Centering of Attention, Pronominal Reference, and Discourse Coherence

本文从三个方面探讨了语篇处理的基本问题：(1)语篇参与者的注意焦点；(2)代词指称的使用和理解；(3)语篇的连贯。本研究关注的是语篇中各个层面之间的相互作用。它将提炼和扩展当前在这一地方一级的语篇连贯和指称的计算理论。这种方法是跨学科的：它包括算法的开发，这些算法体现了该理论，并进行了心理调查，以确定对该理论参数的限制(例如，代词候选指称的排序)。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处理代词的算法与基于其他理论的替代算法的性能进行比较。这些成果将在三个主要领域促进计算机科学和认知科学：构建更流畅和强大的自然语言处理系统；发展更充分计算的话语处理心理学理论；以及可能在较长期内设计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).