Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2001
Journal / Book Title
Brain and language
Abstract
We compared right-handed familial dextral (FS-) and familial sinistral (FS+) participants who were aged either 10-13 years (children) or 18-23 years (adults). In word probe and associative probe tasks, FS+ adults responded faster than all other groups and FS+ children responded more slowly than all other groups. In the word probe task, only the FS- adults showed a significant effect of the serial position of the target word. We interpret these differences to support an analysis-by-synthesis model of comprehension in which individuals who differ in familial handedness and age emphasize different linguistic representations during comprehension. In general, FS+ individuals focus on words and meaning, while FS- individuals focus on syntactic representations. In FS+ individuals, age-related experiences with language produce a shift in responding from compositional meaning to words and their associations. In FS- individuals, age-related experiences with language produce a shift toward responding based more on detailed syntactic representations, including the serial order of words and possibly the structural roles of clauses.
DOI
10.1006/brln.2001.2469
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Townsend, David; Carrithers, Caroline; and Bever, Thomas G., "Familial Handedness and Access to Words, Meaning, and Syntax During Sentence Comprehension" (2001). Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 227.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/psychology-facpubs/227
Published Citation
Townsend, D. J., Carrithers, C., & Bever, T. G. (2001). Familial handedness and access to words, meaning, and syntax during sentence comprehension. Brain and language, 78(3), 308-331.