Resolving pronouns to antecedents in commanding and non commanding positions: first results from ERP research

Abstract

We test the hypothesis that the implementation of dependencies at the level of discourse has a higher processing cost than the implementation of dependencies within syntax alone. To this end we use event-related potentials to examine the implementation of anaphoric links established between pronouns and non commanding antecedents (discoursebased dependency) and contrast that with the processing of anaphoric links to commanding antecedents (syntax-only dependency). The experimental results obtained show a N400-like effect associated with the formation of the pronoun-non-commanding antecedent dependency. This enhanced negativity for pronouns resolved to non-commanding antecedents supports our hypothesis that discourse-based processes place different computational demands on the comprehension system than syntax-only processes. This kind of evidence is thus consistent with models of pronominal representation whereby antecedents are established by both syntactic and non-syntactic means.