Memory Representations and Language Processing

This project investigates the role of memory in language processing.

Knowledge about how memory and language interact is essential for understanding how linguistic abilities are affected by processes of memory decay, such as ageing or brain injury. We focus on a fundamental linguistic process, that of establishing reference between a word and what it refers to.

This four-year project is the first study to explore how individual working memory capacity and reference are connected, and to systematically investigate the relation between different types of semantic modification and short-term memory.

Phrases referring to the same thing can contain different information (a boy and a tall young boy), and a pronoun (he) can refer back to both. A key question is if the amount of semantic content of a phrase affects its memory representation.

By varying the semantic content, and the distance between the pronoun and this phrase, we examine how memory-related factors matter in the processing of reference. Our hypothesis is that the semantically richer a linguistic item is, the stronger the memory representation will be. Semantically rich items will therefore be more resistant to short-term memory decay.

Using EEG, we look at the brain´s processing of pronominal reference to a previously mentioned phrase and relate the EEG-signal to individual memory capacity. The project will contribute to one of the most vibrant cross-disciplinary research fields: the study of the human mind.