The Cognitive Dynamics of Negated Sentence Verification
The Cognitive Dynamics of Negated Sentence Verification
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1551-6709.2010.01164.x
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发表时间：
2011-07-01
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Duran, Nicholas D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Dale, Rick;Duran, Nicholas D.
我们探讨了否定对认知动力学的影响，使用鼠标运动轨迹测量，以测试经典的概念，否定作为一个操作符的语言处理。在三个实验中，参与者验证了简单陈述的真实性或虚假性，我们跟踪了他们反应的计算机鼠标轨迹。表达这些事实的句子有时包含否定。这种否定的陈述可能是真的（E。例如，在一个实施例中，“大象不小”）或虚假（e。例如，在一个实施例中，“大象并不大”。在第一个实验中，正如经典的否定概念所预测的那样，我们发现否定会导致鼠标轨迹的反应更加离散。第二个实验为这些陈述引入了一个简单的上下文，但否定仍然增加了轨迹的离散性。第三个实验增强了句子的语用环境，离散性大大减少，一个主要的措施不再显着增加离散性。传统的语言学理论预测，由于否定的性质，认知动态会发生快速变化：它是一个操作符，可以逆转解释的真或假。我们认为，这些结果支持目前在文献中的否定命题和上下文帐户，这表明，上下文因素是至关重要的，以确定所显示的认知动态。最后，我们从否定的例子中得出了关于认识理论的更广泛的教训。
We explored the influence of negation on cognitive dynamics, measured using mouse-movement trajectories, to test the classic notion that negation acts as an operator on linguistic processing. In three experiments, participants verified the truth or falsity of simple statements, and we tracked the computer-mouse trajectories of their responses. Sentences expressing these facts sometimes contained a negation. Such negated statements could be true (e. g., "elephants are not small") or false (e. g., "elephants are not large"). In the first experiment, as predicted by the classic notion of negation, we found that negation caused more discreteness in the mouse trajectory of a response. The second experiment induced a simple context for these statements, yet negation still increased discreteness in trajectories. A third experiment enhanced the pragmatic context of sentences, and the discreteness was substantially diminished, with one primary measure no longer significantly showing increased discreteness at all. Traditional linguistic theories predict rapid shifts in cognitive dynamics occur due to the nature of negation: It is an operator that reverses the truth or falsity of an interpretation. We argue that these results support both propositional and contextual accounts of negation present in the literature, suggesting that contextual factors are crucial for determining the kind of cognitive dynamics displayed. We conclude by drawing broader lessons about theories of cognition from the case of negation.