The Processing of Tense

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This work conducts a psycholinguistic investigation into the processing of the English past tense, focusing on its interpretation and contextual factors. While tense has been extensively studied in syntax and semantics, the psychological processing aspect has received less attention. This book offers a detailed study of tense processing in adult comprehension tasks, serving as a model for experimental work grounded in sophisticated linguistic theory. It delves into representational issues, linking them to experimental challenges. The experiments assess the hypothesis of "Parsimony," a concept with tentative support in other domains, as a key factor in tense interpretation. However, the results consistently challenge Parsimony's predictions, leaning instead towards a view that emphasizes the significance of structural factors in sentence syntax. Throughout the research, the author examines various plausible hypotheses, with the evaluation of Parsimony remaining central to the investigation. This rich exploration contributes valuable insights into how tense is processed and understood within the framework of linguistic theory.