Research Catalog

Title

Mental models and the interpretation of anaphora / Alan Garnham.

Author

Garnham, Alan, 1954-

Publication

Hove [England] : Psychology Press ; Philadelphia : Taylor & Francis, 2001.

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Holdings

Details

Description

x, 170 p.; 24 cm.

Summary

The interpretation of anaphora - how we interpret expressions such as definite pronouns ("he", "she", "it") and verbal elliptical phrases (such as "did so, too") in the course of ordinary converstaion or reading - is an important aspect of language comprehension. In this book the author examines the research and evidence on anaphor interpretation within the context of the mental models theory of comprehension, arguing that the notion of a mental model is essential to the detailed description of the processes of anaphor resolution. The general philosophy of the mental models approach and the nature of mental models themselves and their role in language processing is discussed, followed by a review of methodological issues that bear on the interpretation of psychological research findings. Against this background, the author's own research on areas such as deep and surface anaphora, reference into anaphoric islands, the role of implicit causality in anaphor resolution and the use of pronouns to refer to characters introduced by stereotyped role names is presented. -- from back cover.

Series Statement

Essays in cognitive psychology, 0959-4779

Uniform Title

Essays in cognitive psychology

Subject

• Anaphora
• Psycholinguistics

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 149-162) and indexes.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Mental models: Their nature and construction -- Mental models and language processing -- Linguistic approaches to anaphora -- Psycholinguistic approaches to anaphora: Methodological issues -- Psycholinguistic approaches to anaphora: Empirical studies -- Deep and surface anaphors -- Anaphoric islands -- Implici causality -- Stereotypes -- A mental models theory of understanding anaphora.

ISBN

1841691283

LCCN

^^^00059251^

OCLC

44681772

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library