University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The effects of word order, noun animacy, and verb reversibility on the syllogistic processing of children and adults

Marx, Maureen Gutierrez

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Description

Title
The effects of word order, noun animacy, and verb reversibility on the syllogistic processing of children and adults
Author(s)
Marx, Maureen Gutierrez
Issue Date
1992
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
  • Rowan, L.E.
  • Johnson, Cynthia J.
Department of Study
Communication
Discipline
Communication
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Health Sciences, Speech Pathology
  • Psychology, Developmental
Language
eng
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of grammatical cues on the processing of syllogisms by children and adults. Eighty-four grade school children and twenty-one university students participated as subjects. Five age groups (classified by reading age) were represented in the study: 7+, 9+, 11+, 13+ and adults. Twenty-four syllogisms were constructed based on specific combinations of two levels of word order, Noun-Verb-Noun (NVN) and Noun-Noun-Verb; two levels of noun animacy, Animate-Inanimate (AI) and Animate-Animate (AnAn), and two levels of verb reversibility, nonreversible (NR) and reversible (R). These 24 syllogisms in written form bound in a test booklet were presented to individual subjects tested as a group. Each syllogism was written with two premises and four possible conclusions. Subjects were asked to select the valid conclusion from these four choices. The investigation compared the performance of the five reading-age groups using a repeated measures 4 x 2 x 2 mixed effects analysis of variance design. The factors of word order, noun animacy and verb reversibility were tested for main and interaction effects across all subjects combined and across each reading-age groups. Results indicate that (a) performance improved as subjects became older, (b) word order cue is the major factor in governing syllogistic processing with noun animacy and verb reversibility serving in diminished secondary capacities, and (c) syllogisms in the NVN form were processed significantly better than syllogisms in the NNV form. It is concluded that the canonical word order form, NVN, facilitates syllogistic interpretation and that children and adult English speakers demonstrate a definitive SV bias in the processing of any linguistic stimuli.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/22348
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1992 Marx, Maureen Gutierrez

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