Lexico-syntactic constraints influence verbal working memory in sentence-like lists

Mem Cognit. 2023 Dec 21. doi: 10.3758/s13421-023-01496-2. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTWe test predictions from the language emergent perspective on verbal working memory that lexico-syntactic constraints should support both item and order memory. In natural language, long-term knowledge of lexico-syntactic patterns involving part of speech, verb biases, and noun animacy support language comprehension and production. In three experiments, participants were presented with randomly generated dative-like sentences or lists in which part of speech, verb biases, and animacy of a single word were manipulated. Participants were more likely to recall words in the correct position when presented with a verb over a noun in the verb position, a good dative verb over an intransitive verb in the verb position, and an animate noun over an inanimate noun in the subject noun position. These results demonstrate that interactions between words and their context in the form of lexico-syntactic constraints influence verbal working memory.PMID:38129629 | DOI:10.3758/s13421-023-01496-2

Source: Memory and Cognition - December 22, 2023 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Steven C Schwering Cassandra L Jacobs Janelle Montemayor Maryellen C MacDonald Source Type: research