LLP_W11

Structural priming is:

• exposure to one structure facilitates production of another similar structure

• one layer of paint on a wall structure facilitates better coverage for the next layer

• exposure to one structure means that the next structure must be the same

Structural priming gives insight into:

• how structures are realized through inflection and derivation

• how children memorize language in early years

• how structures are represented in the brain

The following illustrates word priming in comprehension:

• target “apple” is identified faster with prime “banana” than with prime “mango”

• target “apple” is identified faster with prime “banana” than with prime “dog”

• target “apple” is identified faster with prime “dog” than with prime “banana”

Given structural priming, a speaker is more likely to produce a target sentence “The mouse was chased by the cat” if the prime is:

• the mouse gave a toy to the cat

• the room was cleaned by the child

• the boy chased the father

In structural priming studies, the priming effect (increase in likelihood of use of a structural alternative) is typically:

• 0-5%

• 10-20%

• 30-50%

The alternation “The boy gives the flower to the girl” vs. “The boy gives the girl a flower” is called the:

• transitive alternation

• adjective modification alternation

• dative alternation

• ambiguous attachment alternation

Structural priming can occur across languages (i.e., cross-linguistic priming). What must this mean about language representation in the brain?

• languages are represented separately but speakers don’t differentiate between them

• structures are exactly the same across languages so all representations are stored together

• some parts of language representation are shared between languages, not separate

What is the lexical boost effect?

• priming is more likely if the head of the main phrase is shared across prime and target

• priming is more likely if any content words are shared across prime and target

• priming is more likely if any function words are shared across prime and target

Structural priming is affected by:

• only syntactic structure

• mostly syntactic structure but also lexicon and semantics

• equally by syntactic structure, lexicon, semantics, and phonology

The Residual Activation Model states that priming occurs because:

• combinatorial nodes activated the storage of lexical entries

• combinatorial nodes are overactivated by certain syntactic structures

• combinatorial nodes stay activated for a while after producing a structure