Jersey cows or jersey shirts? The influence of prior knowledge and context on ambiguity resolution
2022-09
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Jersey cows or jersey shirts? The influence of prior knowledge and context on ambiguity resolution
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2022-09
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Abstract
Ambiguous words within text can slow down the comprehension process as readers need
more time to determine their appropriate meaning. According to the reordered access
model of ambiguity resolution, both context and frequency of usage influence the speed
at which a reader selects the appropriate meaning. Additionally, prior knowledge related
to one meaning of an ambiguous word can slow the speed of access if it does not align
with the context of the sentence containing the ambiguous word. Such difficulties in
meaning selection typically manifest as longer reading times in certain parts of a sentence
(i.e., the ambiguous word, text appearing after the ambiguous word). This study expands
upon previous works by comparing the effects of prior knowledge (i.e., baseball
knowledge) and context on readers’ ability to determine the appropriate meaning of
ambiguous words via monitoring their eye movements. A quasi-experimental design was
used in which participants read 12 passages containing baseball-related ambiguous and
unambiguous words presented in one of two types of prior context (i.e., context biased
towards the less frequently used meaning or context biased towards the more frequently
used meaning). Reading times were longer after reading dominant-biasing context and
for those high in baseball knowledge. Results from this emphasize the importance of
frequency of usage and context on ambiguity resolution as well as the impact of prior
knowledge on comprehension overall.
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A Plan B Defense submitted to the faculty of the University of Minnesota by Hannah Victoria Pannell in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's of Arts, September 2022. This item has been modified from the original to redact the signature present.
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Pannell, Hannah Victoria. (2022). Jersey cows or jersey shirts? The influence of prior knowledge and context on ambiguity resolution. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/241472.
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