(1School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China) (2School of Government, Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai 201701, China)(3Fuda Institute On Ageing, Shanghai 200433, China)(4School of Psychology, Shandong Normal University, Jinan 250358, China)
Abstract:Nonadjacent structure refers to a structure in which there is no restriction on sequence between adjacent elements and multiple elements are spaced at certain distances in time or space. This structure has strong generative ability and widely exists in many fields of human life. Over the past decade, learning of nonadjacent structure in language appears to be of focal interest in the field of psycholinguistics, especially the implicit learning of language acquisition in a nearly natural state. In this review, based on the artificial grammar learning paradigm, we sorted out different types of nonadjacent structures and the factors that affect nonadjacent structure learning, as well as exploring the role of Broca’s area in nonadjacent structure processing. In addition, we prospected possible future research on nonadjacent structure from the perspectives of cross-domain transfer, dynamic processing, and the relationship between implicit and explicit learning.