Interference patterns in subject-verb agreement and reflexives revisited: A large-sample study

• Published in: Journal of memory and language Vol. 111; p. 104063
• Main Authors: Jäger, Lena A., Mertzen, Daniela, Van Dyke, Julie A., Vasishth, Shravan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Agreement; Bayesian data analysis; Cue-based retrieval; Reflexives; Replication; Sentence processing; Similarity-based interference; Cue-based retrieval; Sentence processing; Agreement; Bayesian data analysis; Reflexives; Similarity-based interference; Replication; replication; similarity-based interference; agreement; cue-based retrieval; reflexives; sentence processing
• ISSN: 0749-596X; 1096-0821
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2019.104063

•Large-sample eyetracking-while-reading experiment.•Investigation of interference effects in subject-verb agreement and reflexives.•Facilitatory interference is observed in both, subject-verb agreement and reflexives.•Quantitative evaluation of a cue-based retrieval model of sentence processing. Cue-based retrieval theories in sentence processing predict two classes of interference effect: (i) Inhibitory interference is predicted when multiple items match a retrieval cue: cue-overloading leads to an overall slowdown in reading time; and (ii) Facilitatory interference arises when a retrieval target as well as a distractor only partially match the retrieval cues; this partial matching leads to an overall speedup in retrieval time. Inhibitory interference effects are widely observed, but facilitatory interference apparently has an exception: reflexives have been claimed to show no facilitatory interference effects. Because the claim is based on underpowered studies, we conducted a large-sample experiment that investigated both facilitatory and inhibitory interference. In contrast to previous studies, we find facilitatory interference effects in reflexives. We also present a quantitative evaluation of the cue-based retrieval model of Engelmann, Jäger, and Vasishth (2019).