Structural constraints on pronoun binding and coreference: evidence from eye movements during reading

A number of recent studies have investigated how syntactic and non-syntactic constraints combine to cue memory retrieval during anaphora resolution. In this paper we investigate how syntactic constraints and gender congruence interact to guide memory retrieval during the resolution of subject pronouns. Subject pronouns are always technically ambiguous, and the application of syntactic constraints on their interpretation depends on properties of the antecedent that is to be retrieved. While pronouns can freely corefer with non-quantified referential antecedents, linking a pronoun to a quantified antecedent is only possible in certain syntactic configurations via variable binding. We report the results from a judgment task and three online reading comprehension experiments investigating pronoun resolution with quantified and non-quantified antecedents. Results from both the judgment task and participants' eye movements during reading indicate that comprehenders freely allow pronouns to corefer with non-quantified antecedents, but that retrieval of quantified antecedents is restricted to specific syntactic environments. We interpret our findings as indicating that syntactic constraints constitute highly weighted cues to memory retrieval during anaphora resolution

Variable binding and coreference in sentence comprehension: evidence from eye movements

The hypothesis that pronouns can be resolved via either the syntax or the discourse representation has played an important role in linguistic accounts of pronoun interpretation (e.g. Grodzinsky & Reinhart, 1993). We report the results of an eye-movement monitoring study investigating the relative timing of syntactically-mediated variable binding and discourse-based coreference assignment during pronoun resolution. We examined whether ambiguous pronouns are preferentially resolved via either the variable binding or coreference route, and in particular tested the hypothesis that variable binding should always be computed before coreference assignment. Participants’ eye movements were monitored while they read sentences containing a pronoun and two potential antecedents, a c-commanding quantified noun phrase and a non c-commanding proper name. Gender congruence between the pronoun and either of the two potential antecedents was manipulated as an experimental diagnostic for dependency formation. In two experiments, we found that participants’ reading times were reliably longer when the linearly closest antecedent mismatched in gender with the pronoun. These findings fail to support the hypothesis that variable binding is computed before coreference assignment, and instead suggest that antecedent recency plays an important role in affecting the extent to which a variable binding antecedent is considered. We discuss these results in relation to models of memory retrieval during sentence comprehension, and interpret the antecedent recency preference as an example of forgetting over time

Community engagement in an international sailing event: the Monsoon Cup in Malaysia

Abstract Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore resident perceptions of, and engagement with a staged sport event, the Monsoon Cup. The Monsoon Cup is an international yachting regatta which is held annually in Terengganu, Malaysia and is strongly supported by their Federal Government to raise the country’s international profile as a popular sport tourism destination. Previous studies have reviewed residents’ attitudes towards tourism development and the factors that influence their perceptions. However, little research has been conducted on residents’ expectations, interests and needs in terms of a specific mega sport tourism event such as the Monsoon Cup. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews was the principal means of collecting data. The sample consisted of local residents living in Pulau Duyong, five kilometers from the capital of Terengganu. Thirty-six residents were interviewed with the majority being male (N = 28), with ages ranging from 20 to 73 years. A number of questions were developed and pilot tested before being posed to the study respondents about the annual staging of the Monsoon Cup. NVIVO 9.1 computer software package was used to code, compare and classify the major themes that recurred or were common in the data set. Findings: The findings provided strong support for the critical importance of actively engaging local residents in the staging of such a large-scale event. In the first year of operation, many of the local residents of Pulau Duyong had enthusiastically participated in MC-related activities; however, the level of engagement had declined significantly in the recent years. In the future, every effort must be taken to focus on the development of better lines of communication and information dissemination with respect to the planning and actual staging of the annual event than is currently the case. Practical implications Community feedback suggested that key stakeholders involved in the staging of the Monsoon Cup have a critical role to play in the future in engaging local residents of Pulau Duyong more purposefully in the event itself. Greater effort must be made on the part of event organisers to actively recruit local residents to assist with the event planning, promotion and staging of the regatta. In addition, the distribution of brochures on a periodic basis to convey information about event-related activities and opportunities for community engagement were suggested to be a highly desirable first step. Practical implications: Community feedback suggested that the event company involved in the staging of the Monsoon Cup had a critical role to play in engaging local residents of Pulau Duyong more purposefully in the event itself. In particular, effort needed to be focussed initially on the development of better lines of communication and information dissemination with respect to the planning and actual staging of the annual event than was currently the case. Originality/value: This research will be of great benefit to the key stakeholders involved in the staging of the event, which includes local government, the event organisers, tourism professionals and community residents, by providing deeper insights into matters that residents expressed as being important. This will help to ensure that in the future, all stakeholders will be empowered contributors to the ongoing planning and annual staging of this international event

Cultural critique and canon formation, 1910-1937. A study in modernism and cultural memory

This thesis argues that one of the tasks of literary history is to identify and challenge the processes by which writers who were once highly valued come to be forgotten and excluded from the canon. I investigate the work and cultural milieu of three such writers: Douglas Goldring, John Rodker and Mary Butts. The first chapter sets the terms of the argument, and presents the grounds for a reconfiguration of the conventional historical view of modernism. The second examines the early work of Douglas Goldring: his achievements as editor of The Tramp are related to its cultural and historical situation; I then turn to the history of conscientious objection in the First World War in order to explore the politics of his 1917 novel The Fortune, and to provide historical material necessary for the later reading of Rodker's Memoirs of Other Fronts. This leads on to a discussion of some of his subsequent political novels and plays. In the third and fourth chapters, I analyse the work of John Rodker, from his adolescence in the East End of London to his maturity, first in relation to modernist dance and theatrical experiments in London during the first war, and later to avant-garde writing in England and France in the 1920s, particularly as it draws upon psycho-analysis. The fifth chapter examines the novels of Mary Butts, particularly Ashe of Rings, which is read as a war-novel, but one which makes constructive use of her interest in the occult. What this category meant during that period is also investigated, which allows me to formulate a broader argument that situates her work within a tradition that takes fantasy seriously, while remaining critical of the conceptual framework of psycho-analysis. I follow this up by showing the later importance of unconscious anti-semitism to her capacity to elaborate an ecological nationalism. The final chapter examines anti-semitism and satire in the relationship between Rodker and Wyndham Lewis, and offers a further explanatory justification for the argument of the thesis

Aerobic respiratory costs of swimming in the negatively buoyant brief squid Lolliguncula brevis

Because of the inherent inefficiency of jet propulsion, squid are considered to be at a competitive disadvantage compared with fishes, which generally depend on forms of undulatory/oscillatory locomotion. Some squid, such as the brief squid Lolliguncula brevis, swim at low speeds in shallow-water complex environments, relying heavily on fin activity. Consequently, their swimming costs may be lower than those of the faster, more pelagic squid studied previously and competitive with those of ecologically relevant fishes. To examine aerobic respiratory swimming costs, O2 consumption rates were measured for L. brevis of various sizes (2–9 cm dorsal mantle length, DML) swimming over a range of speeds (3–30 cm s–1) in swim tunnel respirometers, while their behavior was videotaped. Using kinematic data from swimming squid and force data from models, power curves were also generated. Many squid demonstrated partial (J-shaped) or full (U-shaped) parabolic patterns of O2 consumption rate as a function of swimming speed, with O2 consumption minima at 0.5–1.5 DML s–1. Power curves derived from hydrodynamic data plotted as a function of swimming speed were also parabolic, with power minima at 1.2–1.7 DML s–1. The parabolic relationship between O2 consumption rate/power and speed, which is also found in aerial flyers such as birds, bats and insects but rarely in aquatic swimmers because of the difficulties associated with low-speed respirometry, is the result of the high cost of generating lift and maintaining stability at low speeds and overcoming drag at high speeds. L. brevis has a lower rate of O2 consumption than the squid Illex illecebrosus and Loligo opalescens studied in swim tunnel respirometers and is energetically competitive (especially at O2 consumption minima) with fishes, such as striped bass, mullet and flounder. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that, like aerial flyers, some negatively buoyant nekton have parabolic patterns of O2 consumption rate/power as a function of speed and that certain shallow-water squid using considerable fin activity have swimming costs that are competitive with those of ecologically relevant fishes

Swimming mechanics and behavior of the shallow-water brief squid Lolliguncula brevis

Although squid are among the most versatile swimmers and rely on a unique locomotor system, little is known about the swimming mechanics and behavior of most squid, especially those that swim at low speeds in inshore waters. Shallow-water brief squid Lolliguncula brevis, ranging in size from 1.8 to 8.9 cm in dorsal mantle length (DML), were placed in flumes and videotaped, and the data were analyzed using motion-analysis equipment. Flow visualization and force measurement experiments were also performed in water tunnels. Mean critical swimming speeds (Ucrit) ranged from 15.3 to 22.8 cm s–1, and mean transition speeds (Ut; the speed above which squid swim exclusively in a tail-first orientation) varied from 9.0 to 15.3 cm s–1. At low speeds, negatively buoyant brief squid generated lift and/or improved stability by positioning the mantle and arms at high angles of attack, directing high-speed jets downwards (angles \u3e50°) and using fin activity. To reduce drag at high speeds, the squid decreased angles of attack and swam tail-first. Fin motion, which could not be characterized exclusively as drag- or lift-based propulsion, was used over 50–95 % of the sustained speed range and provided as much as 83.8 % of the vertical and 55.1 % of the horizontal thrust. Small squid (DML) used different swimming strategies from those of larger squid, possibly to maximize thrust benefits from vortex ring formation. Furthermore, brief squid employed various unsteady behaviors, such as manipulating funnel diameter during jetting, altering arm position and swimming in different orientations, to boost swimming performance. These results demonstrate that locomotion in slow-swimming squid is complex, involving intricate spatial and temporal interactions between the mantle, fins, arms and funnel

Residents’ needs and organisers’ goals towards the organisation of Monsoon Cup Event, Malaysia

The Monsoon Cup sporting event is an international yachting regatta held annually in Pulau Duyong, Terengganu, Malaysia during monsoon season between November and January. This research is significant for stakeholders (the community and organisers) in terms of promoting a more transparent process for managing and organising of the Monsoon Cup sailing event. The aim of this research is to examine the social and economic needs of the residents and the goals of the organisers’ (government and Event Company) in organising the Monsoon Cup event. This research used qualitative technique and data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interview with 14 individuals from the organizing team and 36 local residents from Pulau Duyong. The collected data was analysed using thematic content analysis. This research used social exchange theory to develop its theoretical framework. Several important themes emerged from the interviews with the residents that the event would provide positive economic impact especially in increasing income and providing new business opportunities. The interviews with the organisers revealed some important goals which were to promote Terengganu internationally, to provide source of income, to promote traditional boat making industry and to encourage the sport of sailing. Finally, this research had exposed the similarities and differences between residents’ needs and organisers’ goals which can provide strategies to achieve mutual understanding between the key stakeholders