Pub Date : 2023-05-17DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197692
Alexandra List
ABSTRACT In this paper, I apply the Multiple Documents Text-Based Relevance Assessment and Content Extraction (MD-TRACE) model, to describe the types of cognitive processes that students engage to critically reason about social issues, as they are portrayed through mass media. In addition to examining such processes, I further consider the extent to which these are reflective of social justice reasoning, or students’ critical reasoning about social issues in ways that recognize and analyze inequities in society. Three studies are introduced to provide empirical examples of how cognitive processes, identified in the MD-TRACE, may function within the context of students’ reasoning about mass media. The processes examined include selection (Study 1), processing (Study 2), and integration (Study 3). Study 1 examines the types of perspectives that students propose seeking out in association with various social issues and the extent to which these perspectives may belong to marginalized groups (i.e., selection). Study 2 examines students’ critical reasoning about or abilities to critique two deliberately constructed texts during processing. Study 3 investigates students’ specific abilities to identify and critique narrative frames, or common reporting tropes, introduced across texts (i.e., integration). Together, these three studies serve as exemplars of students’ engagement in reasoning about mass media and social justice reasoning. They suggest that social justice reasoning involves, in part, students’ engagement in perspective taking, their application of prior knowledge to contextualize information in texts, and their recognition of common narrative frames across texts and the values that these uphold. Additional social justice reasoning strategies are suggested and directions for future research proposed.
{"title":"Social justice reasoning when students learn about social issues using multiple texts","authors":"Alexandra List","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197692","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197692","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this paper, I apply the Multiple Documents Text-Based Relevance Assessment and Content Extraction (MD-TRACE) model, to describe the types of cognitive processes that students engage to critically reason about social issues, as they are portrayed through mass media. In addition to examining such processes, I further consider the extent to which these are reflective of social justice reasoning, or students’ critical reasoning about social issues in ways that recognize and analyze inequities in society. Three studies are introduced to provide empirical examples of how cognitive processes, identified in the MD-TRACE, may function within the context of students’ reasoning about mass media. The processes examined include selection (Study 1), processing (Study 2), and integration (Study 3). Study 1 examines the types of perspectives that students propose seeking out in association with various social issues and the extent to which these perspectives may belong to marginalized groups (i.e., selection). Study 2 examines students’ critical reasoning about or abilities to critique two deliberately constructed texts during processing. Study 3 investigates students’ specific abilities to identify and critique narrative frames, or common reporting tropes, introduced across texts (i.e., integration). Together, these three studies serve as exemplars of students’ engagement in reasoning about mass media and social justice reasoning. They suggest that social justice reasoning involves, in part, students’ engagement in perspective taking, their application of prior knowledge to contextualize information in texts, and their recognition of common narrative frames across texts and the values that these uphold. Additional social justice reasoning strategies are suggested and directions for future research proposed.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"244 - 272"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41437988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-17DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2206773
L. S. Eekhof, Kobie van Krieken, J. Sanders, Roel M. Willems
ABSTRACT This article explores the role of text and reader characteristics in character engagement experiences. In an online study, participants completed several self-report and behavioral measures of social-cognitive abilities and read two literary narratives in which the presence of linguistic viewpoint markers was varied using a highly controlled manipulation strategy. Afterward, participants reported on their character engagement experiences. A principal component analysis on participants’ responses revealed the multidimensional nature of character engagement, which included both self- and other-oriented emotional responses (e.g., empathy, personal distress) as well as more cognitive responses (e.g., identification, perspective taking). Furthermore, character engagement was found to rely on a wide range of social-cognitive abilities but not on the presence of viewpoint markers. Finally, and most importantly, we did not find convincing evidence for an interplay between social-cognitive abilities and the presence of viewpoint markers. These findings suggest that readers rely on their social-cognitive abilities to engage with the inner worlds of fictional others, more so than on the lexical cues of those inner worlds provided by the text.
{"title":"Engagement with narrative characters: the role of social-cognitive abilities and linguistic viewpoint","authors":"L. S. Eekhof, Kobie van Krieken, J. Sanders, Roel M. Willems","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2206773","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2206773","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article explores the role of text and reader characteristics in character engagement experiences. In an online study, participants completed several self-report and behavioral measures of social-cognitive abilities and read two literary narratives in which the presence of linguistic viewpoint markers was varied using a highly controlled manipulation strategy. Afterward, participants reported on their character engagement experiences. A principal component analysis on participants’ responses revealed the multidimensional nature of character engagement, which included both self- and other-oriented emotional responses (e.g., empathy, personal distress) as well as more cognitive responses (e.g., identification, perspective taking). Furthermore, character engagement was found to rely on a wide range of social-cognitive abilities but not on the presence of viewpoint markers. Finally, and most importantly, we did not find convincing evidence for an interplay between social-cognitive abilities and the presence of viewpoint markers. These findings suggest that readers rely on their social-cognitive abilities to engage with the inner worlds of fictional others, more so than on the lexical cues of those inner worlds provided by the text.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"411 - 439"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44197645","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-17DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2203543
J. Hollander, J. Sabatini, A. Graesser, D. Greenberg, T. O’Reilly, Jan C. Frijters
ABSTRACT Adult literacy learners are characterized by their diversity, both in terms of educational histories and cognitive skill sets. Accounting for the specific strengths and weaknesses of each learner is vital to the assessment of literacy gains and optimization of educational systems. We examined pre- and postdifference scores on a component reading skills assessment battery collected before and after an instructional program that included an adult comprehension-focused intelligent tutoring system. By characterizing learners during instruction, we examined differential gains in foundational reading skills. Most learners made gains in reading skills above the word recognition and decoding level; readers who were classified as “conscientious” (who performed slowly but accurately) tended to make the most substantial gains. We conclude that this hybrid instructional program may be an effective educational environment for adult literacy and describe how characterizing learners via integrating assessments into adaptive instructional practice may improve efficiency and effectiveness.
{"title":"Importance of Learner Characteristics in Intelligent Tutoring for Adult Literacy","authors":"J. Hollander, J. Sabatini, A. Graesser, D. Greenberg, T. O’Reilly, Jan C. Frijters","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2203543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2203543","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Adult literacy learners are characterized by their diversity, both in terms of educational histories and cognitive skill sets. Accounting for the specific strengths and weaknesses of each learner is vital to the assessment of literacy gains and optimization of educational systems. We examined pre- and postdifference scores on a component reading skills assessment battery collected before and after an instructional program that included an adult comprehension-focused intelligent tutoring system. By characterizing learners during instruction, we examined differential gains in foundational reading skills. Most learners made gains in reading skills above the word recognition and decoding level; readers who were classified as “conscientious” (who performed slowly but accurately) tended to make the most substantial gains. We conclude that this hybrid instructional program may be an effective educational environment for adult literacy and describe how characterizing learners via integrating assessments into adaptive instructional practice may improve efficiency and effectiveness.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"397 - 409"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44152596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-08DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197690
Lena Hildenbrand, J. Wiley
ABSTRACT The present study examined the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and comprehension on a multiple text assessment from the ACT test for college preparedness in which texts are available during question answering. Specifically, it was of interest whether differences in relations would be seen across different question types. Only performance on the inference questions was uniquely related to WMC whereas performance on textbase and across-text questions was not. Results suggest that WMC still plays a role in comprehension even when texts are available, and the role of WMC seems to be most strongly tied to integration demands.
{"title":"Working memory capacity as a predictor of multiple text comprehension","authors":"Lena Hildenbrand, J. Wiley","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197690","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197690","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The present study examined the relationship between working memory capacity (WMC) and comprehension on a multiple text assessment from the ACT test for college preparedness in which texts are available during question answering. Specifically, it was of interest whether differences in relations would be seen across different question types. Only performance on the inference questions was uniquely related to WMC whereas performance on textbase and across-text questions was not. Results suggest that WMC still plays a role in comprehension even when texts are available, and the role of WMC seems to be most strongly tied to integration demands.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"378 - 396"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44296444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-05-01DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2198813
Giulia Scapin, Cristina Loi, F. Hakemulder, K. Bálint, E. Konijn
ABSTRACT A considerable body of research has examined the age-old assertion that reading literature enhances empathy, however, mixed results have been found. The present study attempts to clarify such disparities, investigating the role of foregrounding in possible differences in readers’ processing of literary texts and its connection with readers’ empathic reactions. We asked participants (N = 78) to mark parts of the text they considered as “foregrounding” (i.e., deviating from “normal” discourse), and we analyzed how they processed these stylistic aspects. Participants’ open responses to one of two selected texts were categorized as either Shallow, Failed, Partial, or Full Processing of Foregrounding. Full processing was associated with higher Comprehensive State Empathy Scale scores than Failed Processing. Stylistic analysis of word combinations that participants marked as “striking” suggests that, rather than stylistic devices per se, readers’ depth of processing may enhance state empathy.
{"title":"The role of processing foregrounding in empathic reactions in literary reading","authors":"Giulia Scapin, Cristina Loi, F. Hakemulder, K. Bálint, E. Konijn","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2198813","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2198813","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT A considerable body of research has examined the age-old assertion that reading literature enhances empathy, however, mixed results have been found. The present study attempts to clarify such disparities, investigating the role of foregrounding in possible differences in readers’ processing of literary texts and its connection with readers’ empathic reactions. We asked participants (N = 78) to mark parts of the text they considered as “foregrounding” (i.e., deviating from “normal” discourse), and we analyzed how they processed these stylistic aspects. Participants’ open responses to one of two selected texts were categorized as either Shallow, Failed, Partial, or Full Processing of Foregrounding. Full processing was associated with higher Comprehensive State Empathy Scale scores than Failed Processing. Stylistic analysis of word combinations that participants marked as “striking” suggests that, rather than stylistic devices per se, readers’ depth of processing may enhance state empathy.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"273 - 293"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46162562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-19DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2199531
Lisa Zacharski, Evelyn C. Ferstl
ABSTRACT The public debate on the use of the German nonbinary gender asterisk (Lehrer*in ‘teacher’) is emotionally charged. While it has been adopted by political and educational institutions, opponents argue that it is inappropriate for making persons identifying themselves beyond the male-female-dichotomy more visible. We investigated this claim by using a word-picture matching task directly assessing mental representations activated by the asterisk. Students evaluated whether pictures of persons read as male, female, or nonbinary were suitable illustrations of immediately preceding role nouns in masculine, feminine, or star form. Processing difficulties for female pictures following masculine nouns confirmed that the latter was not automatically read as generic. High acceptance rates and low reaction times for all pictures following the asterisk suggest it leads to inclusive mental representations including men, women, and persons beyond the gender binary. These results are the first to confirm that the asterisk elicits the intended inclusive interpretation.
{"title":"Gendered Representations of Person Referents Activated by the Nonbinary Gender Star in German: A Word-Picture Matching Task","authors":"Lisa Zacharski, Evelyn C. Ferstl","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2199531","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2199531","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The public debate on the use of the German nonbinary gender asterisk (Lehrer*in ‘teacher’) is emotionally charged. While it has been adopted by political and educational institutions, opponents argue that it is inappropriate for making persons identifying themselves beyond the male-female-dichotomy more visible. We investigated this claim by using a word-picture matching task directly assessing mental representations activated by the asterisk. Students evaluated whether pictures of persons read as male, female, or nonbinary were suitable illustrations of immediately preceding role nouns in masculine, feminine, or star form. Processing difficulties for female pictures following masculine nouns confirmed that the latter was not automatically read as generic. High acceptance rates and low reaction times for all pictures following the asterisk suggest it leads to inclusive mental representations including men, women, and persons beyond the gender binary. These results are the first to confirm that the asterisk elicits the intended inclusive interpretation.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"294 - 319"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41558465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-04-19DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197691
Yann Dyoniziak, Anna Potocki, J. Rouet
ABSTRACT With the development of the Internet as a main source of information, teenagers are increasingly faced with multiple documents which may contain contradictory statements, and whose reliability must be assessed. One way to assess information reliability is to evaluate the source of the information (e.g., author expertise, intention). However, teenagers rarely engage in such a sourcing process. The present study aims to explore the role of a potential explanatory factor of teenagers’ sourcing abilities: Advanced Theory of Mind (AToM). We hypothesized that AToM would be significantly related to teenagers’ evaluation skills when reading multiple documents, and in particular to their attribution of sources’ intentions and benevolence. We also hypothesized that this contribution will occur over and above teenagers’ word reading and textual inferencing skills. Seventy-two students in Grade 8 read a set of online documents about a fictitious socio-scientific controversy and answered comprehension and evaluation questions. AToM was a significant predictor of comprehension and evaluation performance. The role of AToM was especially important for the source’s evaluation and intentions questions. This study thus contributes to a better understanding of the possible factors of teenagers’ developing sourcing skills.
{"title":"Role of advanced theory of mind in teenagers’ evaluation of source information","authors":"Yann Dyoniziak, Anna Potocki, J. Rouet","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197691","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197691","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT With the development of the Internet as a main source of information, teenagers are increasingly faced with multiple documents which may contain contradictory statements, and whose reliability must be assessed. One way to assess information reliability is to evaluate the source of the information (e.g., author expertise, intention). However, teenagers rarely engage in such a sourcing process. The present study aims to explore the role of a potential explanatory factor of teenagers’ sourcing abilities: Advanced Theory of Mind (AToM). We hypothesized that AToM would be significantly related to teenagers’ evaluation skills when reading multiple documents, and in particular to their attribution of sources’ intentions and benevolence. We also hypothesized that this contribution will occur over and above teenagers’ word reading and textual inferencing skills. Seventy-two students in Grade 8 read a set of online documents about a fictitious socio-scientific controversy and answered comprehension and evaluation questions. AToM was a significant predictor of comprehension and evaluation performance. The role of AToM was especially important for the source’s evaluation and intentions questions. This study thus contributes to a better understanding of the possible factors of teenagers’ developing sourcing skills.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"363 - 377"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43196183","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-23DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2177457
Richard J. Gerrig
ABSTRACT In this article, I use the metaphor that readers journey to narrative worlds to review research that has spanned my career. In the first section, I consider the processes that enable readers to undertake these journeys as well as the processes that allow them to participate in the narrative worlds once they have arrived. In the second section, I review research that supports claims that readers’ journeys to narrative worlds create distance from their worlds of origin. In the final section, I consider research that documents fundamental ways in which readers’ real-world beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors are changed by their experiences of narrative worlds.
{"title":"Processes and products of readers’ journeys to narrative worlds","authors":"Richard J. Gerrig","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2177457","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2177457","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this article, I use the metaphor that readers journey to narrative worlds to review research that has spanned my career. In the first section, I consider the processes that enable readers to undertake these journeys as well as the processes that allow them to participate in the narrative worlds once they have arrived. In the second section, I review research that supports claims that readers’ journeys to narrative worlds create distance from their worlds of origin. In the final section, I consider research that documents fundamental ways in which readers’ real-world beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors are changed by their experiences of narrative worlds.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"226 - 243"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41450678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-23DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2190278
Lena Hildenbrand, Lamorej Roberts, J. Wiley
ABSTRACT The present experiment explored the independent effects of refutations and summaries to prevent student misunderstandings when learning from an introductory psychology text on cognitive dissonance. Explicitly presenting and refuting a common misconception about cognitive dissonance did not improve performance on comprehension questions that required understanding of the topic, but adding a final summary paragraph did. The present findings suggest that explanations that aid the integration of correct ideas within a student’s mental model of a phenomenon are more important for supporting conceptual understanding than just the co-activation and recognition of correct and incorrect conceptions.
{"title":"Testing the independent effects of refutations and summaries on understanding","authors":"Lena Hildenbrand, Lamorej Roberts, J. Wiley","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2190278","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2190278","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The present experiment explored the independent effects of refutations and summaries to prevent student misunderstandings when learning from an introductory psychology text on cognitive dissonance. Explicitly presenting and refuting a common misconception about cognitive dissonance did not improve performance on comprehension questions that required understanding of the topic, but adding a final summary paragraph did. The present findings suggest that explanations that aid the integration of correct ideas within a student’s mental model of a phenomenon are more important for supporting conceptual understanding than just the co-activation and recognition of correct and incorrect conceptions.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"320 - 336"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42484844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-16DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197682
DERYA ÇOKAL, R. Filik, P. Sturt, Massimo Poesio
ABSTRACT Corpus evidence suggests that in contexts in which the presence of multiple antecedents might favor plural reference, the disadvantage observed for singular reference may disappear if the potential antecedents are combined in a group-like plural entity. We examined the relative salience of antecedents in conditions where the context either made a group interpretation available (i.e., mereological entity) (e.g., The engineer hooked up the engine to the boxcar …, where group = train), or not (e.g., The engineer detached the engine from the boxcar …). Results from three experiments in which participants were asked to identify referents for singular versus plural pronouns (Experiment 1), to confirm the referents of pronouns in a sentence completion task (Experiment 2), and to provide paraphrases for given texts (Experiment 3), collectively provided evidence that the creation of a group makes that entity (i) a possible referent for singular anaphoric reference and (ii) more salient than its constituents.
{"title":"Anaphoric reference to mereological entities","authors":"DERYA ÇOKAL, R. Filik, P. Sturt, Massimo Poesio","doi":"10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197682","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/0163853X.2023.2197682","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Corpus evidence suggests that in contexts in which the presence of multiple antecedents might favor plural reference, the disadvantage observed for singular reference may disappear if the potential antecedents are combined in a group-like plural entity. We examined the relative salience of antecedents in conditions where the context either made a group interpretation available (i.e., mereological entity) (e.g., The engineer hooked up the engine to the boxcar …, where group = train), or not (e.g., The engineer detached the engine from the boxcar …). Results from three experiments in which participants were asked to identify referents for singular versus plural pronouns (Experiment 1), to confirm the referents of pronouns in a sentence completion task (Experiment 2), and to provide paraphrases for given texts (Experiment 3), collectively provided evidence that the creation of a group makes that entity (i) a possible referent for singular anaphoric reference and (ii) more salient than its constituents.","PeriodicalId":11316,"journal":{"name":"Discourse Processes","volume":"60 1","pages":"202 - 223"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43522233","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}