Sentence comprehension and memory for embedded structure

An experimental simulation technique is introduced to study memory constraints affecting comprehension of embedded sentences. Memory for embedded structure is measured in a pairing task that simulates requirements imposed by sentence comprehension. With increasing memory load (number of embeddings), the rate of performance decline is consistent across all (recall and comprehension) conditions, and reflects a loss of order (as opposed to item) information. Short-term memory overload, rather than linguistic complexity, appears sufficient to account for comprehension difficulty. Performance was imperfect even with singly embedded constructions. Recall showed no abrupt failure with multiple embeddings, indicating that memory constraints are not as discontinuous as English syntax might suggest.