Don Mitchell

University of Exeter, Psychology, Emeritus

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Steven Pinker

Harvard University

Timothy Jordan

Canadian University of Dubai

James Elkins

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Teenie Matlock

University of California, Merced

David Pierre Leibovitz

Carleton University

Mark Aakhus

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Samy (Soares) Sá

Universidade Federal do Ceará

John Johnson

Pennsylvania State University

Linnaea Stockall

Queen Mary, University of London

Bálint Forgács

Eötvös Loránd University Budapest

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Papers by Don Mitchell

Short-Term Visual Memory and Pattern Masking

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1972

The results of two experiments involving the matching of unfamiliar, nameless shapes (Gibson form... more The results of two experiments involving the matching of unfamiliar, nameless shapes (Gibson forms) indicated that a visual representation of a brief (30–100 ms) stimulus survives in a Short-Term Visual Memory (STVM) for 6 s or more after the onset of a pattern mask. On the basis of these results a possible alternative to Sperling's (1967) model for short-term memory for visual stimuli was presented. In this model it is assumed that recognition processes occupy several hundred milliseconds and continue after the arrival of the mask using the information available in STVM.

Natural language processing-a psychological perspective

The paper is concerned with the characteristics of an ideal natural language understanding system... more The paper is concerned with the characteristics of an ideal natural language understanding system. It is suggested that in addition to processing new linguistic input, such a system should be capable of monitoring the output from a natural language generating (NLG) component in a comprehensive system. In order to perform these two functions efficiently, it is argued that the NLU system should process sentences and texts in exactly the same way that humans do. This points to the need for close co-operation between system designers and psycholinguists in work of this kind

Challenges to Recent Theories of Crosslinguistic Variation in Parsing: Evidence from Dutch

Syntax and Semantics

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The Scheduling of Text Integration Processes in Reading

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 1981

In two experiments using a self-paced reading task we explored how readers schedule the processes... more In two experiments using a self-paced reading task we explored how readers schedule the processes involved in representing text. Experiment I showed that processes concerned with increasing the coherence of the representation occur at the ends of sentences. Experiment II provided evidence that readers can modify and evaluate their representation before a sentence boundary, contrary to the type of processing scheme exemplified by H. H. Clark's Given-New strategy (Clark and Clark, 1977). A modification of the strategy is considered which renders it compatible with the data.

Word recognition in a functional context: The use of scripts in reading

Journal of Memory and Language, 1985

... Fischler, I. and Bloom, PA, 1979. Automatic and attentional processes in the effects of sente... more

The role of specific information about the verb in parsing sentences with local structural ambiguity

Journal of Memory and Language, 1985

... 178210. Abstract | PDF (1838 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (297). Hakes, D... more

Access to the lexicon: Are there three routes?

Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1985

One of the most popular and influential theories of word processing, dual-route theory, proposes ... more One of the most popular and influential theories of word processing, dual-route theory, proposes that there are two functionally independent means of processing words, one involving access to lexical knowledge and the other involving nonlexical grapheme-to-phoneme conversion. Three topics germane to this theory are the processing of nonwords, spelling regularity effects, and the manner in which reading may be impaired following selective damage to either route. This paper evaluates evidence on these topics, and in each case the claims of the theory for an independent nonlexical processing route are called into question. This conclusion is further supported by a discussion of the linguistic constraints that limit any nonlexical grapheme-phoneme conversion process. Some alternative approaches to visual word processing, which share the assumption that lexical knowledge can guide the assembly of phonological information, are discussed. It is argued that these approaches should direct future research.

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Sentence Parsing in Dutch: The Importance of Lexical Influences

Psychologica Belgica, 1994

Abstract 1. Addresses the idea of a syntactic parser as a bridge between word recognition and tex... more Abstract 1. Addresses the idea of a syntactic parser as a bridge between word recognition and text comprehension. It is demonstrated that lexical effects comparable to those used in the study by G. Flores d&amp;#x27;Arcais (1990) occur in Dutch, disproving the claim that parsing biases in this kind of material support the theory that late closure is a universal strategy. 24 native Dutch speakers participated in a series of 4 reading experiments, consisting of 4 sentences embedded in filler sentences. 25 filler sentences were followed by a question ...

Accounting for regressive eye-movements in models of sentence processing: A reappraisal of the Selective Reanalysis hypothesis

Journal of Memory and Language, 2008

When people read temporarily ambiguous sentences, there is often an increased prevalence of regre... more When people read temporarily ambiguous sentences, there is often an increased prevalence of regressive eye-movements launched from the word that resolves the ambiguity. Traditionally, such regressions have been interpreted at least in part as reflecting readers' efforts to re-read and reconfigure earlier material, as exemplified by the Selective Reanalysis hypothesis [Frazier, L., & Rayner, K. (1982). Making and correcting errors during sentence comprehension: Eye movements in the analysis of structurally ambiguous sentences. Cognitive Psychology, 14, 178-210]. Within such frameworks it is assumed that the selection of saccadic landing-sites is linguistically supervised. As an alternative to this proposal, we consider the possibility (dubbed the Time Out hypothesis) that regression control is partly decoupled from linguistic operations and that landing-sites are instead selected on the basis of low-level spatial properties such as their proximity to the point from which the regressive saccade was launched. Two eye-tracking experiments were conducted to compare the explanatory potential of these two accounts. Experiment 1 manipulated the formatting of linguistically identical sentences and showed, contrary to purely linguistic supervision, that the landing site of the first regression from a critical word was reliably influenced by the physical layout of the text. Experiment 2 used a fixed physical format but manipulated the position in the display at which reanalysis-relevant material was located. Here the results showed a highly reliable linguistic influence on the overall distribution of regression landing sites (though with few effects being apparent on the very first regression). These results are interpreted as reflecting mutually exclusive forms of regression control with fixation sequences being influenced both by spatially constrained, partially decoupled supervision systems as well as by some kind of linguistic guidance. The findings are discussed in relation to existing computational models of eye-movements in reading.

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Chapter 6. Parsing in different languages

Language Processing in Spanish 1996 Isbn 0 8058 1721 2 Pags 145 190, 1996

Absence of real evidence against competition during syntactic ambiguity resolution

Journal of Memory and Language, 2006

Using evidence from eye-tracking studies, Van Gompel, Pickering, Pearson, and Liversedge (2005) h... more Using evidence from eye-tracking studies, Van Gompel, Pickering, Pearson, and Liversedge (2005) have argued against currently implemented constraint-based models of syntactic ambiguity resolution. The case against these competition models is based on a mismatch between reported patterns of reading data and the putative predictions of the models. Using a series of detailed simulations, we show that there are marked differences between the actual and claimed predictions of one of the main exemplar models. As a consequence, we argue that the existing data remain entirely compatible with at least one current constraint-based account. We end with a brief discussion of the implications for a range of other implemented models.

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Unity and ultimate reality: a response to Masao Abe

Eastern Buddhist New Series, 1993

Parsing in different languages

Exposure-based models of human parsing: Evidence for the use of coarse-grained (nonlexical) statistical records

by Don Mitchell and Marc Brysbaert

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 1995

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Immediate biases in parsing: Discourse effects or experimental artifacts?

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1994

ABSTRACT Questions concerning relatively immediate determinants of syntactic analysis can be tack... more ABSTRACT Questions concerning relatively immediate determinants of syntactic analysis can be tackled by comparing the reading times within crucial regions of subject- and object-relative clauses. Using such a comparison, G. T. Altmann et al (see record 1994-24172-001) have presented data which they interpreted as evidence for a discourse-driven account of parsing. This article reexamines this evidence and highlights a number of potential artifacts in the data. An experiment was conducted to demonstrate that at least some of these artifacts may have introduced distortions which were large enough to be of practical concern. It is concluded that the findings of the Altmann et al experiment failed to provide unambiguous support for the discourse-driven model of parsing and that, overall, structure-driven models still offer a better account of the data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Effects of context in human sentence parsing: Evidence against a discourse-based proposal mechanism

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 1992

Two subject-paced reading experiments were carried out to examine the way in which discourse info... more

Incremental Pre-head Attachment in Japanese Parsing

Language and Cognitive Processes, 1999

ABSTRACT The present study addresses the question of whether structural analyses of verb-argument... more ABSTRACT The present study addresses the question of whether structural analyses of verb-arguments are postponed up until the head verb has been processed (head-driven parsing accounts) or initiated prior to the appearance of the verb (pre-head attachment accounts). To explore this question in relation to a head-final language, a Japanese dative argument attachment ambiguity was examined in both a questionnaire study (Experiment 1) and a self-paced reading test (Experiment 2). The data suggested that the dative argument attachment ambiguity is resolved in the manner predicted by pre-head attachment accounts. The results were incompatible with most variants of the head-driven parsing model, and were not of the form currently predicted by constraint-satisfaction models. We end by discussing the general theoretical implications of the findings.

Relative clause attachment: Nondeterminism in Japanese parsing

Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 1997

Like many other languages, Japanese is ambiguous about the potential attachment sites of a relati... more Like many other languages, Japanese is ambiguous about the potential attachment sites of a relative clause which appears alongside a complex noun phrase. One important class of parsing theories (nondeterministic accounts) predicts that the relative clause will initially be attached to the first available host and later assigned to an alternative site, following the intervention of certain discourse processes. An alternative (deterministic) account maintains that the preliminary attachment site remains unchanged throughout the course of processing the sentence. The results of a questionnaire and a self-paced reading study with Japanese materials of this kind provided evidence of phased attachment first to one noun host and then to another. It is argued that these results are compatible only with nondeterministic accounts of parsing.

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