Understanding what you read or hear Is meaning inherent in language? non-constructivist view Or is it in your head? constructivist view e.g. eat The guests are eating their steaks The guests are eating their soup The dogs are eating the steaks e.g. I have a headache Read 3 paragraphs 2 interpretations (strong, weak) given by title Worries of a Baseball Team Manager (strong) Worries of a Glassware Factory Manager (weak) In the last days of August, we were all suffering from the unbearable heat. In a few short weeks, our daily job had turned from a game into hard labor. All we need now, said the manager in one of his discouraged moods, is a strike. I listened to him silently but I could not help him. I hit a fly. I suppose things could get even worse, he continued. Our most valuable pitchers may crack in this heat. If only we had more fans, we would all feel better, I'm sure. I wish our best man could come home. That certainly would improve everyone s morale. Especially mine. Oh, well, I know a walk would cheer me up a little. Answer 8 MC questions 2 fillers 6 ambiguous words 1 strong, 1 weak (and 2 incorrect) What did the manager say was all they needed? a worker quitting during the summer rush a player dropping a ball hit to him a batter letting a good pitch go by him (strong) a general walkout called by the employees union (weak) 1
Prediction: Title will bias response For strong titles, more strong than weak responses For weak titles, more weak than strong responses Factors negatives passive voice ambiguity schemas Comprehension! Negatives! Negatives are harder to understand e.g. The supreme court overturned a ruling that would have repealed the ban on anti-smoking laws On MC tests: Which answer is NOT true? Sentence verification: A robin is not a bird A robin is a bird faster Passive is harder Passive voice! Subject performs vs. receives action Ambiguity! Ambiguity slows down processing Must keep alternative meanings current until ambiguity resolved Increases working memory load Examples The judge believed the defendant was lying Women say men are no fun 2
Ambiguity in headlines! Include your children when baking cookies Prostitutes appeal to Pope British left waffles on Falkland Islands Kids make nutritious snacks Miners refuse to work after death Juvenile court to try shooting defendant Iraqi head seeks arms Local high-school drop outs cut in half Drunk gets nine months in violin case Eye drops off shelf Red tape holds up new bridges Teacher strikes idle kids Ambiguity! Garden path sentence The man who hunts ducks out on weekends. (The hunter ducks out on weekends.) The girl told the story cried. (The girl who was told the story cried) The old man the boat. (Old people man the boat) Divided attention task Task 1 Judge relatedness of two sentences Ambiguous word in one sentence The man found several bugs in the corner of his room or unambiguous version (insects) Divided attention task Task 2 Do at same time Respond to /k/ The man found several bugs in the corner of his room If comprehension is hard (task 1), devote more attention to it Performance on task 2 will suffer Ambiguity impaired comprehension Sometimes ambiguous word s meaning made clear The man was not surprised when he found several spiders, roaches, and other bugs in the corner of his room Ambiguity gone, no impairment of comprehension 3
Swinney (1979)! Swinney (1979)! Divided attention task Task 1 Judge relatedness of two sentences Ambiguous word in one sentence Context provided Task 2 Lexical decision task Right after ambiguous word Contextually appropriate, contextually inappropriate, or unrelated RT depended on time between target word and lexical decision Schemas! Schema - mental framework for organizing knowledge The girl sat looking at her piggy bank. Old friend, she thought, this hurts me. A tear rolled down her cheek. She hesitated, then picked up her tap shoe by the toe and rasied her arm. Crash! Pieces of Piggo that was his name rained in all directions. She closed her eyes for a moment. Then she began to do what she had to do. Bransford & Johnson (1973)! Schemas help encode and store information Read a passage to participants Then recall as many ideas as possible [Demo] Bransford & Johnson (1973)! Recalled 3.6 of 14 ideas Ideas are abstract, lack context (no schema) If provide context before the paragraph Bransford & Johnson (1973)! Provide context beforehand Recall 8 ideas Rated easier to understand What if context is provided afterwards? 4
Anderson & Pichert (1978)! Schemas influence comprehension and recall Story describing a house 72 ideas Some relevant to house buyer, some to burglar Anderson & Pichert (1978)! Take burglar or home buyer perspective Recall story Recall story again, take new perspective Anderson & Pichert (1978)! First recall Perspective influenced recall Second recall Recall of more info Changing schema can help recall War of the Ghosts One night two young men from Egulac went down to the river to hunt seals and while they were there it became foggy and calm. Then they heard war-cries, and they thought: "Maybe this is a war-party". They escaped to the shore, and hid behind a log. Now canoes came up, and they heard the noise of paddles, and saw one canoe coming up to them. There were five men in the canoe, and they said: "What do you think? We wish to take you along. We are going up the river to make war on the people." One of the young men said,"i have no arrows." "Arrows are in the canoe," they said. "I will not go along. I might be killed. My relatives do not know where I have gone. But you," he said, turning to the other, "may go with them." So one of the young men went, but the other returned home. And the warriors went on up the river to a town on the other side of Kalama. The people came down to the water and they began to fight, and many were killed. But presently the young man heard one of the warriors say, "Quick, let us go home: that Indian has been hit." Now he thought: "Oh, they are ghosts." He did not feel sick, but they said he had been shot. So the canoes went back to Egulac and the young man went ashore to his house and made a fire. And he told everybody and said: "Behold I accompanied the ghosts, and we went to fight. Many of our fellows were killed, and many of those who attacked us were killed. They said I was hit, and I did not feel sick." He told it all, and then he became quiet. When the sun rose he fell down. Something black came out of his mouth. His face became contorted. The people jumped up and cried. He was dead. War of the Ghosts: sample recall! Two men from Edulac went fishing. While thus occupied by the river they heard a noise in the distance. "It sounds like a cry", said one, and presently there appeared some men in canoes who invited them to join the party on their adventure. One of the young men refused to go, on the ground of family ties, but he other offered to go. "But there are no arrows", he said. "The arrows are in the boat", was the reply. He thereupon took his place, while his friend returned home. The party paddled up the river to Kaloma, and began to land on the banks of the river. The enemy came rushing upon them, and some sharp fighting ensued. Presently someone was injured, and the cry was raised that the enemy were ghosts. The party returned down the stream, and the young man arrived home feeling none the worse for his experience. The next morning at dawn he endeavored to recount his adventures. While he was talking something black issued from his mouth. Suddenly he uttered a cry and fell down. His friends gathered round him. But he was dead. Sulin & Dooling (1974)! Carol Harris was a problem child from birth. She was wild, stubborn, and violent. By the time Carol turned eight, she was still unmanageable. Her parents were very concerned about her mental health. There was no good institution for her problem in her state. Her parents finally decided to take some action. They hired a private teacher for Carol. 5
Sulin & Dooling (1974)! Others given Helen Keller instead Recognition test She was deaf, dumb, and blind. Carol Harris: 5% Helen Keller: 50% Prior knowledge can introduce errors 6