Eye-Tracking and Experimental Syntax

Abstract

Abstract In order to use eye-tracking to investigate grammatical representations and the commitments made by formal syntactic theories, researchers must have clear linking hypotheses between reading behavior, parsing operations and grammatical constructs. The ability to articulate linking hypotheses presupposes a basic understanding of reading and eye-tracking measures. To this end, we provide an overview of the psychology of reading and eye-tracking-while-reading method. We review findings that grammatical processing is reflected in the eye-tracking record, offer remarks on practical aspects of constructing eye-tracking experiments, and discuss issues related to aligning grammatical model with parsing models. We offer in-depth case-studies on the processing of A’-dependencies and reflexive anaphors, and discuss how their results reflect on grammatical questions.