The number of times a motion repeats influences sentence processing

We investigated how the semantic properties of verbs influence the way in which language users process sentences and how well they remember the verb. In particular, our study focused on the frequency of motion repetition, that is, how many times actions generally repeat in a row. The experimental sentences contained action verbs, such as sneezing, knocking on a door, clapping, and bouncing a ball. Half of the target sentences contained verbs that refer to actions that generally repeat once or twice in a row in the real world (determined by norming), such as sneezing, coughing, and knocking on a door. The other half contained verbs referring to actions that typically repeat many times in row, such as hiccupping, clapping, and bouncing a ball. Native Korean speakers performed a sensicality judgment task where they decided whether given Korean sentences were sensical or not. We also tested how well participants remember the verbs in target sentences. The results show an effect of action repetition frequency: Participants judged sentences with low repetition frequency verbs more accurately than sentences containing high repetition frequency verbs. We propose that verbs describing multiple repetitions may place a greater processing load than verbs involving fewer repetitions.