An Assimilation Effect in Judging the Grammaticality of Sentences Violating the Subjacency Condition: A Further Exploration

This study explored an assimilation effect in judging the grammaticality of sentences violating the subjacency condition. The target sentences included either a noun phrase (NP-extracted) or an adverbial phrase (AP-extracted), each extracted from a subordinate clause and placed in front of the sentences. Anchor sentences had a surface structure similar to the AP-extracted targets such that a preposed adverbial phrase could be associated both with the subordinate and the matrix verb. Twenty-eight speakers classified as field-dependent judged the two types oftarget sentences given together with anchors or no anchors. The assimilation as well as the contrast effect was found, albeit to a slight degree. The level of judged grammaticality of the anchors rather than surface structure similarity appeared to be more influential in producing the anchoring effects in the judgments of the grammaticality of sentences.

研究ノート (Note)