What does memory retrieval leave on the table? Exploring Semi-compositionality in Language Processing with MINERVA2 and sBERT

Sydelle de Souza, Ivan Vegner, Francis Mollica, Leonidas A. A. Doumas

Keywords: compositionality, language processing, memory, analogy, collocations

TL;DR: Semi-compositional linguistic units incur a unique reaction time cost compared to compositional units and idioms, which can be modelled by a pattern of memory retrieval failures in MINERVA2.

Abstract: Despite being ubiquitous in natural language, collocations (e.g., kick+habit) incur a unique processing cost, compared to compositional phrases (kick+door) and idioms (kick+bucket). We confirm this processing cost with behavioural data as well as MINERVA2, a memory model, suggesting that collocations constitute a distinct linguistic category. While the model fails to fully capture the observed human processing patterns, we find that below a specific item frequency threshold, the model’s retrieval failures align with human reaction times across conditions. This suggests an alternative processing mechanism that activates when memory retrieval fails, consistent with an analogical account of language processing.

Submission Number: 139