UC Merced

In this dissertation negations and modal verbs are investigated with dynamic measurements that look at human comprehension in real time. Evidence is used to argue that accumulation of activation accrues over time, at times for many things in parallel. The only way to detect differences in processing is by looking at the dynamic signal, and thus dense-sampling measurements like eyetracking and computer mousetracking are necessary to look at high-level cognition. Within a broader framework, it is argued that accumulation implies both inflow and outflow of information in parallel, and information processing may better be characterized by a metaphor of flowing water rather than the traditional box and arrow approach to characterizing mechanisms of the mind.