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Capacity limitations of processing presuppositions triggered by determiners
Cosima Schneider1, Markus Janczyk2
1Department of Psychology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Acta Psychologica
|November 12, 2020
Summary
The study found that processing indefinite determiners is harder than definite determiners, suggesting it requires more cognitive resources. This supports the Maximize Presupposition principle in language comprehension.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psycholinguistics
Background:
- Definite determiners imply unique existence, while indefinite determiners suggest multiple instances.
- The Maximize Presupposition principle explains how speakers infer meaning beyond literal utterances.
- Understanding the cognitive load of processing these presuppositions is crucial for language acquisition and comprehension.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cognitive processing of definite versus indefinite determiners.
- To determine if processing these determiners is automatic or capacity-limited.
- To test the predictions of the Maximize Presupposition principle regarding determiner processing.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the Psychological Refractory Period (PRP) paradigm to measure processing speed and capacity limitations.
- Employed the locus of slack-logic to analyze the interaction between presuppositions and processing.
- Compared processing times for definite and indefinite determiners in both felicitous and infelicitous contexts.
Main Results:
- Processing indefinite determiners was more difficult than definite determiners.
- Both felicitous and infelicitous sentences showed differences in processing difficulty.
- Immediate processing of indefinite determiners indicated a limitation in central cognitive capacities.
Conclusions:
- The findings support the Maximize Presupposition principle, demonstrating its role in cognitive language processing.
- The cognitive processing of presuppositions associated with determiners is not fully automatic and can be capacity-limited.
- This research advances the understanding of how humans process implicit meaning in language.
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