Incremental sentence processing is guided by a preference for agents: EEG evidence from Basque

Isasi-Isasmendi, Arrate; Sauppe, Sebastian; Andrews, Caroline; Laka, Itziar; Meyer, Martin; Bickel, Balthasar

doi:10.1080/23273798.2023.2250023

Cited by 1 publication

(9 citation statements)

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“… Note . German: Haupt et al (2008) , Hindi: Bickel et al (2015) , Basque: Isasi-Isasmendi et al (2024) . A = agent macro-role, P = patient macro-role.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For Basque, we use the experiment from Isasi-Isasmendi et al (2024) , which studies the processing of intransitives sentences ( Table 5 ). Intransitive verbs generally fall into two groups, namely those that take agent subjects (unergatives) and those that take patient subjects (unaccusatives) ( Borer, 2005 ; Dowty, 1991 ; Friedmann et al, 2008 ; Perlmutter, 1978 ; Van Valin, 1990 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, comprehenders reading NPs with plural demonstratives in Basque do not obtain information on the semantic role of the subject until the verb position. The stimuli in Isasi-Isasmendi et al (2024) exploited this case syncretism in a 2 × 2 design. The sentences differed in whether the initial NP denoted an agent or a patient (as assigned by the two different classes of intransitive verbs) and whether the role of the initial NP was marked unambiguously or ambiguously.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While these studies relied on transitive sentences, experiments on Basque also revealed an N400 for a disambiguation towards the patient role with intransitive verbs (e.g., “The boy fell” as opposed to “The boy danced”; Isasi-Isasmendi et al, 2024 ). This suggests that the Agent Preference holds independently of transitivity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We ask whether the Predicate N400 is best explained by an Agent Preference principle as previously suggested or whether a usage-based account in terms of model-based surprisal is sufficient. To this end, we revisit previously conducted EEG experiments that showed a Predicate N400 in German ( Haupt et al, 2008 ), Hindi ( Bickel et al, 2015 ) and Basque ( Isasi-Isasmendi et al, 2024 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Surprisal From Language Models Can Predict ERPs in Processing Predicate-Argument Structures Only if Enriched by an Agent Preference Principle

Huber,

Sauppe,

Isasi-Isasmendi

et al. 2024

Neurobiology of Language

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Language models based on artificial neural networks increasingly capture key aspects of how humans process sentences. Most notably, model-based surprisals predict event-related potentials such as N400 amplitudes during parsing. Assuming that these models represent realistic estimates of human linguistic experience, their success in modelling language processing raises the possibility that the human processing system relies on no other principles than the general architecture of language models and on sufficient linguistic input. Here, we test this hypothesis on N400 effects observed during the processing of verb-final sentences in German, Basque, and Hindi. By stacking Bayesian generalised additive models, we show that, in each language, N400 amplitudes and topographies in the region of the verb are best predicted when model-based surprisals are complemented by an Agent Preference principle that transiently interprets initial role-ambiguous NPs as agents, leading to reanalysis when this interpretation fails. Our findings demonstrate the need for this principle independently of usage frequencies and structural differences between languages. The principle has an unequal force, however. Compared to surprisal, its effect is weakest in German, stronger in Hindi, and still stronger in Basque. This gradient is correlated with the extent to which grammars allow unmarked NPs to be patients, a structural feature that boosts reanalysis effects. We conclude that language models gain more neurobiological plausibility by incorporating an Agent Preference. Conversely, theories of human processing profit from incorporating surprisal estimates in addition to principles like the Agent Preference, which arguably have distinct evolutionary roots.

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“… Note . German: Haupt et al (2008) , Hindi: Bickel et al (2015) , Basque: Isasi-Isasmendi et al (2024) . A = agent macro-role, P = patient macro-role.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Surprisal From Language Models Can Predict ERPs in Processing Predicate-Argument Structures Only if Enriched by an Agent Preference Principle

Huber,

Sauppe,

Isasi-Isasmendi

et al. 2024

Neurobiology of Language

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Incremental sentence processing is guided by a preference for agents: EEG evidence from Basque

Cited by 1 publication

References 108 publications

Surprisal From Language Models Can Predict ERPs in Processing Predicate-Argument Structures Only if Enriched by an Agent Preference Principle

Surprisal From Language Models Can Predict ERPs in Processing Predicate-Argument Structures Only if Enriched by an Agent Preference Principle

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