Abstract
Language | English |
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Pages | 1-18 |
Number of pages | 18 |
Journal | Journal of Memory and Language |
Volume | 95 |
Early online date | 14 Feb 2017 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 14 Feb 2017 |
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Keywords
- ambiguity
- redundancy
- overspecification
- Gricean maxims
- reading
- eye-tracking
- referential processing
- lexicosemantic
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How do violations of Gricean maxims affect reading? / Fukumura, Kumiko; van Gompel, Roger P.G.
In: Journal of Memory and Language, Vol. 95, 14.02.2017, p. 1-18.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - How do violations of Gricean maxims affect reading?
AU - Fukumura, Kumiko
AU - van Gompel, Roger P.G.
PY - 2017/2/14
Y1 - 2017/2/14
N2 - Four eye-tracking experiments examined how violations of the Gricean maxim of quantity affect reading. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that first-pass reading times for size-modified definite nouns (the small towel) were longer when the modifier was redundant, as the context contained one rather than two possible referents, whereas first-pass times for bare nouns (the towel) were unaffected by whether the context contained multiple referents that resulted in ambiguity. Experiment 3 showed that unlike redundant size modifiers, redundant color modifiers did not increase first-pass times. Experiment 4 confirmed this finding, demonstrating that the effect of redundancy was dependent on the meaning of the modifier. We propose that initial referential processing is led by the lexico-semantic representation of the referring expression rather than Gricean expectations about optimal informativeness: Redundancy of a size-modifier immediately disrupts comprehension because the processor fails to activate the referential contrast implied by the meaning of the modifier, whereas referential ambiguity has no immediate effect, as it allows the activation of at least one semantically-compatible referent.
AB - Four eye-tracking experiments examined how violations of the Gricean maxim of quantity affect reading. Experiments 1 and 2 showed that first-pass reading times for size-modified definite nouns (the small towel) were longer when the modifier was redundant, as the context contained one rather than two possible referents, whereas first-pass times for bare nouns (the towel) were unaffected by whether the context contained multiple referents that resulted in ambiguity. Experiment 3 showed that unlike redundant size modifiers, redundant color modifiers did not increase first-pass times. Experiment 4 confirmed this finding, demonstrating that the effect of redundancy was dependent on the meaning of the modifier. We propose that initial referential processing is led by the lexico-semantic representation of the referring expression rather than Gricean expectations about optimal informativeness: Redundancy of a size-modifier immediately disrupts comprehension because the processor fails to activate the referential contrast implied by the meaning of the modifier, whereas referential ambiguity has no immediate effect, as it allows the activation of at least one semantically-compatible referent.
KW - ambiguity
KW - redundancy
KW - overspecification
KW - Gricean maxims
KW - reading
KW - eye-tracking
KW - referential processing
KW - lexicosemantic
UR - http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749596X17300050
U2 - 10.1016/j.jml.2017.01.008
DO - 10.1016/j.jml.2017.01.008
M3 - Article
VL - 95
SP - 1
EP - 18
JO - Journal of Memory and Language
T2 - Journal of Memory and Language
JF - Journal of Memory and Language
SN - 0749-596X
ER -