Semantic distinctions and memory for complex sentences

Abstract

This investigation studied what people remember in recalling complex sentences, whether it is certain semantic distinctions or merely transformational markers. After short intervals 24 subjects tried to recall sentences of six kinds which formed paraphrase sets: S ₁ before S ₂, S ₁ and then S ₂, After S ₁ S ₂, S ₂ after S ₁, S ₂ but first S ₁, and Before S ₂ S ₁. (S₁ and S₂ denote first and second clauses in temporal, not linguistic, order.) Subjects remembered the underlying sense of sentences with S₁–S₂ clause ordering better than those with S₂–S₁ clause ordering, regardless of transformational complexity. Subjects also showed a response bias, hence better verbatim recall, for sentences with subordinate clause second and for sentences with S₁–S₂ clause ordering. Sentence confusions indicated that subjects remembered three semantic distinctions: the temporal order, order of mention, and main-subordinate relation of the two described events. A theory of memory for marked and unmarked semantic distinctions was used to account for the results.