# Processing causal structure sentences in Mandarin Chinese: an eye movements study

## TL;DR

This study explores how causal structure and headword position affect reading comprehension in Mandarin Chinese using eye movements.

## Contribution

The study investigates the role of causal structure prediction and headword position in Chinese sentence comprehension.

## Key findings

- Causal structure improved early reading but increased late-stage integration cost.
- Headword position did not mediate the causal prediction effect.
- Results support a constraint-based model with separate semantic and syntactic processing.

## Abstract

It remains uncertain whether causal structure prediction can improve comprehension in Chinese sentences and whether the position of the headword mediates the prediction effect. We conducted an experiment to explore the effect of causal prediction and headword position in Chinese sentence reading. Participants were asked to read sentences containing causal connectives with their eye movements recorded. In the experiment, we manipulated the causal structure of the sentence and the position of the headword. We found a promoting effect of causal structure on first-pass reading time and a hindering impact on total reading time. However, the effect was not mediated by the headword position. The results show that causal syntactic prediction facilitated early-stage processing and increased the integration cost in the late stage of Chinese sentence processing. These findings also support the constraint-based approach, which suggests an isolation between semantic and syntactic processing.