Predictive Sentence Processing at Speed: Evidence from Online Mouse Cursor Tracking

Three online mouse cursor-tracking experiments investigated predictive sentence processing at speed. Participants viewed visual arrays with objects like a bike and kite while hearing predictive sentences like, "What the man will ride, which is shown on this page, is the bike," or non-predictive sentences like, "What the man will spot, which is shown on this page, is the bike." Based on the selectional restrictions of "ride" (i.e., vs. "spot"), participants made mouse cursor movements to the bike before hearing the noun "bike." Compellingly, this effect was observed at speech rates of ∼3 (Experiment 1), ∼6 (Experiment 2), and ∼9 (Experiment 3) syllables/s. While prior research suggests striking limits on prediction, these results highlight temporal dynamics that may impact comprehenders' ability to preactivate information when hearing impressively rapid speech. Implications for theories of sentence processing are discussed.