Previous eye tracking research using sentences like (1) suggested that a dative verb introduces an indirect object (recipient) into the discourse (Boland, 2005). Boland found anticipatory fixations on photographs depicting potential recipients following dative (but not transitive) verbs. Datives also require a direct object (theme), but there were relatively few fixations on photographs depicting themes, even after the pronoun. In the current study, the theme attracts a high proportion of fixations when it is prominent (i.e., focused, Selkirk, 1984) in a sentence’s information structure.

In fifteen sets of items we manipulated sentence structure such that, at the verb, the theme was either still in focus (2) or not (3), using the same dative (e.g., loan) and transitive control (e.g., own) verbs in both conditions. We also manipulated the frequency with which the dative verbs occurred with recipient arguments. Twenty-one participants listened to the sentences while looking at photos corresponding to the agent, theme, and potential recipient of the critical verb. A fourth photo depicted an object that was not a potential argument of either the dative or the control verb.

We examined gaze in 100 ms bins 200-1000 ms after the onset of dative and transitive verbs. Fixations on the theme were much more likely in the focused condition. This effect interacted with both verb-type and temporal bin, with the verb-type by focus interaction localized 600-1000 ms after verb onset. For the high frequency datives, fixations on the theme in the focused condition declined 600-1000 ms after verb onset as attention shifted toward other depicted entities.

Fixations on the recipient were also influenced by the focus manipulation, though less dramatically. When the theme was focused, the critical verb was in a relative clause. When the theme was unfocused, the verb was in a more prominent position, as in Boland (2005). The current research investigated whether the anticipatory fixations on recipients found in Boland (2005) would be replicated if the verb were in a less prominent position. In fact, sentence structure interacted with both temporal bin and verb-type. High frequency datives prompted more fixations on recipients across the entire critical interval when the verb was in a main clause. Surprisingly, the control condition also had more fixations on recipients when the verb was in a main clause, but this effect interacted with temporal bin, beginning substantially later than for datives.

This research demonstrates that sentential focus strongly influences visual attention toward event participants, at times minimizing effects of argument structure. In a related experiment, using nearly identical materials in an auditory change- detection paradigm, listeners were less sensitive to dative/transitive verb substitutions when the theme was focused. Taken together, these findings suggest that verb meaning (or perhaps argument structure) is processed more deeply when a verb is in a more prominent position.

Examples

(1) The house was dirty inside, but the realtor swept/sold it easily for/to some newlyweds.

(2) The necklace that the well-known jeweler loaned/owned/sold was worth a million dollars.

(3) Because one comic book was extremely rare, the famous collector loaned/owned/sold it in secret.

References

Boland, J. (2005). Visual arguments. Cognition, 95, 237-274.Selkirk, E. (1984). Phonology and syntax: The relation between sound and structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.