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Drawing inferences from semantically positive and negative implicative predicates

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Abstract

Subjects were timed while they drew inferences from syntactically affirmative and negative sentences containing the semantically positive and negative implicative predicates remember/forget and bother/neglect, under different linguistic contexts that met the presuppositions of the sentences at varying levels of generality. Different patterns of inference latencies were obtained for the two implicative predicates studied, suggesting that there are important differences among semantically negative implicative predicates that influence their representation and processing. Regardless of these differences, inference latencies for all sentences decreased when they were presented in contexts that met some of their presuppositions, indicating that context can facilitate inferential processing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urabana-Champaign, USA

    Stella Vosniadou

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  1. Stella Vosniadou
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The research reported herein is based on a portion of the author's doctoral dissertation submitted to Clark University. This paper was completed while the author was at the Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois, and its preparation was supported in part by the National Institute of Education under Contract No. HEWNIE-C-400-76-0116. The author would like to thank Rachel Joffe-Falmagne for her support and advice throughout this project. Special thanks are also due to Lenny Cirillo, Joseph Schmuller, and Mort Wiener for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript.

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Vosniadou, S. Drawing inferences from semantically positive and negative implicative predicates. J Psycholinguist Res 11, 77–93 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067503

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067503

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