Introduction

This book brings together research in cognitive linguistics and experimental psychology to construct a psychologically plausible account of grammar as a mental network.

Exploring Structural Priming

To explore the organisation of this network, the author examines evidence from structural priming, which occurs when speakers’ processing of a grammatical construction is affected by prior exposure to the same or a similar construction.

Reinterpreting Experimental Findings

Previous experimental findings are innovatively reinterpreted to shed light on various aspects of the grammatical network, including the strength of the similarities between constructions, the level of abstraction at which they are represented and the ways in which similar constructions can either boost or inhibit each other.

New Experiments

Moreover, new experiments are reported that extend structural priming to phenomena like the resultative, the depictive and the caused-motion construction.

Target Audience

The book is directed at theoretical linguists, psycholinguists and cognitive psychologists alike, showcasing how recent work in these areas can be integrated and extended.