COMPREHENSION OF ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SENTENCES AS A FUNCTION OF PRAGMATIC EXPECTATIONS

Active and passive reversible sentences were presented to 48 Ss. When the sentences were not reversed, the relation between the logical subject (LS) and the logical object (LO) was pragmatically expected; when they were reversed, it was contrary to expectation. Subjects' task was to extract LS and LO. When response latencies were calculated, it was found that there was a significant reversal but no voice effect. In a second experiment, sentences were again reversible, but the relation between LS and LO was equally expected when sentences were reversed as when they were not. A significant voice but no reversal effect was found. It was concluded that pragmatic expectations are an important cue to comprehension; that they are independent of grammatical order; and that the perceptual prominence of cues in a sentence determines which strategy is employed in comprehension. © 1969 Academic Press, Inc. All rights reserved.