The effects of levels of sentential context on scope of reference for contextually defined categories
Sadler, Daniel David
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/23414
Description
Title
The effects of levels of sentential context on scope of reference for contextually defined categories
Author(s)
Sadler, Daniel David
Issue Date
1994
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Shoben, Edward J.
Department of Study
Psychology
Discipline
Psychology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Psychology, Experimental
Language
eng
Abstract
Three experiments investigated whether graded contextual constraints produce graded on-line representations for contextually-defined categories. In Experiment 1, people read pairs of sentences. In each pair, the first sentence included a category term whose interpretation was constrained by contextual information to either a low, moderate, or high degree. The second, target sentence contained a category exemplar that matched the category better with each increase in constraint. The results showed that target sentence reading times were facilitated by high constraints only. In Experiment 2, when exemplars were presented as targets in a lexical decision task, facilitation increased with each increase in constraint. In Experiment 3, high constraints facilitated decision times of more appropriate exemplars, but inhibited decision times for less appropriate exemplars. Moderate constraints, weaker than those of Experiment 2, affected neither exemplar. Collectively, the results suggest the following about inferences for contextually-defined categories: (a) context must be fairly constraining for an inference to occur, (b) inferences contain information about a specific exemplar, not about a revised general category definition or a reduced scope of reference, (c) once instantiation by an exemplar occurs, its strength varies with the amount of contextual constraint.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
