The relationship between priming and linguistic representations is mediated by processing constraints. Commentary on Branigan, H. & Pickering, M., “An experimental approach to linguistic representation.”

Abstract

Understanding the nature of linguistic representations undoubtedly will benefit from multiple types of evidence, including structural priming. Here, we argue that successfully gaining linguistic insights from structural priming requires us to better understand (1) the precise mappings between linguistic input and comprehenders’ syntactic knowledge; and (2) the role of cognitive faculties such as memory and attention in structural priming.