1
|
Ünal E, Wilson F, Trueswell J, Papafragou A. Asymmetries in encoding event roles: Evidence from language and cognition. Cognition 2024; 250:105868. [PMID: 38959638 PMCID: PMC11358469 DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2022] [Revised: 05/20/2024] [Accepted: 06/28/2024] [Indexed: 07/05/2024]
Abstract
It has long been hypothesized that the linguistic structure of events, including event participants and their relative prominence, draws on the non-linguistic nature of events and the roles that these events license. However, the precise relation between the prominence of event participants in language and cognition has not been tested experimentally in a systematic way. Here we address this gap. In four experiments, we investigate the relative prominence of (animate) Agents, Patients, Goals and Instruments in the linguistic encoding of complex events and the prominence of these event roles in cognition as measured by visual search and change blindness tasks. The relative prominence of these event roles was largely similar-though not identical-across linguistic and non-linguistic measures. Across linguistic and non-linguistic tasks, Patients were more salient than Goals, which were more salient than Instruments. (Animate) Agents were more salient than Patients in linguistic descriptions and visual search; however, this asymmetrical pattern did not emerge in change detection. Overall, our results reveal homologies between the linguistic and non-linguistic prominence of individual event participants, thereby lending support to the claim that the linguistic structure of events builds on underlying conceptual event representations. We discuss implications of these findings for linguistic theory and theories of event cognition.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ercenur Ünal
- Department of Psychology, Ozyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - Frances Wilson
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA
| | - John Trueswell
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Anna Papafragou
- Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Vurgun U, Ji Y, Papafragou A. Aspectual Processing Shifts Visual Event Apprehension. Cogn Sci 2024; 48:e13476. [PMID: 38923020 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Revised: 05/29/2024] [Accepted: 06/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
What is the relationship between language and event cognition? Past work has suggested that linguistic/aspectual distinctions encoding the internal temporal profile of events map onto nonlinguistic event representations. Here, we use a novel visual detection task to directly test the hypothesis that processing telic versus atelic sentences (e.g., "Ebony folded a napkin in 10 seconds" vs. "Ebony did some folding for 10 seconds") can influence whether the very same visual event is processed as containing distinct temporal stages including a well-defined endpoint or lacking such structure, respectively. In two experiments, we show that processing (a)telicity in language shifts how people later construe the temporal structure of identical visual stimuli. We conclude that event construals are malleable representations that can align with the linguistic framing of events.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Yue Ji
- School of Foreign Languages, Beijing Institute of Technology
| | | |
Collapse
|
3
|
Huber E, Sauppe S, Isasi-Isasmendi A, Bornkessel-Schlesewsky I, Merlo P, Bickel B. Surprisal From Language Models Can Predict ERPs in Processing Predicate-Argument Structures Only if Enriched by an Agent Preference Principle. NEUROBIOLOGY OF LANGUAGE (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) 2024; 5:167-200. [PMID: 38645615 PMCID: PMC11025647 DOI: 10.1162/nol_a_00121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
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 modeling 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 noun phrases 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.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Eva Huber
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian Sauppe
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Arrate Isasi-Isasmendi
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
| | - Paola Merlo
- Department of Linguistics, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- University Center for Computer Science, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Sauppe S, Naess Å, Roversi G, Meyer M, Bornkessel-Schlesewsky I, Bickel B. An Agent-First Preference in a Patient-First Language During Sentence Comprehension. Cogn Sci 2023; 47:e13340. [PMID: 37715510 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13340] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
The language comprehension system preferentially assumes that agents come first during incremental processing. While this might reflect a biologically fixed bias, shared with other domains and other species, the evidence is limited to languages that place agents first, and so the bias could also be learned from usage frequency. Here, we probe the bias with electroencephalography (EEG) in Äiwoo, a language that by default places patients first, but where sentence-initial nouns are still locally ambiguous between patient or agent roles. Comprehenders transiently interpreted nonhuman nouns as patients, eliciting a negativity when disambiguation was toward the less common agent-initial order. By contrast and against frequencies, human nouns were transiently interpreted as agents, eliciting an N400-like negativity when the disambiguation was toward patient-initial order. Consistent with the notion of a fixed property, the agent bias is robust against usage frequency for human referents. However, this bias can be reversed by frequency experience for nonhuman referents.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Sauppe
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich
| | - Åshild Naess
- Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo
| | - Giovanni Roversi
- Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
| | - Martin Meyer
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, Psychological Institute, University of Klagenfurt
| | - Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky
- Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, Australian Research Centre for Interactive and Virtual Environments, University of South Australia
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Isasi-Isasmendi A, Andrews C, Flecken M, Laka I, Daum MM, Meyer M, Bickel B, Sauppe S. The Agent Preference in Visual Event Apprehension. Open Mind (Camb) 2023; 7:240-282. [PMID: 37416075 PMCID: PMC10320828 DOI: 10.1162/opmi_a_00083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 03/19/2023] [Indexed: 07/08/2023] Open
Abstract
A central aspect of human experience and communication is understanding events in terms of agent ("doer") and patient ("undergoer" of action) roles. These event roles are rooted in general cognition and prominently encoded in language, with agents appearing as more salient and preferred over patients. An unresolved question is whether this preference for agents already operates during apprehension, that is, the earliest stage of event processing, and if so, whether the effect persists across different animacy configurations and task demands. Here we contrast event apprehension in two tasks and two languages that encode agents differently; Basque, a language that explicitly case-marks agents ('ergative'), and Spanish, which does not mark agents. In two brief exposure experiments, native Basque and Spanish speakers saw pictures for only 300 ms, and subsequently described them or answered probe questions about them. We compared eye fixations and behavioral correlates of event role extraction with Bayesian regression. Agents received more attention and were recognized better across languages and tasks. At the same time, language and task demands affected the attention to agents. Our findings show that a general preference for agents exists in event apprehension, but it can be modulated by task and language demands.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Arrate Isasi-Isasmendi
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Caroline Andrews
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Monique Flecken
- Department of Linguistics, Amsterdam Centre for Language and Communication, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Itziar Laka
- Department of Linguistics and Basque Studies, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
| | - Moritz M. Daum
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Jacobs Center for Productive Youth Development, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Martin Meyer
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Cognitive Psychology Unit, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Sebastian Sauppe
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Zuberbühler K, Bickel B. Transition to language: From agent perception to event representation. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2022; 13:e1594. [PMID: 35639563 PMCID: PMC9786335 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Spoken language, as we have it, requires specific capacities-at its most basic advanced vocal control and complex social cognition. In humans, vocal control is the basis for speech, achieved through coordinated interactions of larynx activity and rapid changes in vocal tract configurations. Most likely, speech evolved in response to early humans perceiving reality in increasingly complex ways, to the effect that primate-like signaling became unsustainable as a sole communication device. However, in what ways did and do humans see the world in more complex ways compared to other species? Although animal signals can refer to external events, in contrast to humans, they usually refer to the agents only, sometimes in compositional ways, but never together with patients. It may be difficult for animals to comprehend events as part of larger social scripts, with antecedent causes and future consequences, which are more typically tie the patient into the event. Human brain enlargement over the last million years probably has provided the cognitive resources to represent social interactions as part of bigger social scripts, which enabled humans to go beyond an agent-focus to refer to agent-patient relations, the likely foundation for the evolution of grammar. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Linguistics > Evolution of Language Psychology > Comparative.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Zuberbühler
- Institute of Biology, University of NeuchatelNeuchatel
- School of Psychology and NeuroscienceUniversity of St AndrewsSt Andrews
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language ScienceUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language EvolutionUniversity of ZurichZurichSwitzerland
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Wilson VAD, Zuberbühler K, Bickel B. The evolutionary origins of syntax: Event cognition in nonhuman primates. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabn8464. [PMID: 35731868 PMCID: PMC9216513 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abn8464] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 05/05/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Languages tend to encode events from the perspective of agents, placing them first and in simpler forms than patients. This agent bias is mirrored by cognition: Agents are more quickly recognized than patients and generally attract more attention. This leads to the hypothesis that key aspects of language structure are fundamentally rooted in a cognition that decomposes events into agents, actions, and patients, privileging agents. Although this type of event representation is almost certainly universal across languages, it remains unclear whether the underlying cognition is uniquely human or more widespread in animals. Here, we review a range of evidence from primates and other animals, which suggests that agent-based event decomposition is phylogenetically older than humans. We propose a research program to test this hypothesis in great apes and human infants, with the goal to resolve one of the major questions in the evolution of language, the origins of syntax.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa A. D. Wilson
- Department of Comparative Cognition, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- Department of Comparative Cognition, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland
| | - Balthasar Bickel
- Department of Comparative Language Science, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution (ISLE), University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|