Duesseldorf Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science (DCLPS), Heinrich Heine University, Duesseldorf.
Cogn Sci. 2020 Feb;44(2):e12815. doi: 10.1111/cogs.12815.
The modifier effect refers to the fact that the perceived likelihood of a property in a noun category is diminished if the noun is modified. For example, "Pigs live on farms" is rated as more likely than "Dirty pigs live on farms." The modifier effect has been demonstrated in many studies, but the underlying cognitive mechanisms are still unclear. This paper reports two series of experiments that jointly point to the conclusion that the modifier effect is the result of a superposition of three cognitive mechanisms: (a) probabilistically softened default inheritance, (b) pragmatic implicatures due to Gricean relevance assumptions, and (c) inference based on world knowledge. We present evidence that the pragmatic effects operate largely on an unconscious level and that their influence can be reduced by changing the presentation format of the cognitive task.
修饰语效应是指，如果名词被修饰，那么人们对该名词类别中某个属性的感知可能性会降低。例如，“猪生活在农场里”比“肮脏的猪生活在农场里”被认为更有可能。修饰语效应已在许多研究中得到证明，但潜在的认知机制仍不清楚。本文报告了两项实验系列，它们共同得出结论，即修饰语效应是三种认知机制叠加的结果：（a）概率上软化的默认继承，（b）基于格赖斯关联假设的语用含义，以及（c）基于世界知识的推理。我们提供的证据表明，语用效应在很大程度上是无意识运作的，通过改变认知任务的呈现格式，可以减少它们的影响。
