This project investigates how the mind coordinates information in human memory with the presentation of novel information provided during language comprehension. The focus is on the dynamic construction of a mental representation of discourse through the interpretation of referential expressions, typically pronouns. The work investigates the manner in which this process is mediated by representational aspects of episodic and semantic memory, and will integrate knowledge about memory and language processing to explain how the ambiguity, frequency, and semantic content of noun phrases affect a critical aspect of language comprehension, namely the interpretation of expressions that refer to entities mentioned previously.
The primary method used in the research is to measure the eye movements of adults as they read short passages; an additional method involves measurement of the time that it takes to answer questions about the passages. The research will provide answers to two fundamental questions which have been the subject of substantial debate in recent years: (1) What role, if any, can general principles of memory play in explaining language processing, and (2) in what ways, if any, is reference to entities that are central (or topical) in a discourse processed differently from reference to entities that are not central.
Drs. Peter C. Gordon and Randall Hendrick conducted research on how memory representations are dynamically formed and updated during purposeful reading. Their research has shown how the structure of languages determines the amount of information that must be retrieved from long-term memory and integrated by working-memory processes in order to achieve successful reading comprehension. The structure of language packages information through the form and order of words. This packaging allows the content of memory to be accessed and manipulated by skilled readers. The project used advanced technology to precisely measure eye movements and brain activity during reading. The primary sites for this research have been in the Departments of Psychology and Linguistics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Additional research has been conducted in collaboration with scientists in Seoul, South Korea and in Hong Kong. These global collaborations have allowed the research to evaluate the reading of three different languages, English, Chinese and Korean, in order to determine the fundamental nature of the interaction between language and memory, independent of the influences of any specific language. Increased understanding of the relation between language and memory helps focus the search for the specific brain mechanisms that make higher-level human cognition possible. This understanding facilitates the development of evidence-based approaches to the teaching of reading and to the remediation of reading disability. This understanding also facilitates the effort to differentiate subtypes of language disorders, as found in neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, so that the language deficits seen in children with these disorders can be related to the advances obtained in the study of the human genome. The identification of the component processes of reading, and of language processing more generally, has the potential to transform efforts to diagnose and treat impairments in language ability that can present serious obstacles to development and learning. During this project the investigators actively collaborated with specialists in other disciplines, particularly neuroscientists, autism researchers and computer scientists. In addition, over a dozen students and a postdoctoral trainee worked on the project. Those students learned how knowledge obtained in different disciplines can be used to address complex problems. Three students who worked on the project as undergraduates have gone to Ph.D. programs at major institutions. Two graduate students received their doctoral degrees for work supported by the project, one works at a technology company and the second is a faculty member in a psychology department in S. Korea. The postdoctoral trainee who worked on the project now is a faculty member in speech and hearing sciences.
