The processing of o mesmo as a coreferencial anaphora

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the processing of "o mesmo" as a coreferential anaphora in contexts where the pronoun "ele" could be employed and its possible effects on reading comprehension. We know that anaphora plays a relevant role in text production and in its access and comprehension, which makes it the focus of many studies in linguistics and psychology. In a coreferential relation, the way in which we take up an antecedent also reflects on processing costs and can, therefore, affect the mental representation of the text. In this research, to address the aspects listed, we mobilize previous studies on the processes involved in reading and present the results of a self-monitored reading test carried out with 26 university students. We analyze two measures to correlate reading time: the total reading time of the sentences shown to the participants and the reading time of the post-anaphoric segment. In addition, we assessed the accuracy of the answers to the attention control questions. Although there is a negative view of the employment of "o mesmo" as an anaphor, it fulfills the role that an anaphora plays in the referential progression of a text, providing the reader with the resumption of the antecedent. Results reported here demonstrate this effect, showing no statistically significant differences in the processing of the tested variable. Furthermore, with regard to the attention control question answered by the participants, there was the same number of correct answers, both in sentential sets constructed with "o mesmo" and "ele". Studies of anaphoric processing have shown that the pronoun is a linguistic element processed more quickly than the repetition of the antecedent since the pronoun has less semantic information, which avoids overloading the working memory. The syntagma "o mesmo" seems to follow this same logic. Thus, based on the results obtained through the self-paced reading test, the syntagma "o mesmo" seems to act as a resumption element, building cohesive chains and keeping the previously introduced referent in the reader's focus, in the same way as the pronoun.