Discourse Processing Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

has in the last two decades lost its role as the leading discipline in the research on man. Such a leading role was apparently taken up by biology, genetics and so on: see e.g. in this same volume (p. 15) how the shaping of the structure... more

has in the last two decades lost its role as the leading discipline in the research on man. Such a leading role was apparently taken up by biology, genetics and so on: see e.g. in this same volume (p. 15) how the shaping of the structure of a honeycomb is used as an example to explain how in language "there is no explicit statement of the rule, though the final structure looks as though it is rule-governed" (see for similar cases pp. 200, 203 and passim).

Resumen Un buen número de estudios psicolingüís-ticos han analizado los costos de procesa-miento en relación con las expectativas del lector durante el proceso de lectura y com-prensión de textos, así como su vínculo con determinadas... more

Resumen Un buen número de estudios psicolingüís-ticos han analizado los costos de procesa-miento en relación con las expectativas del lector durante el proceso de lectura y com-prensión de textos, así como su vínculo con determinadas relaciones semánticas. Aun-que pocos han estudiado este fenómeno en producción de discurso, es posible sostener predicciones similares a las señaladas para el proceso de comprensión. En este trabajo presentamos un experimento que, a través de un paradigma de completamiento verbal espontáneo, permite deducir la organización progresiva de un modelo mental entendido como una representación abstracta del texto. Consideramos cuatro variables centrales: tipo de relación semántica, instancia de completamiento, dimensión conceptual y presencia / ausencia de partícula conectiva. Nuestros datos respaldan los enfoques que plantean que las expectativas causales guían el procesamiento y, además, muestran espe-cificidades respecto del proceso subyacen-te (comprensión vs. producción), así como mecanismos comunes a ambos. El estudio muestra posibilidades de transferencia, y sus resultados se pueden proyectar a diver-sas (sub)disciplinas lingüísticas y cogniti-vas, desde la psicología básica hasta los ám-bitos clínicos y educativos. Palabras clave: psicolingüística; partículas conectivas; producción de lenguaje; causalidad

Like many other languages, Japanese is ambiguous about the potential attachment sites of a relative clause which appears alongside a complex noun phrase. One important class of parsing theories (nondeterministic accounts) predicts that... more

Like many other languages, Japanese is ambiguous about the potential attachment sites of a relative clause which appears alongside a complex noun phrase. One important class of parsing theories (nondeterministic accounts) predicts that the relative clause will initially be attached to the first available host and later assigned to an alternative site, following the intervention of certain discourse processes. An alternative (deterministic) account maintains that the preliminary attachment site remains unchanged throughout the course of processing the sentence. The results of a questionnaire and a self-paced reading study with Japanese materials of this kind provided evidence of phased attachment first to one noun host and then to another. It is argued that these results are compatible only with nondeterministic accounts of parsing.

The purpose of this study was to validate and extend the findings of an exhaustive literature search in Year 1 and a meta-analysis in Year 2 of a 3-year project in which nine (9) small-group discussion approaches were identified. Having... more

The purpose of this study was to validate and extend the findings of an exhaustive literature search in Year 1 and a meta-analysis in Year 2 of a 3-year project in which nine (9) small-group discussion approaches were identified. Having identified parameters of discussion that were, to a ...

El presente artículo tiene por objetivo analizar y comparar las propuestas sobre la comprensión discursiva que emanan de la teoría contructivista (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Singer, Graesser & Trabasso, 1994) y minimalista (McKoon... more

El presente artículo tiene por objetivo analizar y comparar las propuestas sobre la comprensión discursiva que emanan de la teoría contructivista (Graesser, Singer & Trabasso, 1994; Singer, Graesser & Trabasso, 1994) y minimalista (McKoon & Ratcliff, 1992). Estas propuestas se enmarcan dentro de la psicología discursiva, área en el cual se ha dado especial atención a entender los procesos inferenciales involucrados en la comprensión, como forma de comprender los fenómenos que encierra la cognición humana. Es por esta razón que la revisión aquí realizada se centrará en la visión que cada una de estas posturas plantea sobre dichos procesos y en el devenir de esta controversia. De la revisión se desprende que este devenir ha sido de tipo dialéctico, lo que ha permitido que, a través de las tensiones producidas, se amplíe y complejicen las problemáticas a resolver. Concluimos finalmente que, de acuerdo a lo analizado, al estado actual del avance científico, no se aprecian respuestas definitivas a la controversia original.

In this qualitative study, literacy practices of “struggling” seventh and eighth graders were recorded on videotape as they engaged in both traditional and new literacies practices in an after-school video games club. These recordings... more

In this qualitative study, literacy practices of “struggling” seventh and eighth graders were recorded on videotape as they engaged in both traditional and new literacies practices in an after-school video games club. These recordings were analyzed in the context of building comprehension skills with video games. The students struggled with reading and are characterized as unmotivated and disengaged by the school, which may be at the root of their inability to use comprehension strategies. Playing video games is viewed here as a literate practice, and was seen to be more engaging than traditional activities (such as reading school text, writing journals, etc.). The conclusion of this observation makes connections to current research in comprehension and provides a basis for teachers to use games to develop comprehension and learning.

The increasing use of computer-held text corpora containing many millions of words has allowed linguists to establish lexico-grammatical patterns in language that were previously unavailable to observers. Such patterns range from lexical... more

The increasing use of computer-held text corpora containing many millions of words has allowed linguists to establish lexico-grammatical patterns in language that were previously unavailable to observers. Such patterns range from lexical collocations and idioms to the phraseology of grammatical items. Recently, collocations of high frequency words in medical research abstracts and articles have been found to be useful indicators of the prototypical phraseology of the genre. In this article we characterize the phraseology of Introductions from a corpus of 150 cancer research articles. We explain the ®xedness and idiosyncratic nature of scienti®c phraseology in terms of discourse processes such as reformulation. We argue for the design of a representative and specialized corpus of the research article and a contextual approach to corpus work that is appropriate to the teaching of languages for speci®c purposes (LSP) and the ethnographic aims of genre analysis in general.

The present study investigates how readers' representations of narratives are constrained by three sources of temporal information; grammatical aspect, lexical aspect, and the duration of intervening events. Participants read short... more

The present study investigates how readers' representations of narratives are constrained by three sources of temporal information; grammatical aspect, lexical aspect, and the duration of intervening events. Participants read short stories in which a target event with an intrinsic endpoint or not (lexical aspect: accomplishments/activities) was described as ongoing or completed (grammatical aspect: imperfective/perfective). An intervening sentence described either a long or short duration event before the target situation was reintroduced later in the story. The electroencephalogram time-locked to the reintroduction of the target event elicited a larger N400 for perfective versus imperfective accomplishments, and this effect occurred only after short intervening events. Alternatively, the N400 to targets in the activity condition did not vary as a function of grammatical aspect or duration of intervening events. These results provide novel insight into how the temporal properties of events interact to constrain the availability of concepts in situation models.

Advances in computational linguistics and discourse processing have made it possible to automate many language-and text-processing mechanisms. We have developed a computer tool called Coh-Metrix, which analyzes texts on over 200 measures... more

Advances in computational linguistics and discourse processing have made it possible to automate many language-and text-processing mechanisms. We have developed a computer tool called Coh-Metrix, which analyzes texts on over 200 measures of cohesion, language, and readability. Its modules use lexicons, part-of-speech classifiers, syntactic parsers, templates, corpora, latent semantic analysis, and other components that are widely used in computational linguistics. After the user enters an English text, Coh-Metrix returns measures requested by the user. In addition, a facility allows the user to store the results of these analyses in data files (such as Text, Excel, and SPSS). Standard text readability formulas scale texts on difficulty by relying on word length and sentence length, whereas Coh-Metrix is sensitive to cohesion relations, world knowledge, and language and discourse characteristics.

In this article, we examine collaborative discourse in an informal undergraduate study group in which students focus on their lecture notes. Several decades of educational research have demonstrated that collaborative groups contribute to... more

In this article, we examine collaborative discourse in an informal undergraduate study group in which students focus on their lecture notes. Several decades of educational research have demonstrated that collaborative groups contribute to enhanced learning, and recent work has explored how external representations-such as those that appear in lecture notes-enhance collaboration. However, few of these studies have focused directly on the discourse processes that occur in collaborating groups, or how external representations influence these processes. In this article we use conversation analytic methods to show how the notebooks' external representations affect discourse processes and thus scaffold both individual and group learning. These analyses demonstrate that a close focus on discourse processes can help researchers understand how collaboration using external representations contributes to learning.

Three experiments investigated the extent to which semantic and working-memory deficits contribute to Alzheimer patients' impairments in producing and comprehending referring expressions. In Experiment 1, the spontaneous speech of 11... more

Three experiments investigated the extent to which semantic and working-memory deficits contribute to Alzheimer patients' impairments in producing and comprehending referring expressions. In Experiment 1, the spontaneous speech of 11 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) contained a greater ratio of pronouns to full noun phrases than did the spontaneous speech produced by 9 healthy controls. Experiments 2 and 3 used a cross-modal naming methodology to compare reference comprehension in another group of 10 patients and 10 age-matched controls. In Experiment 2, patients were less sensitive than healthy controls to the grammatical information necessary for processing pronouns. In Experiment 3, patients were better able to remember referent information in short paragraphs when reference was maintained with full noun phrases rather than pronouns, but healthy controls showed the reverse pattern. Performance in all three experiments was linked to working memory performance but not to word finding difficulty. We discuss these findings in terms of a theory of reference processing, the Informational Load Hypothesis, which views referential impairments in AD as the consequence of normal discourse processing in the context of a working memory impairment.

not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI Global of the trademark or registered trademark. Handbook of research on effective electronic gaming in education / Richard E. Ferdig, editor. p. cm. Summary: "This book presents a framework for... more

not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI Global of the trademark or registered trademark. Handbook of research on effective electronic gaming in education / Richard E. Ferdig, editor. p. cm. Summary: "This book presents a framework for understanding games for educational purposes while providing a broader sense of current related research. This creative and advanced title is a must-have for those gaming"--Provided by publisher. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-59904-808-6 (hardcover) --ISBN 978-1-59904-811-6 (e-book) 1. Simulation games in education--Handbooks, manuals, etc. 2. Electronic games--Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Ferdig, Richard E. (Richard Eugene) ABSTRACT video -

Because characters' goals play a key role in the structure of narratives, the ability to make inferences about goals is essential to narrative comprehension. Despite their importance, no previous studies have examined the process by which... more

Because characters' goals play a key role in the structure of narratives, the ability to make inferences about goals is essential to narrative comprehension. Despite their importance, no previous studies have examined the process by which children make these goal inferences. In the current study, we examined 6and 8-year-old children's goal inference making processes through think-aloud protocols. We also examined the product of comprehension, the mental representation of text, through free recall and comprehension questions. The results revealed that children of both ages regularly made appropriate goal inferences while listening to narratives. In addition, the number of goal inferences predicted children's recall of the stories. Thus, children as young as 6 years old are sensitive to the vital role of characters' goals in narrative structure, and they can engage in sophisticated cognitive processing while they listen to narratives to form coherent mental representations of them.

It is now widely maintained that the concept of "literariness" has been critically examined and found deficient. Prominent postmodern literary theorists have argued that there are no special characteristics that distinguish literature... more

It is now widely maintained that the concept of "literariness" has been critically examined and found deficient. Prominent postmodern literary theorists have argued that there are no special characteristics that distinguish literature from other texts. Similarly, cognitive psychology has often subsumed literary understanding within a general theory of discourse processing. However, a review of empirical studies of literary readers reveals traces of literariness that appear irreducible to either of these explanatory frameworks. Our analysis of readers' responses to several literary texts (short stories and poems) indicates processes beyond the explanatory reach of current situation models. Such findings suggest a threecomponent model of literariness involving foregrounded textual or narrative features, readers' defamiliarizing responses to them, and the consequent modification of personal meanings.

Neuroimaging research is providing new types of information and insight about the cortical activity underlying discourse processing. Knowing the intensity and location of the brain activity during discourse comprehension adds... more

Neuroimaging research is providing new types of information and insight about the cortical activity underlying discourse processing. Knowing the intensity and location of the brain activity during discourse comprehension adds significantly to the information provided by behavioral measures alone. The combination of neuroimaging data and behaviorally based discourse theories indicate that discourse processing is underpinned by a system of several distinguishable cortical networks that are activated for discourse processing, above and beyond the activation evoked by comprehension at the word and sentence level. Whereas the multiplicities of the processes in discourse comprehension are sometimes seen as a drawback to behavioral experiments, it is something of a benefit in neuroimaging research. Controlled neuroimaging experiments, with their multidimensional measures, can help determine when each of these components contributes to discourse processing. By making some assumptions about the cortical regions/network that underlie this processing, we can begin to determine when an area becomes activated and to what degree it is activated as a function of the discourse properties.

Over the past years, there has been growing academic interest in the field of Translation Studies concerning issues related to how translators should be trained/taught, or rather, how they should be educated. While proposals tended to be... more

Over the past years, there has been growing academic interest in the field of Translation Studies concerning issues related to how translators should be trained/taught, or rather, how they should be educated. While proposals tended to be more prescriptive and normative in the 1960s ...

The question of the relationship between gesture production and mental models was explored in three experiments focusing on inference making when learning from reading a scientific text. Results support an embodied cognition view of... more

The question of the relationship between gesture production and mental models was explored in three experiments focusing on inference making when learning from reading a scientific text. Results support an embodied cognition view of mental model formation where inference making stimulates gesture production, and restricting gestures selectively impairs inference making. The results are interpreted within the Gesture as Model Enactment (GAME) framework. Activation of motor control systems via gesture support simulated actions that contribute to mental model formation. Implications for learning and assessing knowledge are explored.

Advances in computational linguistics and discourse processing have made it possible to automate many language-and text-processing mechanisms. We have developed a computer tool called Coh-Metrix, which analyzes texts on over 200 measures... more

Advances in computational linguistics and discourse processing have made it possible to automate many language-and text-processing mechanisms. We have developed a computer tool called Coh-Metrix, which analyzes texts on over 200 measures of cohesion, language, and readability. Its modules use lexicons, part-of-speech classifiers, syntactic parsers, templates, corpora, latent semantic analysis, and other components that are widely used in computational linguistics. After the user enters an English text, Coh-Metrix returns ...

Background: Identification of discourse relations, such as causal and contrastive relations, between situations mentioned in text is an important task for biomedical text-mining. A biomedical text corpus annotated with discourse relations... more

Background: Identification of discourse relations, such as causal and contrastive relations, between situations mentioned in text is an important task for biomedical text-mining. A biomedical text corpus annotated with discourse relations would be very useful for developing and evaluating methods for biomedical discourse processing. However, little effort has been made to develop such an annotated resource.

Niveles de comprensión y su relación con la predominancia de sistemas semiótico en textos del área de la lingüística. Una aproximación al fenómeno multimodal desde el discurso académico universitario: Este trabajo investigativo pretende... more

Niveles de comprensión y su relación con la predominancia de sistemas semiótico en textos del área de la lingüística. Una aproximación al fenómeno multimodal desde el discurso académico universitario: Este trabajo investigativo pretende determinar los niveles de comprensión que alcanzan los estudiantes de pregrado por medio de la lectura de textos multisemióticos propios de la disciplina de lingüística. Para alcanzar este objetivo, nos centraremos en determinar los niveles de comprensión de alumnos y alumnas de la carrera de Castellano y Comunicación de PUCV a través de una prueba de comprensión en la que se considerará la presencia de artefactos multisemióticos en textos disciplinares propios del área de la lingüística. Los resultados de esta investigación permitirán aportar datos relevantes a los estudios empíricos multimodales y, en especial, a las investigaciones relacionadas con géneros discursivos.

The goal of the work reported here is to pro- vide a system for handling spoken dialogues which can be easily ported to new languages and new application areas. This work is be- ing carried within the Dumas project, which aims to explore... more

The goal of the work reported here is to pro- vide a system for handling spoken dialogues which can be easily ported to new languages and new application areas. This work is be- ing carried within the Dumas project, which aims to explore a number of approaches to this task. The particular approach described here involves involes constructing fairly traditional 'logical forms' on the basis of structural analy- ses of the input speech and then using a mix- ture of meaning postulates, which relate terms in the language to underlying concepts, and gen- eral domain knowledge in order to interpret and respond to what has been said.

In 1960, the famous computer pioneer J.C.R. Licklider described a vision for human-computer interaction that he calledman-computer symbiosis.¨Licklider predicted the development of computer software that would allow peopleẗo think in... more

In 1960, the famous computer pioneer J.C.R. Licklider described a vision for human-computer interaction that he calledman-computer symbiosis.¨Licklider predicted the development of computer software that would allow peopleẗo think in interaction with a computer in the same way that you think with a colleague whose competence supplements your own.¨More than 40 years later, one rarely encounters any computer application that comes close to capturing Lickliderś notion of human-like communication and collaboration. We echo Licklider by arguing that true symbiotic interaction requires at least the following three elements: a complementary and effective division of labor between human and machine; an explicit representation in the computer of the userś abilities, intentions, and beliefs; and the utilization of nonverbal communication modalities. We illustrate this argument with various research prototypes currently under development at Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (USA).

Although there is increasing evidence to suggest that language is grounded in perception and action, the relationship between language and emotion is less well understood. We investigate the grounding of language in emotion using a novel... more

Although there is increasing evidence to suggest that language is grounded in perception and action, the relationship between language and emotion is less well understood. We investigate the grounding of language in emotion using a novel approach that examines the relationship between the comprehension of a written discourse and the performance of affect-related motor actions (hand movements towards and away from the body). Results indicate that positively and negatively valenced words presented in context influence motor responses (Experiment 1), whilst valenced words presented in isolation do not (Experiment 3). Furthermore, whether discourse context indicates that an utterance should be interpreted literally or ironically can influence motor responding, suggesting that the grounding of language in emo- tional states can be influenced by discourse-level factors (Experiment 2). In addition, the finding of affect-related motor responses to certain forms of ironic language, but not to non-ironic control sentences, suggests that phrasing a message ironically may influence the emotional response that is elicited.

Studies of discourse processing focus on the ways in which readers and listeners comprehend language. The linguistic segments of interest to the field tend to be larger than sound, word, or sentence-level units; they include the books and... more

Studies of discourse processing focus on the ways in which readers and listeners comprehend language. The linguistic segments of interest to the field tend to be larger than sound, word, or sentence-level units; they include the books and conversational communications that comprise our everyday cognitive and social interactions. The current review focuses on discourse comprehension (specifically text processing), highlighting three core issues of primary interest to the research field. First, we outline the particular elements that make up naturalistic discourse activity. Second, we identify potential interactions among the elements, and how investigations of these interactions have resulted in influential frameworks for the field. Finally, we examine contemporary work (both theoretical and applied) that might further enhance current accounts of discourse processing. As appropriate, the review includes references to relevant empirical research outlining the processes that guide, and are guided by, our discourse experiences.

In this paper we will present our ongoing work on a plan-based discourse processor developed in the context of the Enthusiast Spanish to English translation system as part of the JANUS multi-lingual speech-to-speech translation system. We... more

In this paper we will present our ongoing work on a plan-based discourse processor developed in the context of the Enthusiast Spanish to English translation system as part of the JANUS multi-lingual speech-to-speech translation system. We will demonstrate that theories of discourse which postulate a strict tree structure of discourse on either the intentional or attentional level are not totally

Earlier research [Discourse Process. 23 (2/3) (2002) 135] on argumentation suggests that adults use advanced discourse strategies more consistently, more frequently, and more flexibly than do adolescents. The present study examines the... more

Earlier research [Discourse Process. 23 (2/3) (2002) 135] on argumentation suggests that adults use advanced discourse strategies more consistently, more frequently, and more flexibly than do adolescents. The present study examines the development of argumentation skills during adolescence. Forty-eight seventh and eighth graders were assigned to one of two conditions. Both groups engaged in pretest and posttest measures of strategy use on two topics (capital punishment and abortion) and then engaged in five weekly dialogues on the main topic only (capital punishment). Control group participants engaged in dialogue only while experimental group participants engaged in a combination of dialogue and paired reflection on dialogues. Experimental group participants showed greater advances in argumentative discourse than control group participants. Results suggest that change in adolescents does indeed progress in the direction of adult discourse and that a combination of practice and reflection is more effective in promoting change than practice alone. The implications of these findings for a developmental model of argumentative discourse are discussed.

In normative pragmatics, a kind of empirical discourse analysis organized by normative theory, the analysis of any communication process begins with an idealized model of the discourse that can be compared with actual practices.... more

In normative pragmatics, a kind of empirical discourse analysis organized by normative theory, the analysis of any communication process begins with an idealized model of the discourse that can be compared with actual practices. Idealizations of argumentation can be found, among other places, in theoretical descriptions of ‘critical discussion’ and other dialogue types. Comparing ideal models with actual practices can pinpoint defects in the models (leading to theoretical refinements), but it can also identify deficiencies in practice. This latter possibility invites redesign around well-justified idealizations. This paper outlines an approach to the design of discourse processes and illustrates the approach with contrastive analysis of several recently developed protocols for discussion and debate on the worldwide web.

Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate two dissociable impairments of pragmatic language comprehension: (1) an insensitivity to irony, which is associated with poor theory-of-mind (i.e. a difficulty with inferring other people's... more

Patients with schizophrenia demonstrate two dissociable impairments of pragmatic language comprehension: (1) an insensitivity to irony, which is associated with poor theory-of-mind (i.e. a difficulty with inferring other people's thoughts); and (2) poor recognition of metaphors, which may reflect degraded semantics. This study investigated whether non-clinical high-schizotypal adults show similar impairments of pragmatic language. Thirty-six university students completed the Raine Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire, the Wechsler Memory Scale Logical-Memories subtest, Raven's Progressive Matrices and a story comprehension task that tested the ability to discriminate between incongruous statements and appropriate uses of ironical, metaphorical or literal speech. Counter to the pattern found for patients, high-schizotypal adults were just as capable as low-schizotypal adults of identifying appropriate metaphors, suggesting a discontinuity between schizophrenia and schizotypy for the metaphor-recognition problem. This study's finding of intact metaphor recognition in high-schizotypal adults contrasts with previous findings of poor proverb comprehension in these individuals and is interpreted in terms of different semantic processes required for recognizing and interpreting metaphors. Consistent with the pattern found for patients, high-schizotypal adults were significantly impaired in their ability to appreciate when a literally contradictory utterance could be interpreted as ironical, suggesting continuity between schizophrenia and schizotypy for the irony-appreciation problem. ᮊ

The amount of information attached to a noun phrase (henceforth, NP) has been shown to enhance accessibility and increase pronominal reference in language production. However, both the effect of information quantity on the comprehension... more

The amount of information attached to a noun
phrase (henceforth, NP) has been shown to enhance accessibility and increase pronominal reference in language production. However, both the effect of information quantity on the comprehension of ambiguous pronouns and the time course of any informativity effect have been left unexplored. In two eyetracking experiments, we investigated how additional information on the part of NP referents influenced the resolution of following ambiguous pronouns. The results of the first experiment revealed an informativity effect, with more looks to the informationally richer referent than to the competitor. However, the effect of additional information emerged late in time when the referent was the object of the verb. The second experiment replicated the results of the first and also showed that, consistent with the online results, an ambiguous pronoun is interpreted as referring to the informationally richer NP in an offline, explicit pronoun resolution task. The results lend support to theories of language processing that assume that explicit information increases the accessibility of the associated concept, in contrast to approaches that assume that accessibility is associated with givenness.

Resumen: El conexionismo, tratando de simular el procesamiento de discurso humano, ha desarrollado varias técnicas para la representación de frames y scripts. Estos modelos son capaces de solucionar algunas de las limitaciones de los... more

Resumen: El conexionismo, tratando de simular el procesamiento de discurso humano, ha desarrollado varias técnicas para la representación de frames y scripts. Estos modelos son capaces de solucionar algunas de las limitaciones de los sistemas clásicos. En concreto, los sistemas clásicos son incapaces de controlar cuándo se necesita activar un chunk de conocimiento y qué parte de tal chunk ha de estar más activada. En cambio, los sistemas conexionistas pueden utilizar grados de activación para tratar este caso. Sin embargo, estos modelos también tienen alguna limitación como modelos de la mente humana. Finalmente, se analiza la plausibilidad de los enfoques híbridos. Palabras clave: Conexionismo, Esquemas, Representación del conocimiento, Procesamienmto de discurso Title: Connectionist representation and discourse processing. Abstract: Trying to simulate human discourse processing, connectionism has developed several approaches in order to represent frames and scripts. These models are able to go far beyond of some of the shortcomings of classical systems. Specifically, classical systems are unable to control when a chunk of knowledge has to be activated, and with the issue of what part of the chunk should be more activated. Instead, connectionist systems admit to use activation degrees for dealing with this issue. However, connectionist models have also some limitations if considered as models of human mind. Finally, the plausibility of hybrid approaches is analysed.

Coh-Metrix is a web-based application currently in development that automatically evaluates text. It uses two central concepts from discourse processing: text-based cohesion and situation-model based coherence. Cohesion is the degree to... more

Coh-Metrix is a web-based application currently in development that automatically evaluates text. It uses two central concepts from discourse processing: text-based cohesion and situation-model based coherence. Cohesion is the degree to which components of the text are linked. Coherence is the representation of the world that the text conveys. Our intention is for Coh-Metrix to eventually map the cohesion of a text to the background knowledge and reading skills of the reader. Coh-Metrix will then be able to give feedback to a writer about which aspects of the text are cohesive and which lack cohesion. This will enable the writer to determine which aspects of the text need to be improved. Applications of Coh-Metrix on document quality as well as other future directions for the development of Coh-Metrix are discussed.

This paper has two aims: (1) to generalize a computational account of discourse processing called CENTERING and apply it to discourse processing in Japanese, and (2) to provide some insights on the effect of syntactic factors in Japanese... more

This paper has two aims: (1) to generalize a computational account of discourse processing called CENTERING and apply it to discourse processing in Japanese, and (2) to provide some insights on the effect of syntactic factors in Japanese on discourse interpretation. We argue that while discourse interpretation is an inferential process, the syntactic cues constrain this process, and demonstrate this argument with respect to the interpretation of ZEROS, unexpressed arguments of the verb, in Japanese. The syntactic cues in Japanese discourse that we investigate are the morphological markers for grammatical TOPIC, the post-position wa, as well as those for grammatical functions such as SUBJECT, ga, OBJECT, o and OBJECT2, ni. In addition, we investigate the role of speakers' EMPATHY, which is the perspective from which an event is described. This is morphologically indicated through the use of verbal compounding, i.e. the auxiliary use of verbs such as kureta, kita. Our results are based on a survey of native speakers of their interpretation of short discourses, consisting of minimal pairs, varied by one of the above factors. We demonstrate that these syntactic cues do indeed affect the interpretation of ZEROS, but that having previously been the TOPIC and being realized as a ZERO also contribute to an entity being interpreted as the TOPIC. We propose a new notion of TOPIC AMBIGUITY, and show that CENTERING provides constraints on when a ZERO can be interpreted as the TOPIC.

This study is concerned with the cognitive aspects of discourse processing in an electronic environment. A cognitive model for hypertext reading is proposed and validated with the use of think aloud protocols. The model, at this stage of... more

This study is concerned with the cognitive aspects of discourse processing in an electronic environment. A cognitive model for hypertext reading is proposed and validated with the use of think aloud protocols. The model, at this stage of development, is only concerned with the general cognitive processes that take place during reading a hypertext. That should be considered as the

The Landscape Model of text comprehension was extended to the comprehension of audiovisual discourse from text and video TV news stories. Concepts from the story were coded for activation after each sequence, creating a matrix of... more

The Landscape Model of text comprehension was extended to the comprehension of audiovisual discourse from text and video TV news stories. Concepts from the story were coded for activation after each sequence, creating a matrix of activations that was reduced to a vector of the degree of total activation for each concept. In Study 1, the degree vector correlated well with participants' ratings of how much the sequence made them think of each concept. In Study 2, the degree vector, vectors based on the number of activations, and the degree of co-activation were used to predict participants' recall. The model predicted recall for the text version well, but only moderately well for the video version. The Landscape Model was modified using Dual Code Theory by coding and analyzing audio and visual information as separate components. It predicted students' recall well, indicating its robustness as a model of discourse processing.

This paper has three aims: (1) to generalize a compulational account of the discourse process called CENTERING, (2) to apply this account to discourse processing in Japanese so that it can be used in computational systems for machine... more

This paper has three aims: (1) to generalize a compulational account of the discourse process called CENTERING, (2) to apply this account to discourse processing in Japanese so that it can be used in computational systems for machine translation or language understanding, and (3) to provide some insights on the effect of syntactic factors in Japanese on discourse interpretation. We argue that while discourse interpretation is an inferential process, syntactic cues constrain this process; we demonstrate this argument with respect to the interpretation of ZEROS, unexpressed arguments of the verb, in Japanese. The syntactic cues in Japanese discourse that we investigate are the morphological markers for grammatical TOPIC, the postposition wa, as well as those for grammatical functions such as SUBJECT, ga, OBJECT, o and OBJECT2, ni. In addition, we investigate the role of speaker's EMPATHY, which is the viewpoint from which an event is described. This is syntactically indicated thro...

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency D 98 11 :9 9102 iI-UNCLASSIFIED SECURITV CLASSIFICATION OF TNeS PAGI (Wim. De tme REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE COMPLETING FORM R.EIICPORT mumllk " .. OV ACCISOMN NO. I.... more

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency D 98 11 :9 9102 iI-UNCLASSIFIED SECURITV CLASSIFICATION OF TNeS PAGI (Wim. De tme REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE READ INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE COMPLETING FORM R.EIICPORT mumllk " .. OV ACCISOMN NO. I. RECIPIENT'S CATALOG NUMUER I 6937 4. TITLE (and 11"fiffe) S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COvEREO Research in Knowledge Representation for Natural Final Report Language Communication and Planning 3/85-9188

Using a novel adaptation of the visual world eye-tracking paradigm we investigated children's and adults' online processing of reference in a naturalistic language context. Participants listened to a 5-minute long storybook while wearing... more

Using a novel adaptation of the visual world eye-tracking paradigm we investigated children's and adults' online processing of reference in a naturalistic language context. Participants listened to a 5-minute long storybook while wearing eye-tracking glasses. The gaze data were analyzed relative to the onset of referring expressions (i.e., full noun phrases (NPs) and pronouns) that were mentioned throughout the story. We found that following the mention of a referring expression there was an increase in the proportion of looks to the intended referent for both children and adults. However, this effect was only found early on in the story. As the story progressed, the likelihood that participants directed their eye gaze towards the intended referent decreased. We also found differences in the eye gaze patterns between NPs and pronouns, as well as between children and adults. Overall these findings demonstrate that the mapping between linguistic input and corresponding eye movements is heavily influenced by discourse context.

This study investigates the effect of coherence relations and accent on pronoun reference. Participants heard sentences like John saw Jeff, and Jane called him, and indicated which noun the pronoun referred to. Here, the pronoun is said... more

This study investigates the effect of coherence relations and accent on pronoun reference. Participants heard sentences like John saw Jeff, and Jane called him, and indicated which noun the pronoun referred to. Here, the pronoun is said to be ambiguous because it can refer either to John or to Jeff. The sentences had one of two different types of coherence relations , and were varied for pronoun accent. Coherence relations describe the relation between two different propositions. Accenting the pronoun changed the referent in one coherence relation condition, but not the other. Contra Kehler, , different coherence relations responded to accenting in dissimilar ways. Furthermore, coherence relations were more important in determining pronoun referent than syntax, against Smyth (1994).

This paper presents necessary and sufficient conditions for the use of demonstrative expressions in English and discusses implications for current discourse processing algorithms. We examine a broad range of texts to show how the... more

This paper presents necessary and sufficient conditions for the use of demonstrative expressions in English and discusses implications for current discourse processing algorithms. We examine a broad range of texts to show how the distribution of demonstrative forms and functions is genre dependent. This research is part of a larger study of anaphoric expressions, the results of which will be incorporated into a natural language generation system.