Incrementality and intention-recognition in utterance processing

Authors

  • Eleni Gregoromichelaki Department of Philosophy, King’s College London
  • Ruth Kempson Department of Philosophy, King’s College London
  • Matthew Purver Department of Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London
  • Gregory J. Mills Department of Psychology, Stanford University
  • Ronnie Cann School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, University of Edinburgh
  • Wilfried Meyer-Viol Department of Philosophy, King’s College London
  • Patrick G. T. Healey Department of Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5087/dad.2011.109

Abstract

Ever since dialogue modelling first developed relative to broadly Gricean assumptions about utter-ance interpretation (Clark, 1996), it has remained an open question whether the full complexity of higher-order intention computation is made use of in everyday conversation. In this paper we examine the phenomenon of split utterances, from the perspective of Dynamic Syntax, to further probe the necessity of full intention recognition/formation in communication: we do so by exploring the extent to which the interactive coordination of dialogue exchange can be seen as emergent from low-level mechanisms of language processing, without needing representation by interlocutors of each other’s mental states, or fully developed intentions as regards messages to be conveyed. We thus illustrate how many dialogue phenomena can be seen as direct consequences of the grammar architecture, as long as this is presented within an incremental, goal-directed/predictive model.

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Published

2011-05-03

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Section

Articles