Information flow and gaps

In this paper we provide an outline of a model for the flow information in conversations. We explain the model by means of a metaphor. We propose that certain natural language phrases (i.e., anaphoric expressions and questions) are used to express gaps. These gaps are what gives rise to information flow in conversations. After dealing with a simple conversational exchange in terms of this approach, we proceed to deal with different forms of indirect information transfer in conversations as they are manifested by bridging anaphors and indirect answers. At that point, we will leave the metaphorical presentation behind us and examine some of the details of our logic-based model itself. For the full details of the model we refer to Piwek (1998).