The influence of lexical and conceptual constraints on reading mixed-language sentences: Evidence from eye-fixation and naming times

Authors

Jeanette Altaribba, University at Albany, State University of New YorkFollow
Judith F. Kroll, The Pennsylvania State University
Alexandra Sholl, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Keith Rayner, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1996

DOI

10.3758/BF03200936

Abstract

In two experiments, we explored the degree to which sentence context effects operate at a lexical or conceptual level by examining the processing of mixed-language sentences by fluent Spanish-English bilinguals. In Experiment 1, subjects' eye movements were monitored while they read English sentences in which sentence constraint, word frequency, and language of target word were manipulated. A frequency x constraint interaction was found when target words appeared in Spanish, but not in English. First fixation durations were longer for high-frequency Spanish words when these were embedded in high-constraint sentences than in low-constraint sentences. This result suggests that the conceptual restrictions produced by the sentence context were met, but that the lexical restrictions were not. The same result did not occur for low-frequency Spanish words, presumably because the slower access of low-frequency words provided more processing time for the resolution of this conflict. Similar results were found in Experiment 2 using rapid serial visual presentation when subjects named the target words aloud. It appears that sentence context effects are influenced by both semantic/conceptual and lexical information.

Recommended Citation

Altarriba, J., Kroll, J., Sholl, A., & Rayner, K. (1996). The influence of lexical and conceptual constraints on reading mixed-language sentences: Evidence from eye-fixation and naming times. Memory & Cognition, 24, 477-492.