Referential collaboration with computers
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Fons Maes
Abstract
“Is the referential behavior of language users sensitive to the human vs. computer nature of the addressee? In a production experiment participants were asked to help a distant partner to solve a problem by identifying objects on a computer screen. The addressee was either a distant human or a distant computer who/ which was in need of the information. The addressees either provided feedback or not. The results show that human addressees trigger more overspecified referential expressions than computer addressees in a non-feedback situation. In the feedback conditions, the nature of the addressee had no effect. The results suggest differences between humans and computers, not only in terms of users’ evaluations, attitudes and motivation, but also in terms of assumptions on cognitive capacities.”
Abstract
“Is the referential behavior of language users sensitive to the human vs. computer nature of the addressee? In a production experiment participants were asked to help a distant partner to solve a problem by identifying objects on a computer screen. The addressee was either a distant human or a distant computer who/ which was in need of the information. The addressees either provided feedback or not. The results show that human addressees trigger more overspecified referential expressions than computer addressees in a non-feedback situation. In the feedback conditions, the nature of the addressee had no effect. The results suggest differences between humans and computers, not only in terms of users’ evaluations, attitudes and motivation, but also in terms of assumptions on cognitive capacities.”
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Anaphors in text – Introduction vii
-
Anaphors in Cognitive, Text- and Discourse Linguistics
- Indirect anaphora in text 3
- Indirect pronominal anaphora in English and French 21
- Lexical anaphors in Danish and French 37
- Referential collaboration with computers 49
- Reflexivity and temporality in discourse deixis 69
- The function of complex anaphors in texts 81
- Metaphorical anaphors 103
-
The Syntax and Semantic of Anaphors
- Accessibility and definite noun phrases 123
- The non-subject bias of German demonstrative pronouns 145
- Anaphoric properties of German right dislocation 165
- Antecedents of diverse types 183
- Corpus-based and machine learning approaches to anaphora resolution 207
-
Neurolinguistic Studies
- Neuroimaging studies of coherence processes 225
- Reference assignment in the absence of sufficient semantic content 241
- Resolving complex anaphors 259
- Index 279
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Anaphors in text – Introduction vii
-
Anaphors in Cognitive, Text- and Discourse Linguistics
- Indirect anaphora in text 3
- Indirect pronominal anaphora in English and French 21
- Lexical anaphors in Danish and French 37
- Referential collaboration with computers 49
- Reflexivity and temporality in discourse deixis 69
- The function of complex anaphors in texts 81
- Metaphorical anaphors 103
-
The Syntax and Semantic of Anaphors
- Accessibility and definite noun phrases 123
- The non-subject bias of German demonstrative pronouns 145
- Anaphoric properties of German right dislocation 165
- Antecedents of diverse types 183
- Corpus-based and machine learning approaches to anaphora resolution 207
-
Neurolinguistic Studies
- Neuroimaging studies of coherence processes 225
- Reference assignment in the absence of sufficient semantic content 241
- Resolving complex anaphors 259
- Index 279
