Frazier and Rayner Eye-Tracking Experiment (1982)
Two variables:
Late Closure vs. Early Closure
Long vs. Short noun phrases
Example sentences:
LC-Long:
After you drank the strange looking water they discovered it was polluted.
EC-Long:
After you drank the strange looking water was discovered to be polluted.
LC-Short: After you drank the water they discovered it was polluted.
EC-Short: After you drank the water was discovered to be polluted.
Reading Times (in milliseconds):
Before
Ambiguity Ambiguity Disambiguation
EC-Long
1st pass 44 40 54
2nd pass 21 32 48
Total 65 72 102
EC-Short
1st pass 43 37 41
2nd pass 18 37 41
Total 61 74 82
LC-Long
1st pass 43 35 40
2nd pass 12 15 23
Total 55 50 63
LC-Short
1st pass 40 42 47
2nd pass 16 27 22
Total 56 69 69
Trueswell et al. (1994) Eye-Tracking Experiment
Two variables:
1. Animate vs. Inanimate subjects (Defendant vs. Evidence)
2. Reduced vs. Unreduced relative clauses
Examples:
Animate-Reduced: The defendant examined by the lawyer turned out to be unreliable.
Animate-Unreduced: The defendant that was examined by the lawyer turned out to be unreliable.
Inanimate-Reduced: The evidence examined by the lawyer turned out to be unreliable.
Inanimate-Unreduced: The evidence that was examined by the lawyer turned out to be unreliable.