There has been a recent increase in the use of singular 'they' (its even the word of the decade as multiple people have told me!) But has the way we process singular "they" changed along with a change in its usage? Read on...
-
-
Prikaži ovu nit
-
Previous work (theoretical and psycholinguistic) has shown that people are completely fine when using "they" to refer to non-referential antecedents (e.g. some one, some woman) or antecedents with ambiguous gender (e.g. the participant). 3/n
Prikaži ovu nit -
However, participants have a hard time when using "they" to refer to referential antecedents with unambiguous gender (e.g. "my nurse" or "Mary"). 4/n
Prikaži ovu nit -
We investigated whether participants with a non-binary gender identity (NBIs) or participants who frequently interacted with NBIs would have a similar processing difficulty. We 45 such participants and measured their ERP responses as they listened to sentences. 5/n
Prikaži ovu nit -
Participants exhibited the P600 effect when listening to sentences like "John decided to treat themselves to sushi" but not for sentences like "Everyone / some man/ the participant decided to treat themselves to sushi". This is consistent with previous behavioural studies. 6/npic.twitter.com/6ahwp8rBYN
Prikaži ovu nit -
We also looked at sentences with a gender mismatch. We found that participants exhibited a P600 effect for sentences like "Some woman ... himself ..." but an N400 like effect for sentences like "Mary ... himself ...". We think maybe it is because Mary is a name?pic.twitter.com/LT3sYSmVQz
Prikaži ovu nit -
Main takeaway: Even participants who frequently interact with individuals with non-binary identity expect antecedents like 'Mary' to be feminine and exhibit processing difficulty when listening to sentences like "Mary decided to treat themselves to sushi" 8/n
Prikaži ovu nit -
So don't need to beat yourselves up if you find it difficult to use singular "they" sometimes, even people with a lot of practice incur some processing difficulty. But if we keep trying, some day this might change :) (Idea for future study: adaptation with singular "they"?) 9/n
Prikaži ovu nit -
Ok thats the end of the content thread. Sorry for the inconsistent numbering. This is my first really long twitter thread! (Did the number mismatch elicit a P600??) n/n
Prikaži ovu nit
Kraj razgovora
Novi razgovor -
-
-
Its not sinking in that this work is FINALLY out in the world. Keeping a project on the back burner for so long was very mentally exhausting. At the end of the day, I had to learn to be less of a perfectionist, accept some of the flaws of the study, and be kinder to my past self.
Prikaži ovu nit -
Thanks
@jmorris43 for sticking with me! And also thank you to everyone who has engaged in discussions about this work with me at its different stages, and for giving the little bit more motivation required at each point to take the next step towards the finish line.Prikaži ovu nit
Kraj razgovora
Novi razgovor -
Čini se da učitavanje traje već neko vrijeme.
Twitter je možda preopterećen ili ima kratkotrajnih poteškoća u radu. Pokušajte ponovno ili potražite dodatne informacije u odjeljku Status Twittera.