Tolins Jackson, Fox Tree Jean E
Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Cogn Sci. 2016 Aug;40(6):1412-34. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12278. Epub 2015 Sep 1.
Observing others in conversation is a common format for comprehending language, yet little work has been done to understand dialog comprehension. We tested whether overhearers use addressee backchannels as predictive cues for how to integrate information across speaker turns during comprehension of spontaneously produced collaborative narration. In Experiment 1, words that followed specific backchannels (e.g., really, oh) were recognized more slowly than words that followed either generic backchannels (e.g., uh huh, mhm) or pauses. In Experiment 2, we found that when the turn after the backchannel was a continuation of the narrative, specific backchannels prompted the fastest verification of prior information. When the turn after was an elaboration, they prompted the slowest, indicating that overhearers took specific backchannels as cues to integrate preceding talk with subsequent talk. These findings demonstrate that overhearers capitalize on the predictive relationship between backchannels and the development of speakers' talk, coordinating information across conversational roles.
观察他人对话是理解语言的一种常见方式，但在理解对话方面所做的工作却很少。我们测试了偷听者是否会将听话者的反馈信号用作预测线索，以便在理解自发产生的协作叙述时，了解如何在说话者的轮次之间整合信息。在实验1中，紧跟特定反馈信号（如“really”“oh”）之后的单词，比紧跟通用反馈信号（如“uh huh”“mhm”）或停顿之后的单词，被识别得更慢。在实验2中，我们发现，当反馈信号后的轮次是叙述的延续时，特定反馈信号会促使对先前信息进行最快的验证。当反馈信号后的轮次是详述时，它们促使的验证速度最慢，这表明偷听者将特定反馈信号用作线索，以整合前面的谈话和后续的谈话。这些发现表明，偷听者利用反馈信号与说话者谈话发展之间的预测关系，在不同的对话角色之间协调信息。
