1997.
Processing of Recursive Sentence Structure:
Testing Predictions from a Connectionist Model
Morten H. Christiansen & Maryellen C. MacDonald
Abstract
We present results from three psycholinguistic experiments which
tested predictions from a connectionist model of recursive sentence
processing. The model was originally developed to capture
generalization using non-local information (Christiansen, 1994;
Christiansen & Chater, 1994). From this model it was possible to
derive novel empirical predictions concerning the processing of
different kinds of recursive structure. We present behavioral results
confirming network predictions about the acceptability of sentences
involving multiple right-branching PPs (Experiment 1), multiple
left-branching prenominal genitives (Experiment 2), and doubly
center-embedded object relative clauses (Experiment 3). Importantly,
these predictions derive from the intrinsic architectural constraints
of the model (Christiansen & Chater, in submission), rather than
arbitrary, externally specified memory limitations. We conclude that
the SRN is well-suited for the modeling of human performance on
recursive sentence structure.
The results from the experiments are available as a 6 page hand-out
from the Computational Psycholinguistics Conference. Click here
to download.
