5 Exploring the Borderline between Procedural Encoding and Pragmatic Inference

2011 ◽  
pp. 103-127 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Pragmatic Inference ◽  
Procedural Encoding

scholarly journals Relevance theory, pragmatic inference and cognitive architecture

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-122
Author(s):  
Wen Yuan ◽  
Francis Y. Lin ◽  
Richard P. Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Architecture ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Pragmatic Inference

scholarly journals Language beyond the language system: dorsal visuospatial pathways support processing of demonstratives and spatial language during naturalistic fast fMRI

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Rocca ◽  
Kenny R. Coventry ◽  
Kristian Tylén ◽  
Marlene Staib ◽  
Torben E. Lund ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Information Integration ◽  
Visual Cues ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Finite Impulse Response ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Attentional Orienting ◽  
Word Level ◽  
Pragmatic Inference ◽  
The Right

AbstractSpatial demonstratives are powerful linguistic tools used to establish joint attention. Identifying the meaning of semantically underspecified expressions like “this one” hinges on the integration of linguistic and visual cues, attentional orienting and pragmatic inference. This synergy between language and extralinguistic cognition is pivotal to language comprehension in general, but especially prominent in demonstratives.In this study, we aimed to elucidate which neural architectures enable this intertwining between language and extralinguistic cognition using a naturalistic fMRI paradigm. In our experiment, 28 participants listened to a specially crafted dialogical narrative with a controlled number of spatial demonstratives. A fast multiband-EPI acquisition sequence (TR = 388ms) combined with finite impulse response (FIR) modelling of the hemodynamic response was used to capture signal changes at word-level resolution.We found that spatial demonstratives bilaterally engage a network of parietal areas, including the supramarginal gyrus, the angular gyrus, and precuneus, implicated in information integration and visuospatial processing. Moreover, demonstratives recruit frontal regions, including the right FEF, implicated in attentional orienting and reference frames shifts. Finally, using multivariate similarity analyses, we provide evidence for a general involvement of the dorsal (“where”) stream in the processing of spatial expressions, as opposed to ventral pathways encoding object semantics.Overall, our results suggest that language processing relies on a distributed architecture, recruiting neural resources for perception, attention, and extra-linguistic aspects of cognition in a dynamic and context-dependent fashion.

scholarly journals The Development of Quantity Implicatures in Mandarin-Speaking Children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuyan Zhao ◽  
Jie Ren ◽  
Michael C. Frank ◽  
Peng Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Developmental Trajectory ◽  
Scalar Implicatures ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Pragmatic Development ◽  
Linguistic Data ◽  
Pragmatic Inference ◽  
Context Dependent ◽  
Children's Development

The present study reports a large, cross-sectional study of Mandarin-speaking children’s ability to compute pragmatic inference. To chart the developmental trajectory of this pragmatic ability, we tested 225 Mandarin-speaking children (aged 4-8 years) on three types of pragmatic implicatures: scalar, context-dependent, and numeral implicatures. The results show that scalar implicatures posed difficulties for young Mandarin-speaking children, and they did not exhibit a consistent success until age 6. In contrast, by four years of age, this group was already able to compute context-dependent and numeral implicatures in an adult-like fashion. The implications of the current findings are discussed concerning children’s development of pragmatic inference as well as the relevance of cross-linguistic data in understanding pragmatic development.

Pragmatic Inference Task

1985 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken C. Winters ◽  
John M. Neale
Keyword(s):  
Pragmatic Inference ◽  
Inference Task
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