
Theses and Dissertations
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1936-6075
Advisor
Karimi, Hossein
Committee Member
Jarosz, Andrew F.
Committee Member
Whitlock, Jonathon
Date of Degree
5-16-2025
Original embargo terms
Visible MSU Only 2 Years
Document Type
Graduate Thesis - Campus Access Only
Major
Psychology
Degree Name
Master of Science (M.S.)
College
College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Department of Psychology
Abstract
Several studies have found a benefit for modified nouns (e.g., adorable puppy), such that they are easier to retrieve from memory compared to unmodified nouns (e.g., puppy) during language comprehension. However, there is some evidence that when the intrinsic semantic qualities of the modified noun do not fully match the content of modifiers (e.g., dangerous puppy), integration of the target noun and the modifiers becomes difficult, and the modification benefit is lost. If this integration difficulty can occur due to the semantic qualities of the modified noun, could it be the case that the semantic qualities of other competing nouns in the sentence (e.g., kitten) may have similar effects? To answer this question, two studies were conducted which manipulated how well modifiers matched the semantic qualities of two nouns in memory and measured the strength of the benefit during language production (experiment 1) and online comprehension (experiment 2).
Recommended Citation
Zinn, Jaden, "Modifiers as floating information: A case against seamless modifier integration" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 6601.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/6601