Linguistic focus and good-enough representations: An application of the change-detection paradigm

Sturt, P., Sanford, A. J., Stewart, A. and Dawydiak, E. (2004) Linguistic focus and good-enough representations: An application of the change-detection paradigm. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 11(5), pp. 882-888. (doi: 10.3758/BF03196716) (PMID:15732698)

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Abstract

A number of lines of study suggest that word meanings are not always fully exploited in comprehension. In two experiments, we used a text-change paradigm to study depth of semantic processing during reading. Participants were instructed to detect words that changed across two consecutive presentations of short texts. The results suggest that the full details of word meanings are not always incorporated into the interpretation and that the degree of semantic detail in the representation is a function of linguistic focus. The results provide evidence for the idea that representations are only good enough for the purpose at hand (Ferreira, Bailey, and Ferraro, 2002).

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Dawydiak, Dr Eugene and Sanford, Professor Anthony
Authors: Sturt, P., Sanford, A. J., Stewart, A., and Dawydiak, E.
College/School:College of Science and Engineering > School of Psychology
Journal Name:Psychonomic Bulletin and Review
Publisher:Springer
ISSN:1069-9384
ISSN (Online):1531-5320

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
326481Variable semantic processing during readingAnthony SanfordEconomic & Social Research Council (ESRC)R000 23 9888Psychology
299691Applying change blindness to language processingAnthony SanfordEconomic & Social Research Council (ESRC)R000223622Psychology