Two experiments tested a set of predictions regarding category definitions and categorization latencies. Neither prediction was supported by the experiment results, leading to the formulation of an alternative feature-based model of category definitions using the notion of a polymorphous concept. (Author/AM)

Research supported by a United States Public Health Grant to Edward E. Smith. (VM)

Research supported in part by a Public Health Service Grant to the New School of Social Research and a National Science Foundation Grant to Stanford University. (VM)

A variable time delay naming latency paradigm was used to investigate the processing of noun-verb lexical ambiguities (e.g., "watch") in syntactic contexts that biased either the noun or the verb reading. Results support a two-stage model in which all reading of ambiguous words are initially accessed, followed by suppression of…

Describes an experiment to test two assumptions concerning what is stored in the memory with regard to sentence structure: (1) that the linear effect observed is based on a tally model rather than on an integrationist mechanism; (2) that this linear effect is not uniquely the result of a mechanism operating at comprehension. (CLK)

Research supported in part by a United States Public Health Service Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. (VM)

Discusses a sequential, three-stage model of how nonliteral expressions are understood, as proposed in recent linguistic, philosophical, and psychological studies. Testing the model's implication that nonliteral meanings of sentences are ignored whenever literal meanings are plausible, finds evidence that both meanings are processed simultaneously…

Five experiments were conducted that illustrate microprocesses of discourse comprehension related to foregrounding. An intermediate case in which prior memories exist but must be reinstated to active memory was studied in detail. (SW)