The perceptual foundation of linguistic context

Francis Mollica, Steven T Piantadosi, Michael K. Tanenhaus

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Context plays a ubiquitous role in language processing. For the most part, work in language processing investigates the effects of context without investigating questions about what determines a context. For example, interpretation of any referential expression must take into account the notion of a referential domain. Here we investigate the influence of perceptual cues in establishing a referential domain, or linguistic context. We demonstrate that people use perceptual cues to establish a linguistic context; the influence of perceptual cues is gradient with respect to cue magnitude; and the contribution of a perceptual cue in constructing a linguistic context is not an effect of attention or salience. We provide these results as a first step toward developing a formal model for the establishment of linguistic context.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 37th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society 2015
PublisherAustin TX: Cognitive Science Society
Pages1613-1618
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)978-0-9911967-2-2
ISBN (Print)9781510809550
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jul 2015
EventCogSci 2015 - Pasadena, United States
Duration: 23 Jul 201525 Jul 2015

Conference

ConferenceCogSci 2015
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityPasadena
Period23/07/1525/07/15

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