The use of visual context during the production of referring expressions

The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP
Kumiko FukumuraMartin J Pickering

Abstract

Most theories of reference assume that a referent's saliency in the linguistic context determines the choice of referring expression. However, it is less clear whether cognitive factors relating to the nonlinguistic context also have an effect. We investigated whether visual context influences the choice of a pronoun over a repeated noun phrase when speakers refer back to a referent in a preceding sentence. In Experiment 1, linguistic mention as well as visual presence of a competitor with the same gender as the referent resulted in fewer pronouns for the referent, suggesting that both linguistic and visual context determined the choice of referring expression. Experiment 2 showed that even when the competitor had a different gender from the referent, its visual presence reduced pronoun use, indicating that visual context plays a role even if the use of a pronoun is unambiguous. Thus, both linguistic and nonlinguistic information affect the choice of referring expression.

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Citations

Nov 13, 2012·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Romy MüllerBoris M Velichkovsky
Mar 7, 2014·Memory & Cognition·Hossein KarimiMartin J Pickering
Mar 6, 2012·Topics in Cognitive Science·Kees van DeemterEmiel Krahmer
Jun 8, 2012·Cognitive Science·Ting Qian, T Florian Jaeger
Jun 8, 2012·Cognitive Science·Kumiko Fukumura, Roger P G van Gompel
Dec 6, 2014·Cognitive Science·Kumiko Fukumura
Dec 5, 2014·Cognitive Science·Jorrig VogelsAlfons Maes
Jul 15, 2015·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Leila Kantola, Roger P G van Gompel
Jun 24, 2015·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Hossein Karimi, Fernanda Ferreira
Sep 2, 2014·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Moreno I Coco, Frank Keller
Nov 25, 2014·Cognitive Processing·Moreno I Coco, Frank Keller
Sep 24, 2015·Language, Cognition and Neuroscience·Jennifer E Arnold, Duane G Watson
Aug 18, 2016·Topics in Cognitive Science·William S Horton, Richard J Gerrig
Aug 12, 2020·Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology·Mélanie SandozMarion Fossard
Mar 9, 2018·Frontiers in Psychology·Marion FossardMaud Champagne-Lavau
Jan 1, 2016·Language, Cognition and Neuroscience·Carla Contemori, Paola E Dussias
Jan 1, 2018·Discourse Processes·Yi Ting Huang, Jennifer E Arnold
Oct 6, 2021·The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology : QJEP·Kumiko FukumuraFrancesca Foppolo

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