Angular correlations of causally-coherent primordial quantum perturbations

We consider the hypothesis that nonlocal, omnidirectional, causally-coherent quantum entanglement of inflationary horizons may account for some well-known measured anomalies of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy on large angular scales. It is shown that causal coherence can lead to less cosmic variance in the large-angle power spectrum ${C}_\ell$ of primordial curvature perturbations on spherical horizons than predicted by the standard model of locality in effective field theory, and to new symmetries of the angular correlation function ${C}(\Theta)$. Causal considerations are used to construct an approximate analytic model for ${C}(\Theta)$ on angular scales larger than a few degrees. Allowing for uncertainties from the unmeasured intrinsic dipole and from Galactic foreground subtraction, causally-coherent constraints are shown to be consistent with measured CMB correlations on large angular scales. Reduced cosmic variance will enable powerful tests of the hypothesis with better foreground subtraction and higher fidelity measurements on large angular scales.

A cognitive account of subjectivity put to the test: using an insertion task to investigate Mandarin result connectives

This article aims to further test the cognitive claims of the so-called subjectivity account of causal events and their linguistic markers, causal connectives. We took Mandarin Chinese, a language that is typologically completely different from the usual western languages, as a case to provide evidence for this subjectivity account. Complementary to the commonly used corpora analyses, we employed crowdsourcing to tap native speakers’ intuitions about causal coherence, focusing on four result connectives kějiàn ‘therefore’, suǒyǐ ‘so’, yīncǐ ‘so/for this reason’ and yúshì ‘thereupon/as a result’. The analysis shows systematic differences regarding the use of connectives in relations that differ in terms of subjectivity, demonstrating that native speakers make use of subjectivity to encode and decode different types of causal relations in discourse. Moreover, our study evidences that a comprehensive model of subjectivity should include the epistemic dimension of certainty about the subjectivity scale that might be indicated by other linguistic elements. In-depth analyses of the test items revealed that the presence/absence of modality words in the result segments are related to different preferential patterns for the connectives. There is a trade-off between the epistemic dimension of certainty and the expression of subjectivity in the four connectives involved.

How subjective are Mandarin reason connectives?

Studies in several languages find that causal connectives differ from one another in their prototypical meaning and use, which provides insight into language users’ cognitive categorization of causal relations in discourse. Subjectivity plays a vital role in this process. Using an integrated subjectivity approach, this study aims to give a comprehensive picture of the semantic-pragmatic distinctions between Mandarin reason connectives jìrán ‘since’, yīnwèi and yóuyú ‘because’. The data come from spontaneous conversation, microblog, and newspaper discourse, while most previous studies have focused only on written data. The results show that, despite the contextual differences in discourse from each corpus, the connectives display distinctive and robust profiles. Jìrán is subjective. It prototypically expresses speech act and epistemic causalities featuring speech act and judgment in the consequent. Speaker SoC (subject of consciousness) is actively involved yet remains implicit in the utterances. Yóuyú, by contrast, is objective. It typically expresses volitional and non-volitional content causalities featuring the consequent of physical act and fact, which are usually independent of SoCs. Yīnwèi is neutral in general, with a slight preference to volitional content and epistemic relations, to the consequent of fact, and to speaker SoC. Only one interaction with discourse style is found: in relations introduced by yīnwèi, the linguistic realization of the SoC varies across corpora: significantly more implicit yet few explicit cases in microblogs, yet the opposite is true in conversations. The specific profile of yīnwèi, depending on the ordering of the antecedent and the consequent, is robust across corpora. Furthermore, the relative importance of the associated subjectivity features is determined. In conclusion, the study contributes to our understanding of causal coherence and extends the empirical database that supports the claims of a cognitive account of causal coherence relations.

Signaling of Causal Relations in Spanish: Variety, Functionality, and Specificity

While some recent studies on Spanish have shown that some causal discourse markers specialize in expressing certain types of causal relations, others have revealed that causal relations may be signaled by a variety of linguistic devices. Given that we were interested not only in specificity and variety, but also in the (poly) functionality of signals, our objective in the present study was threefold. First, to identify the variety of markers used to signal causal relations in Spanish. Second, to describe the (poly) functionality of those causal markers. Third, to determine whether there exists a relationship of specificity between markers and particular types of causal relations. We analyzed a corpus of 2,514 causal coherence relations previously annotated. 40 different linguistic devices used to signal causal relations were identified. These devices were grouped into two main classes: Discourse Markers and Cue Phrases. Regarding the (poly) functionality of the markers, we found that 8 of the most frequent markers were used to signal different relations. Regarding specificity, it was observed that various conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs specialize in signaling specific relations.

Discourse context modulates the effect of implicit causality on rementions

abstractCertain verbs tend to elicit explanations about either their subject or their object. The tendency for one of the verb’s arguments to be rementioned in explanations is known as the implicit causality bias. In this paper we investigate the conditions underlying implicit causality remention biases by means of sentence and story completion studies. On one account of implicit causality, remention biases are the product of a combination of a particular lexico-semantic structure with a causal coherence relation. According to a competing account, the biases arise from a perceived lack of information in the discourse, and thus depend on knowledge about the world and the discourse context. To distinguish between the two accounts, it first needs to be established that information that potentially competes with implicit causality, such as relevant information from the discourse context, can reliably influence remention biases. We provide evidence that a violation of implicit assumptions underlying the standard use of implicit causality verbs leads to different inferences, and an alteration of the remention bias. We thereby lay the groundwork for future studies to distinguish between the two accounts.

The Diagnosis of Mental Disorders Is Influenced by Automatic Causal Reasoning

Causal knowledge has been shown to affect diagnostic decisions. It is unclear, however, how causal knowledge affects diagnosis. We hypothesized that it influences intuitive reasoning processes. More precisely, we speculated that people automatically assess the coherence between observed symptoms and an assumed causal model of a disorder, which in turn affects diagnostic classification. Intuitive causal reasoning was investigated in an experimental study. Participants were asked to read clinical reports before deciding on a diagnosis. Intuitive processing was studied by analyzing reading times. It turned out that reading times were slower when causally expected consequences of present symptoms were missing or effects of absent causes were present. This causal incoherence effect was predictive of participants’ later explicit diagnostic judgments. These and related findings suggest that diagnostic judgments rely on automatic reasoning processes based on the computation of causal coherence. Potential implications of these results for the training of clinicians are discussed.

Development of the Life Story in Early Adolescence

Life span developmental psychology proposes that the ability to create a coherent life narrative does not develop until early adolescence. Using a novel methodology, 10-, 12-, and 14-year-old participants were asked to tell their life stories aloud to a researcher. Later, participants separated their transcribed narratives into self-identified chapters. When life stories were assessed with measures of temporal and causal coherence, most participants in all age groups were able to tell a linear and coherent narrative. The 10-year-olds were more likely to start their narratives after birth and to use single event chapters in their stories, but they did not differ significantly from older participants in terms of the coherence or chronology of their chapters. This novel method for analyzing life narratives both supports and extends prior research on the development of life stories in adolescence.