Establishing the experimental method for eye-tracking research on Japanese sentence processing

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26770134
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Linguistics
• Research Institution: Seijo University (2015-2016); The University of Tokyo (2014)
• Principal Investigator: Arai Manabu 成城大学, 経済学部, 専任講師 (20568860)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 眼球運動 / 日本語理解 / 関係節文 / 予測 / 動詞末位型言語 / 統計分析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research examined the validity of the expectation-based model in the processing of Japanese sentences by using eye-tracking technique. The results from multiple experiments revealed that Japanese readers process sentences incrementally just as English readers but importantly, the frequencies of structural configurations accompanied with case markers and the timing for the arrival of disambiguating information influences the estimation of probabilities for possible structural options. I also published a paper that discusses standard experimental design and reasonable statistical analysis for eye-tracking research on Japanese sentence processing.

Free Research Field

言語心理学