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Overspecification and incremental referential processing: An eye-tracking study.

Kumiko Fukumura1, Maria Nella Carminati1

  • 1Division of Psychology.

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Summary

Overspecification in language can speed up referent selection, but only when additional attributes are processed early and discriminate faster than alternatives. This finding depends on whether attributes are processed incrementally or in parallel.

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Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Psycholinguistics
  • Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

  • Referent selection is crucial for effective communication.
  • Overspecification, or providing more descriptive information than necessary, is common in language.
  • Understanding how overspecification impacts processing is key to optimizing information delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether overspecification hinders or facilitates referent selection.
  • To examine the role of attribute properties and processing modes (incremental vs. parallel) in overspecification effects.
  • To determine the conditions under which additional attributes aid or impede search.

Main Methods:

  • Eye-tracking was used to monitor participants' visual search behavior.
  • Participants followed spoken instructions to select referents in visual displays.
  • Referring expressions were presented either simultaneously (incremental processing) or before (parallel processing) display presentation.

Main Results:

  • Under incremental processing, the order and discriminative speed of attributes influenced selection time.
  • Color mention after a discriminating pattern delayed selection incrementally but sped it up in parallel processing.
  • Pattern mention after a discriminating color delayed selection in both processing modes.

Conclusions:

  • Additional attributes facilitate referent selection only when they discriminate rapidly and are processed early.
  • The effectiveness of overspecification is contingent on the interplay between attribute properties and processing mode.
  • Optimizing referring expressions requires considering attribute salience and processing context.