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Incrementality and efficiency shape pragmatics across languages.

ABSTRACT: To correctly interpret a message, people must attend to the context in which it was produced. Here we investigate how this process, known as pragmatic reasoning, is guided by two universal forces in human communication: incrementality and efficiency, with speakers of all languages interpreting language incrementally and making the most efficient use of the incoming information. Crucially, however, the interplay between these two forces results in speakers of different languages having different pragmatic information available at each point in processing, including inferences about speaker intentions. In particular, the position of adjectives relative to nouns (e.g., "black lamp" vs. "lamp black") makes visual context information available in reverse orders. In an eye-tracking study comparing four unrelated languages that have been understudied with regard to language processing (Catalan, Hindi, Hungarian, and Wolof), we show that speakers of languages with an adjective-noun order integrate context by first identifying properties (e.g., color, material, or size), whereas speakers of languages with a noun-adjective order integrate context by first identifying kinds (e.g., lamps or chairs). Most notably, this difference allows listeners of adjective-noun descriptions to infer the speaker's intention when using an adjective (e.g., "the black…" as implying "not the blue one") and anticipate the target referent, whereas listeners of noun-adjective descriptions are subject to temporary ambiguity when deriving the same interpretation. We conclude that incrementality and efficiency guide pragmatic reasoning across languages, with different word orders having different pragmatic affordances.

SUBMITTER: Rubio-Fernandez P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7306992 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Incrementality and efficiency shape pragmatics across languages.

Rubio-Fernandez Paula P Jara-Ettinger Julian J

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20200601 24

To correctly interpret a message, people must attend to the context in which it was produced. Here we investigate how this process, known as pragmatic reasoning, is guided by two universal forces in human communication: incrementality and efficiency, with speakers of all languages interpreting language incrementally and making the most efficient use of the incoming information. Crucially, however, the interplay between these two forces results in speakers of different languages having different ...[more]

PMID: 32482876

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Project description:BackgroundThe Rapkin and Schwartz appraisal theory and measure provided a path toward documenting response-shift effects and describing individual differences in ways of thinking about quality of life (QOL) that distinguished people in different circumstances. Recent work developed and validated the QOL Appraisal Profileversion 2 (QOLAPv2), an 85-item measure that taps response-shift-detection domains of Frame of Reference, Standards of Comparison, Sampling of Experience, and Combinatory Algorithm. Recent theoretical work proposed that appraisal measurement constitutes a new class of measurement (idiometric), distinct from psychometric and clinimetric. To validate an idiometric measure, one would document that its items reflect different circumstances and population characteristics, and explain variance in QOL. The present work sought to develop idiometric short-forms of the QOLAPv2 item bank by examining which items were most informative, retaining the appraisal-domain structure.MethodsThis secondary analysis (n = 1481) included chronically-ill patients and their caregivers from a longitudinal web-based survey (mean follow-up 16.6 months). Data included the QOLAPv2, the Center for Disease Control Healthy Days Core Module, the PROMIS-10 Global Health, and demographic/medical variables. Appraisal items were measured at baseline (relevant to understanding cognitive appraisal processes); and with change scores (sensitive to response-shift effects). Multivariate analysis of covariance examined what demographic and health-status change variables were reflected by each of 85 appraisal items (in five sets), as dependent variables, and other demographic/medical variables. Multiple linear regression examined how appraisal items explained variance in global physical- and mental-health change, after covariate adjustment. A tally summarized item performance across all five sets of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses.ResultsThe vast majority (i.e., 80%) of the QOLAPv2 items performed well across the analyses presented. Using a relatively strict criterion of explaining meaningful variance across 60% of analyses, one would retain 68 items. A more lenient criterion (40%) would retain 71.ConclusionsThe present study provides heuristics to support investigators' creating 'discretionary' QOLAPv2 short-forms to fit their study aim and amplifying individual differences in the cognitive processes underlying QOL. This approach enables adapting the measure to the study population, as per the expectation that respondent populations differ in the predominant cognitive processes used.

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Incrementality and efficiency shape pragmatics across languages.

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Incrementality and efficiency shape pragmatics across languages.

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