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Dissertation Information for Valerie Frances Reyna

NAME:
- Valerie Frances Reyna

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Psychology

SCHOOL:
- Rockefeller University (USA) (1980)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: THE ANIMATED WORD: MODIFICATION OF MEANING BY CONTEXT

Abstract: Effects of context on words' interpretations is examined in both selectionally deviant and non-deviant sentences. In experiments concerning interpretation of modal adjectives (e.g., 'possible', 'probable') in non-deviant sentences, the immediate linguistic context was varied by introducing negation, and the general context was varied by introducing reference to such external systems of knowledge as physics, logic, and religion. In experiments concerning interpretation of words in selectionally deviant sentences, words were placed in an immediate linguistic environment consisting of other, selectionally incompatible, words. Context substantially modified the interpretation of words in each of these cases, and the effects of context could be characterized in terms of systematic operations on word meanings.

Negation was found to have a subtractive effect on the meanings of modal adjectives, translating them downwards along a scale of qualification but preserving their relative order. An analogous subtractive effect was obtained for words in selectionally deviant sentences: some interpretations involved deleting components of words' meanings (e.g., some metaphorical interpretations). Words in selectionally deviant sentences were also modified by adding meaning components derived from neighboring incompatible words.

The relation between meanings of modal adjectives and external systems of knowledge was described as a multiplicative process. The credibility of the system of knowledge interacted with the degree of qualification expressed by the modal adjective such that systems with low credibility inverted the order of adjectives along the scale of qualification: Tentatively framed claims carried greater weight than more strongly stated claims.

In each of these accounts, context was described as operating on components of words' meanings. In an experiment concerning interpretation of verbs in selectionally deviant sentences, interpretation times supported analysis of words into meaning components, a semantic decomposition effect. The latter result suggests that when a word's familiar interpretation is challenged by context, interpretation latencies may reflect operations on meaning components i.e., decompositional analysis. By taking into account effects of context, further studies may clarify failures to find decompositional effects in studies of conventionalized word interpretation.

These experiments support the view that a word's interpretation is not static or inviolate, but instead represents an interchange between the word and its environment, the environment provided by the meanings of nearby words and by knowledge of the nearby world.

MPACT Scores for Valerie Frances Reyna

A = 0
C = 1
A+C = 1
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:13:48

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