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Focus, newness and their combination: processing of information structure in discourse
Lijing Chen1, Xingshan Li, Yufang Yang
1Key Laboratory of Behavioral Science, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Plos One
|August 23, 2012
Summary
Focusing on new information during Chinese reading speeds up processing of focused content but slows down new content. These distinct processing patterns suggest focus and newness are separate cognitive concepts.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Science
- Linguistics
- Psychology
Background:
- The interplay between information focus and newness in discourse processing remains unclear.
- Previous studies on information structure have not fully elucidated this relationship.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between focus and new information during on-line Chinese reading using eye-tracking.
- To differentiate the cognitive processing of focused versus non-focused information and new versus given information.
Main Methods:
- An eye-tracking experiment was conducted on Chinese readers.
- Focus was marked using the Chinese focus-particle "shi" (equivalent to English cleft structures).
- New information was defined as target words absent from prior context.
Main Results:
- Focused information in the target region was processed faster than non-focused information.
- New information was processed slower than given information in the target region.
- The effect of new/given information appeared in the post-target region for focused conditions, but not non-focused ones.
Conclusions:
- Focus and newness represent distinct concepts with different cognitive processing implications.
- Processing patterns reveal that focus enhances, while newness impedes, immediate information integration.
- A complex interaction between focus and newness influences discourse integration, particularly in later processing stages.
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