Pub Date : 2019-02-13DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.15
E. Kaiser, Emily Fedele
This chapter reviews psycholinguistic research on reference resolution. Firstly, it discusses experiments on the interpretation of overt pronouns indicating that topicality-related properties of potential antecedents—such as subjecthood, givenness, and pronominalization—guide pronoun interpretation. Perhaps surprisingly, other studies show that focus-related factors are also at play. Experimental data is then reviewed from languages with both null and overt pronouns (e.g., Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean). Many experiments on reference views pronoun resolution as a search process, in contrast to an alternative account which regards it as by-product of general inferencing/reasoning about the semantic coherence relations between clauses. Recent work has explored possible ways of reconciling these views, and has also started to investigate the mental representation of coherence relations and the relation to perspective-taking. The final part of the chapter, reviews consequences of humans’ processing limitations on pronoun production and interpretation, including cataphora and the possibility of shallow processing.
{"title":"Reference Resolution","authors":"E. Kaiser, Emily Fedele","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.15","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.15","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter reviews psycholinguistic research on reference resolution. Firstly, it discusses experiments on the interpretation of overt pronouns indicating that topicality-related properties of potential antecedents—such as subjecthood, givenness, and pronominalization—guide pronoun interpretation. Perhaps surprisingly, other studies show that focus-related factors are also at play. Experimental data is then reviewed from languages with both null and overt pronouns (e.g., Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean). Many experiments on reference views pronoun resolution as a search process, in contrast to an alternative account which regards it as by-product of general inferencing/reasoning about the semantic coherence relations between clauses. Recent work has explored possible ways of reconciling these views, and has also started to investigate the mental representation of coherence relations and the relation to perspective-taking. The final part of the chapter, reviews consequences of humans’ processing limitations on pronoun production and interpretation, including cataphora and the possibility of shallow processing.","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"26 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78847246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-02-13DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.18
C. Barkley, R. Kluender
This chapter discusses electrophysiological studies of anaphora, attempting to situate findings within the context of literature on language processing as a whole. First, it reviews what is known about electrophysiological indices of processing long-distance anaphoric dependencies, linking these brain responses to cognitive operations required to form anaphoric relations. Then the focus turns to the brain’s response to referentially ambiguous anaphors and it is argued that these responses, rather than being specific to ambiguity, reflect general cognitive processes. Finally, the chapter focuses on an array of recent studies, including research on parallels between processing of referential and syntactic dependencies, the role of referential specificity in reference resolution, and cataphoric dependencies. In doing so, it summarizes where the field currently stands, in terms of what we know and the outstanding issues that remain. In all cases, from the brain’s perspective, the ultimate question is: is there anything special about processing referential anaphora?
{"title":"Processing Anaphoric Relations","authors":"C. Barkley, R. Kluender","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.18","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.18","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter discusses electrophysiological studies of anaphora, attempting to situate findings within the context of literature on language processing as a whole. First, it reviews what is known about electrophysiological indices of processing long-distance anaphoric dependencies, linking these brain responses to cognitive operations required to form anaphoric relations. Then the focus turns to the brain’s response to referentially ambiguous anaphors and it is argued that these responses, rather than being specific to ambiguity, reflect general cognitive processes. Finally, the chapter focuses on an array of recent studies, including research on parallels between processing of referential and syntactic dependencies, the role of referential specificity in reference resolution, and cataphoric dependencies. In doing so, it summarizes where the field currently stands, in terms of what we know and the outstanding issues that remain. In all cases, from the brain’s perspective, the ultimate question is: is there anything special about processing referential anaphora?","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79021616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-02-13DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.21
T. Williams, matthias. scheutz
As robots become increasingly prevalent in our society, it becomes increasingly important to endow them with natural language capabilities, including the ability to both understand and generate so-called referring expressions. In recent work, we have sought to enable referring expression understanding capabilities by leveraging the Givenness Hierarchy (GH), which provides an elegant linguistic framework for reasoning about notions of reference in human discourse. This chapter first provides an overview of the GH and discusses previous GH-theoretic approaches to reference resolution. It then describes our own GH-theoretic approach, the GH-POWER algorithm, and suggests future refinements of our algorithm with respect to the theoretical commitments of the GH. Next, the chapter briefly surveys other prominent approaches to reference resolution in robotics, and discusses how these compare to our approach. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of possible directions for future work.
{"title":"Reference in Robotics","authors":"T. Williams, matthias. scheutz","doi":"10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.21","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199687305.013.21","url":null,"abstract":"As robots become increasingly prevalent in our society, it becomes increasingly important to endow them with natural language capabilities, including the ability to both understand and generate so-called referring expressions. In recent work, we have sought to enable referring expression understanding capabilities by leveraging the Givenness Hierarchy (GH), which provides an elegant linguistic framework for reasoning about notions of reference in human discourse. This chapter first provides an overview of the GH and discusses previous GH-theoretic approaches to reference resolution. It then describes our own GH-theoretic approach, the GH-POWER algorithm, and suggests future refinements of our algorithm with respect to the theoretical commitments of the GH. Next, the chapter briefly surveys other prominent approaches to reference resolution in robotics, and discusses how these compare to our approach. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of possible directions for future work.","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"57 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80971388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-02-13DOI: 10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.2
P. Hanks
Linguistic expressions refer to things, but so do people when they perform acts of reference using linguistic expressions. This chapter is concerned with the latter, referred to here as speech act reference. After distinguishing between linguistic reference and speech act reference, two issues are raised. First, what is the order of priority between linguistic reference and speech act reference? The argument is made that neither can be conceptually or explanatorily prior to the other. Linguistic reference and speech act reference are complementary elements in a wider phenomenon of reference in language. Second, what is the relationship between acts of reference and whole illocutionary acts? Here, it is argued that acts of reference can only occur as components of complete illocutionary acts with satisfaction conditions, such as assertions, questions, and orders.
{"title":"Reference as a Speech Act","authors":"P. Hanks","doi":"10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.2","url":null,"abstract":"Linguistic expressions refer to things, but so do people when they perform acts of reference using linguistic expressions. This chapter is concerned with the latter, referred to here as speech act reference. After distinguishing between linguistic reference and speech act reference, two issues are raised. First, what is the order of priority between linguistic reference and speech act reference? The argument is made that neither can be conceptually or explanatorily prior to the other. Linguistic reference and speech act reference are complementary elements in a wider phenomenon of reference in language. Second, what is the relationship between acts of reference and whole illocutionary acts? Here, it is argued that acts of reference can only occur as components of complete illocutionary acts with satisfaction conditions, such as assertions, questions, and orders.","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"15 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76944925","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-02-13DOI: 10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.20
Kees van Deemter
This chapter discusses computational models of the act of referring, focusing on limitations of the classic algorithms in this area, as illustrated by a number of common referential scenarios. After a brief introduction to the computational enterprise known as Referring Expressions Generation, the chapter focuses on a range of issues that can arise from the situation in which a referring expression is uttered. The chapter discusses situations in which there is uncertainty over the hearer’s domain knowledge, situations in which the referent cannot be pinned down precisely, and situations in which identifying the referent is not the main goal. It is shown that situations of this kind complicate the referential task, and strategies that speakers use to cope with them are discussed.
{"title":"Computational Models of Referring","authors":"Kees van Deemter","doi":"10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.20","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.20","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter discusses computational models of the act of referring, focusing on limitations of the classic algorithms in this area, as illustrated by a number of common referential scenarios. After a brief introduction to the computational enterprise known as Referring Expressions Generation, the chapter focuses on a range of issues that can arise from the situation in which a referring expression is uttered. The chapter discusses situations in which there is uncertainty over the hearer’s domain knowledge, situations in which the referent cannot be pinned down precisely, and situations in which identifying the referent is not the main goal. It is shown that situations of this kind complicate the referential task, and strategies that speakers use to cope with them are discussed.","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78710337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-02-13DOI: 10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.12
Ryan B. Doran, G. Ward
This chapter presents a preliminary taxonomy of the various ways in which demonstrative noun phrases are used, with particular focus on examples from English. The classification of demonstrative uses begins with a consideration of the semantic value of the demonstrative NP—whether the speaker is using the demonstrative to denote or refer to an entity, a kind, a predicate, or a variable in a quantificational domain—and then further categorizes the uses of demonstratives on the basis of various pragmatic considerations that influence their interpretation. The taxonomy includes many uses previously identified in the literature as well as other uses that have not heretofore been discussed.
{"title":"A Taxonomy of Uses of Demonstratives","authors":"Ryan B. Doran, G. Ward","doi":"10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.12","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter presents a preliminary taxonomy of the various ways in which demonstrative noun phrases are used, with particular focus on examples from English. The classification of demonstrative uses begins with a consideration of the semantic value of the demonstrative NP—whether the speaker is using the demonstrative to denote or refer to an entity, a kind, a predicate, or a variable in a quantificational domain—and then further categorizes the uses of demonstratives on the basis of various pragmatic considerations that influence their interpretation. The taxonomy includes many uses previously identified in the literature as well as other uses that have not heretofore been discussed.","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87702590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-02-13DOI: 10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.17
Berit Brogaard
In traditional formal semantics, reference, truth, and satisfaction are basic and representation is derivative and dispensable. Semantics in this traditional sense has no bearing on mental processing. Thus, cognitive neuroscience cannot provide any insights into the nature of reference. Unlike traditional semantics, dynamic semantic theories—such as discourse representation theory (DRT) —treat ever-growing, revisable mental representations as the basic semantic entities. New information may refer to previously introduced referents and discourse referents may refer to worldly entities. Because DRT treats mental representations as indispensable, evidence from neuroscience—particularly recording of electroencephalograms (EEG) and its derivative event-related potentials (ERPs)—can reasonably be thought to shed light on meaning and reference. This chapter first reviews the advantages of DRT in accommodating linguistic data and then reviews data from neuroscience that seem to support it. Finally, it considers methodological concerns that have been raised about the neuroscientific approach to semantics.
{"title":"What can Neuroscience Tell us About Reference?","authors":"Berit Brogaard","doi":"10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.17","url":null,"abstract":"In traditional formal semantics, reference, truth, and satisfaction are basic and representation is derivative and dispensable. Semantics in this traditional sense has no bearing on mental processing. Thus, cognitive neuroscience cannot provide any insights into the nature of reference. Unlike traditional semantics, dynamic semantic theories—such as discourse representation theory (DRT) —treat ever-growing, revisable mental representations as the basic semantic entities. New information may refer to previously introduced referents and discourse referents may refer to worldly entities. Because DRT treats mental representations as indispensable, evidence from neuroscience—particularly recording of electroencephalograms (EEG) and its derivative event-related potentials (ERPs)—can reasonably be thought to shed light on meaning and reference. This chapter first reviews the advantages of DRT in accommodating linguistic data and then reviews data from neuroscience that seem to support it. Finally, it considers methodological concerns that have been raised about the neuroscientific approach to semantics.","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89156056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2018-10-01DOI: 10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.16
J. Vogels, E. Krahmer, A. Maes
This chapter reviews recent research on speakers’ referential choices in discourse. It focuses on the choice to mention a certain referent first on the one hand, and to produce a pronoun or more elaborate noun phrase on the other. Whereas traditional theories have relied mainly on influence of linguistic context to explain these choices, recent psycholinguistic studies have started investigating the effect of non-linguistic factors as well. Results of these studies suggest that the two referential choices (choice of referent and choice of referring expression) are largely driven by different sets of factors, contrary to the claim that both are related to accessibility of mental representations in memory. The chapter concludes that these findings are best explained by assuming referents can be accessible on different levels: a local and a more global discourse level. Referential choices may be influenced by both levels of accessibility, but with different probabilities for different choices.
{"title":"Accessibility and Reference Production","authors":"J. Vogels, E. Krahmer, A. Maes","doi":"10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.16","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.16","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter reviews recent research on speakers’ referential choices in discourse. It focuses on the choice to mention a certain referent first on the one hand, and to produce a pronoun or more elaborate noun phrase on the other. Whereas traditional theories have relied mainly on influence of linguistic context to explain these choices, recent psycholinguistic studies have started investigating the effect of non-linguistic factors as well. Results of these studies suggest that the two referential choices (choice of referent and choice of referring expression) are largely driven by different sets of factors, contrary to the claim that both are related to accessibility of mental representations in memory. The chapter concludes that these findings are best explained by assuming referents can be accessible on different levels: a local and a more global discourse level. Referential choices may be influenced by both levels of accessibility, but with different probabilities for different choices.","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"525 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91456842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1993-06-01DOI: 10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.5
Jeanette K. Gundel, Nancy Hedberg, R. Zacharski
In this chapter a case is made for six implicationally related cognitive statuses relevant for explicating the use of referring expressions in natural language discourse. These statuses are the conventional meanings signaled by determiners and pronouns, and interaction of the statuses with general conversational principles such as Grice’s Maxim of Quantity accounts for the actual distribution and interpretation of forms when necessary conditions for the use of more than one form are met. This proposal is supported by an empirical study of the distribution of referring expressions in naturally occurring discourse in five languages: English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.
{"title":"Cognitive Status and the form of Referring Expressions in Discourse","authors":"Jeanette K. Gundel, Nancy Hedberg, R. Zacharski","doi":"10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/OXFORDHB/9780199687305.013.5","url":null,"abstract":"In this chapter a case is made for six implicationally related cognitive statuses relevant for explicating the use of referring expressions in natural language discourse. These statuses are the conventional meanings signaled by determiners and pronouns, and interaction of the statuses with general conversational principles such as Grice’s Maxim of Quantity accounts for the actual distribution and interpretation of forms when necessary conditions for the use of more than one form are met. This proposal is supported by an empirical study of the distribution of referring expressions in naturally occurring discourse in five languages: English, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and Spanish.","PeriodicalId":22888,"journal":{"name":"The Oxford Handbook of Reference","volume":"59 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1993-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86222489","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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