The use of verb information in parsing: different statistical analyses lead to contradictory conclusions

Abstract

The research investigated how comprehenders use verb information during syntactic parsing. Two reading experiments investigated the relationship between verb-specific variables and reading time. These experiments were close replications of prior work; however, two statistical techniques were used, rather than one. These were item-by-item correlations and participant-by-participant regression. In Experiment 1, reading time was measured using a self-paced moving window. In Experiment 2, eye movements were recorded during reading. The results of both experiments showed that the results of two types of statistical analyses support contradictory conclusions. The analyses involving participant-by-participant regression analyses provided no evidence for the early use of verb information in parsing and support syntax-first approaches to parsing. In contrast, the results of item-by-item correlation were consistent with the prior research, supporting the view that verb information can guide initial parsing decisions. Implications for theories of parsing are discussed.