Models or strategies? On the perception of ambiguous words
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2011/04/0016/000185Keywords:
lexical ambiguity, ambiguity resolution, meaning selectionAbstract
Models of lexical ambiguity resolution differ mainly with respect to the role played by context in lexical access. In my paper I focus on two opposing views: those of autonomous access models (non-context-oriented) and selective access models (context-oriented). I analyse two types of situations of: a. the activation of a wrong meaning of an ambiguous word unpredictable from both models and b. humour based on puns. Proceeding from my analysis I propose to include ―negative‖ factors (those leading to errors) and consider existing models as strategies, consequently, treating unsuccessful lexical ambiguity resolution as the influence of ―negative‖ factors or as a selection of the wrong strategy.
References
Connine, C.M., Blasko, D., Wang, J. 1994. Vertical similarity in spoken word recognition: Multiple lexical activation, individual differences, and the role of sentence context. Perception & Psychophysics 56, 624–636.
Duffy, S.A., Morris, R.K., Rayner, K. 1988. Lexical ambiguity and fixation times in reading. Journal of Memory and Language 27, 429–446.
Pacht, J.M., Rayner, K. 1993. The processing of homophonic homographs during reading: Evidence from eye movement studies. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research 22, 251–271.
Rayner, K., Frazier, L. 1989. Selection mechanisms in reading lexically ambiguous words. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition 15, 779–790.
Reichle, E.D., Pollatsek, A., Rayner, K. 2006. Modeling the effects of lexical ambiguity on eye movements during reading. В.R.P. Van Gompel, M.F. Fischer, W.S. Murray, R.L. Hill (Ред.), Eye movements: A window on mind and brain (pp. 271–292). Oxford, England: Elsevier.
Sereno, S.C., O‘Donnell, P.J.,Rayner, K. 2006. Eye movements and lexical ambiguity resolution: Investigating the subordinate bias effect. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 32, 335–350.
Till, R.E., Mross, E.F., Kintsch, W. 1988. Time course of priming for associate and inference words in a discourse context. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 16, 283–298.
Vu, H., Kellas, G., Metcalf, K., Herman, R. 2000. The influence of global discourse on lexical ambiguity resolution. Memory & Cognition 28, 236–252.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
