Pragmatic Prediction in the Processing of Referring Expressions Containing Scalar Quantifiers

Previous research in cognitive science and psycholinguistics has shown that language users are able to predict upcoming linguistic input probabilistically, pre-activating material on the basis of cues emerging from different levels of linguistic abstraction, from phonology to semantics. Current evidence suggests that linguistic prediction also operates at the level of pragmatics, where processing is strongly constrained by context. To test a specific theory of contextually-constrained processing, termed pragmatic surprisal theory here, we used a self-paced reading task where participants were asked to view visual scenes and then read descriptions of those same scenes. Crucially, we manipulated whether the visual context biased readers into specific pragmatic expectations about how the description might unfold word by word. Contrary to the predictions of pragmatic surprisal theory, we found that participants took longer reading the main critical term in scenarios where they were biased by context and pragmatic constraints to expect a given word, as opposed to scenarios where there was no pragmatic expectation for any particular referent.

Is Group-Directed Praise Always Welcome? Reactions to Ingroup and Outgroup Praise Depend on Linguistic Abstraction

This research examined how recipients reacted to group-directed praise formulated by ingroup or outgroup members and varying in linguistic abstraction. Study 1 ( N = 81) showed that ingroup praise was perceived as more sincere when formulated in abstract (vs. concrete) terms, whereas outgroup praise formulated in abstract terms was seen as less sincere than concrete praise. In Study 2 ( N = 89), recipients of outgroup praise formulated in abstract versus concrete terms attributed more hidden agenda and prejudice to the speaker, and perceived lower congruency between the speaker’s words and beliefs; the opposite pattern occurred for ingroup praise. Perceptions of congruency and hidden agenda mediated the effects of speaker group membership and linguistic abstraction on recipients’ perception of the praising message. This research points out that linguistic abstraction influences the appraisal of group-directed praise as it works as a cue of speakers’ motives. It also suggests important implications for developing successful communications between groups.

Time as an Abstract Notion – Facets and Issues of temporality in Linguistic Studies

In the focus of the present article is time as an abstract notion. It has various facets to it including a physical, philosophical, as well as others, and the linguistic aspect is connected to them. Time as a subject to linguistic description suggests a more profound analysis of the grammatical category of tense or even a study on a greater scale considering the functional semantic field of temporality. This paper discusses several major views on tense as a linguistic abstraction that has a status of a universal in Russian and Bulgarian linguistics.

INTERTEXTUAL MARKERS IN THE EDUCATIONAL PEDAGOGICAL DISCOURSE

The article addresses the issue of intertextual links in the educational pedagogical discourse. The research is based on the theoretical findings and provisions of foreign scholars as well as the linguists of the post-soviet information space, who consider the intertextual links in the aspect of M.M. Bakhtin’s dialogic theory. The basic methods of the research are general scientific (descriptive and analytical) and a specific method of linguistic abstraction. The material of the research is a modern coursebook Focus 1, 2, 3, 4 used in teaching a foreign language in mid-school. The main objective of the case study is to specify the notion of intertextuality, define its role in the didactic text, and to analyze the main intertextual markers in the English coursebook. The coursebook is viewed in the plane of the “supertext” where all heterogeneous didactic materials are interconnected in the aspect of their sense and situational context. Intertextuality in the didactic text stands in close relation with the category of addressability. It suggests a dialogic link with other texts, actualizes precedence of the didactic text, ensures intersubject connections and fosters socio-cultural competence of pupils. The author differentiates the notions of inner and outer intertextuality. The intertextual markers in the coursebook are precedent names, utterances, events and texts of different genres. There has been cleared out that the most productive spheres for borrowing precedent names are the social sphere and the sphere of arts; precedent utterances are mostly expressed by complete quotations, proverbs and sayings; precedent situations reflect nationally and universally significant events; precedent texts are adopted authentic text fragments of different genres. Non-verbal intertextual markers are schemes, tables, diagrams and artistic images.

If You Criticize Us, Do It in Concrete Terms: Linguistic Abstraction as a Moderator of the Intergroup Sensitivity Effect

This research examined whether linguistic abstraction in group-directed criticisms moderates the intergroup sensitivity effect. Study 1 ( N = 76) showed that criticisms coming from an out-group member and formulated in concrete terms—which imply lower generalizability and stability of the information transmitted—provoked less negative reactions compared with out-group criticisms formulated in abstract terms. Linguistic abstraction did not affect reactions to in-group criticism. In Study 2 ( N = 77), receivers of concrete criticism from an out-group representative attributed less hostile intentions and prejudice to the critic, and this mediated the impact of critic group membership and linguistic abstraction on negativity toward criticism. Participants also reported more favorable attitudes toward the out-group as a whole when out-group criticism was formulated in concrete terms. This research underlines that linguistic abstraction can facilitate or obstruct effective group communication, and has important implications for the development of communicative strategies aiming to promote social change.

Exploring the Role of Linguistic Abstraction in Idea-Generation Sessions

For many years, both academia and industry have been interested in increasing the efficiency of idea- generation meetings. Alex Osborne's (1953) rules for brainstorming are an early attempt to do so, and have extensively been used in engineering design, however their effectiveness has been questioned with recent research, and a need for fundamental research to establish which practices are useful arises. This study is an attempt in investigating linguistic abstraction in idea-generation meetings, in order to establish whether any best practices can be distilled from the language used. Engineering design group meetings were recorded and transcribed, and was analysed using a coding framework which was developed for analysing linguistic categories as well as the ideas that were generated during those meetings. More particularly, the study investigates the average abstractness/concreteness of speech throughout the duration of the meetings, as well as the switching between abstract and concrete language and vice versa while comparing idea-related discourse and non-idea related discourse switching. The coding framework proposed is considered robust enough to carry out further work.

Measuring Abstract Mind-Sets Through Syntax: Automating the Linguistic Category Model

Abstraction in language has critical implications for memory, judgment, and learning and can provide an important window into a person’s cognitive abstraction level. The linguistic category model (LCM) provides one well-validated, human-coded approach to quantifying linguistic abstraction. In this article, we leverage the LCM to construct the Syntax-LCM, a computer-automated method which quantifies syntax use that indicates abstraction levels. We test the Syntax-LCM’s accuracy for approximating hand-coded LCM scores and validate that it differentiates between text intended for a distal or proximal message recipient (previously linked with shifts in abstraction). We also consider existing automated methods for quantifying linguistic abstraction and find that the Syntax-LCM most consistently approximates LCM scores across contexts. We discuss practical and theoretical implications of these findings.

Ingroup Love and Outgroup Hate

In everyday life, we are faced with disparate examples of intergroup bias, ranging from a mild tendency to ingroup favoritism to harsh episodes of discrimination, aggression, and even conflicts between groups. Where do they stem from? The origins of intergroup bias can be traced back to two main motivations, that is, attachment to one’s own group (“ingroup love”) and negative feelings toward outgroups (“outgroup hate”). Although lay people, but also some researchers, see the two motivations as intertwined, growing evidence from different fields (e.g., social psychology, evolutionary psychology, and neuroscience) has indicated that intergroup bias is more often driven by needs of ingroup protection and affiliation, which do not imply outgroup hostility or competitive attitudes. Outgroup hate is instead likely to arise in intergroup contexts characterized by a high degree of enmity. It is important that members of the groups involved, but also external observers, recognize ingroup love as the primary motor of intergroup conflict: the attribution of hate to the outgroup’s behavior renders negotiation and conflict resolution harder while at the same time justifying severe aggression or even annihilation of the opposing outgroup. In the domain of intergroup communication, an intriguing way through which group members express their ingroup love and outgroup hate is represented by variations of linguistic abstraction and valence in depicting behaviors performed by ingroup or outgroup members. This unintended use of language reveals that group members are more prone to express ingroup love also at a linguistic level. However, specific changes in intergroup relations along variables such as group size, group status, or relative deprivation can give rise to linguistic patterns of outgroup hate.