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The interpretation of anaphoric noun phrases: Time course and effects of overspecificity

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 18:26 authored by Alan GarnhamAlan Garnham, Jane OakhillJane Oakhill, Kate Cain
Two experiments investigated the interpretation of anaphoric noun phrases, and in particular those thatcould only be linked to their antecedents via knowledge-based inferences. The first experiment showed that much of the inferential processing was carried out as the anaphoric noun phrase was read, although there was some indication that inferential processing continued to the end of the clause. The second experiment attempted to establish why anaphoric noun phrases that are more specific than their antecedents cause problems. It showed that the difficulty did not lie in adding the extra information carried by the anaphor to the representation of the referent. Rather, we suggest, putting extra information in the anaphoric noun phrase disrupts the process of linking that noun phrase to its antecedent.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Series a Human Experimental Psychology

ISSN

0272-4987

Publisher

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Issue

1

Volume

50

Page range

149-162

ISBN

0272-4987

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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    University of Sussex (Publications)

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