Centering of Attention, Pronominal Reference, and Discourse Coherence

本研究从三个方面探讨了语篇处理的基本问题，即语篇参与者的注意力焦点，代词指称的使用和理解，以及语篇的连贯性。研究的重点是在一个语段中这些方面之间的相互作用。它将在这个局部层面上完善和扩展当前的话语连贯和参考计算理论。该方法是跨学科的：它包括体现理论的算法的发展和心理调查，以确定理论参数的约束（例如，代词的候选指称的顺序）。它将对该理论作为人类语言使用模型的主张进行实证检验，并将使用该理论的约束与基于其他理论的替代方法来比较处理代词的算法的性能。研究结果将在三个主要领域为计算机科学和认知科学做出贡献：构建更流畅和健壮的自然语言处理系统；话语处理心理学理论的发展；而且，从长远来看，可能会设计出更复杂的计算机语言（例如数据库访问语言、系统接口语言）。

This work addresses fundamental problems in three facets of discourse processing, (1) the focus of attention of discourse participants, (2) the use and understanding of pronominal reference, and (3) the coherence of discourse. The research focuses on the interaction among these facets within a discourse segment. It will refine and expand current computational theories of discourse coherence and reference at this local level. The approach is interdisciplinary: it includes the development of algorithms that embody the theory and psychological investigations to determine constraints on parameters of the theory (e.g. the ordering of candidate referents for pronouns). It will empirically test the claims of the theory as a model of human language use, and will compare the performance of algorithms for handling pronouns employing the constraints of this theory with alternatives based on other theories. The results will contribute to computer science and the cognitive sciences in three major arenas: the construction of more fluent and robust natural-language processing systems; the development of more computationally sufficient psychological theories of discourse processing; and, potentially in the longer term, the design of more sophisticated computer languages (e.g. database-access languages, system-interface languages).