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Between anaphora and deixis... the resolution of the demonstrative noun phrase "that N"

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 18:20 authored by Marion Fossard, Alan GarnhamAlan Garnham, H Wind Cowles
Three experiments examined the hypothesis that the demonstrative noun phrase (NP) that N, as an anadeictic expression, preferentially refers to the less salient referent in a discourse representation when used anaphorically, whereas the anaphoric pronoun he or she preferentially refers to the highly-focused referent. The findings, from a sentence completion task and two reading time experiments that used gender to create ambiguous and unamobiguous coreference, reveal that the demonstrative NP specifically orients processing toward a less salient referent when there is no gender cue discriminating between different possible referents. These findings show the importance of taking into account the discourse function of the anaphor itself and its influence on the process of searching for the referent.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Language and Cognitive Processes

ISSN

0169-0965

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

9

Volume

27

Page range

1385-1404

Department affiliated with

  • Psychology Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2013-01-29

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