Conventionality determines the time course of indirect replies comprehension: An ERP study

IF 2.1 2区心理学 Q1 AUDIOLOGY & SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY Brain and Language Pub Date : 2023-04-01 DOI:10.1016/j.bandl.2023.105253

Xiuping Zhang , Xiaoxi Pan , Xiaohong Yang , Yufang Yang

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Indirect language comprehension requires decoding both the literal meaning and the intended meaning of an utterance, in which pragmatic inference is involved. This study tests the role of conventionality in the time course of indirect reply processing by comparing conventional and non-conventional indirect replies with direct reply, respectively. We constructed discourses which consist of a context and a dialogue with one question (e.g., May I buy a necklace for you) and one reply (e.g., I really have too many). The reply utterance was segmented into three phrases and presented orderly for EEG recording, e.g., with the subject as the first phrase (e.g., I), the adverbial as the second phrase (e.g., really), and the predicate as the third phrase (e.g., have too many). Our results showed that for conventional indirect replies, the second phrase elicited a larger anterior negativity, and the third phrase elicited a larger anterior N400 compared with those in direct replies. By contrast, for the non-conventional indirect reply, only the third phrase elicited a larger late negativity than the direct replies. These findings suggest that conventionality determines the time course of the pragmatic inferences for the most relevant interpretation during indirect replies comprehension.

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习惯决定间接回答理解的时间进程:一个ERP研究

间接语言理解需要对话语的字面意义和预期意义进行解码，其中涉及语用推理。本研究通过比较传统和非常规的间接回复与直接回复，来检验传统在间接回复加工时间过程中的作用。我们构建了由一个语境和一个带有一个问题(例如，我可以给你买一条项链吗)和一个回答(例如，我真的有太多了)的对话组成的话语。应答话语被分割成三个短语并有序呈现，以主语作为第一个短语(如“I”)，状语作为第二个短语(如“really”)，谓语作为第三个短语(如“have too many”)进行EEG记录。结果表明，与直接回答相比，传统间接回答的第二句诱发了更大的前向负性，第三句诱发了更大的前向N400。相比之下，对于非传统的间接回答，只有第三句话比直接回答引发了更大的后期消极情绪。这些发现表明，在间接回答理解过程中，惯例性决定了语用推断的时间进程，从而产生最相关的解释。

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来源期刊

Brain and Language 医学-神经科学

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

8.00%

发文量

审稿时长

20.5 weeks

期刊介绍： An interdisciplinary journal, Brain and Language publishes articles that elucidate the complex relationships among language, brain, and behavior. The journal covers the large variety of modern techniques in cognitive neuroscience, including functional and structural brain imaging, electrophysiology, cellular and molecular neurobiology, genetics, lesion-based approaches, and computational modeling. All articles must relate to human language and be relevant to the understanding of its neurobiological and neurocognitive bases. Published articles in the journal are expected to have significant theoretical novelty and/or practical implications, and use perspectives and methods from psychology, linguistics, and neuroscience along with brain data and brain measures.