Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic Strategy
Relative clauses modify a preceding element, but as this element can be flexibly located, the point of attachment is sometimes ambiguous. Preference for this attachment can vary within languages such as German, yet explanations for differences in attachment preference related to cognitive strategies...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-06-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01357/full |
| _version_ | 1819101046556852224 |
|---|---|
| author | Eleanor E. Harding Daniela Sammler Sonja A. Kotz Sonja A. Kotz |
| author_facet | Eleanor E. Harding Daniela Sammler Sonja A. Kotz Sonja A. Kotz |
| author_sort | Eleanor E. Harding |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Relative clauses modify a preceding element, but as this element can be flexibly located, the point of attachment is sometimes ambiguous. Preference for this attachment can vary within languages such as German, yet explanations for differences in attachment preference related to cognitive strategies or constraints have been conflicting in the current literature. The present study aimed to assess the preference for relative clause attachment among German listeners and whether these preferences could be explained by strategy or individual differences in working memory or musical rhythm ability. We performed a sentence completion experiment, conducted post hoc interviews, and measured working memory and rhythm abilities with diagnostic tests. German listeners had no homogeneous attachment preference, although participants consistently completed individual sentences across trials according to the general preference that they reported offline. Differences in attachment preference were moreover not linked to individual differences in either working memory or musical rhythm ability. However, the pragmatic content of individual sentences sometimes overrode the general syntactic preference in participants with lower rhythm ability. Our study makes an important contribution to the field of psycholinguistics by validating offline self-reports as a reliable diagnostic for an individual’s online relative clause attachment preference. The link between pragmatic strategy and rhythm ability is an interesting direction for future research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T01:12:27Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-85581569c0564b1a9f5b461568bc46b5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T01:12:27Z |
| publishDate | 2019-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-85581569c0564b1a9f5b461568bc46b52022-12-21T18:43:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-06-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.01357449350Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic StrategyEleanor E. Harding0Daniela Sammler1Sonja A. Kotz2Sonja A. Kotz3Department of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, GermanyOtto Hahn Group “Neural Bases of Intonation in Speech and Music”, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Neuropsychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, GermanyDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, NetherlandsRelative clauses modify a preceding element, but as this element can be flexibly located, the point of attachment is sometimes ambiguous. Preference for this attachment can vary within languages such as German, yet explanations for differences in attachment preference related to cognitive strategies or constraints have been conflicting in the current literature. The present study aimed to assess the preference for relative clause attachment among German listeners and whether these preferences could be explained by strategy or individual differences in working memory or musical rhythm ability. We performed a sentence completion experiment, conducted post hoc interviews, and measured working memory and rhythm abilities with diagnostic tests. German listeners had no homogeneous attachment preference, although participants consistently completed individual sentences across trials according to the general preference that they reported offline. Differences in attachment preference were moreover not linked to individual differences in either working memory or musical rhythm ability. However, the pragmatic content of individual sentences sometimes overrode the general syntactic preference in participants with lower rhythm ability. Our study makes an important contribution to the field of psycholinguistics by validating offline self-reports as a reliable diagnostic for an individual’s online relative clause attachment preference. The link between pragmatic strategy and rhythm ability is an interesting direction for future research.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01357/fullattachment preferenceindividual differencespragmaticsmusical abilityworking memorysyntax |
| spellingShingle | Eleanor E. Harding Daniela Sammler Sonja A. Kotz Sonja A. Kotz Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic Strategy Frontiers in Psychology attachment preference individual differences pragmatics musical ability working memory syntax |
| title | Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic Strategy |
| title_full | Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic Strategy |
| title_fullStr | Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic Strategy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic Strategy |
| title_short | Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic Strategy |
| title_sort | attachment preference in auditory german sentences individual differences and pragmatic strategy |
| topic | attachment preference individual differences pragmatics musical ability working memory syntax |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01357/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eleanoreharding attachmentpreferenceinauditorygermansentencesindividualdifferencesandpragmaticstrategy AT danielasammler attachmentpreferenceinauditorygermansentencesindividualdifferencesandpragmaticstrategy AT sonjaakotz attachmentpreferenceinauditorygermansentencesindividualdifferencesandpragmaticstrategy AT sonjaakotz attachmentpreferenceinauditorygermansentencesindividualdifferencesandpragmaticstrategy |