Complex inferential processes are needed for implicature comprehension, but not for implicature production

Upon hearing “Some of Michelangelo’s sculptures are in Rome”, adults can easily generate a scalar implicature and infer that the intended meaning of the utterance corresponds to “Some but not all Michelangelo’s sculptures are in Rome”. Comprehension experiments show that preschoolers struggle with this kind of inference until at least five years of age. Surprisingly, the few studies having investigated children’s production of scalar expressions like 'some' and 'all' suggest that production is adult-like already in their third year of life. Thus, children’s production of implicatures seems to develop at least two years before their comprehension of implicatures. In this paper, we present a novel account of scalar implicature generation in the framework of Bidirectional Optimality Theory: the Asymmetry Account. We show that the production-comprehension asymmetry is predicted to emerge because the comprehension of 'some' requires the hearer to consider the speaker’s perspective, but the production of 'some' does not require the speaker to consider the hearer’s perspective. Hence, children’s comprehension of scalar expressions, but not their production of scalar expressions, is predicted to be related to their theory of mind development. Not possessing fully developed theory of mind abilities yet, children thus have difficulty in comprehending scalar expressions such as 'some' in an adult-like way. Our account also explains why variable performance is found in experimental studies testing children’s ability to generate scalar implicatures; moreover, it describes the differences between children’s and adults’ implicature generation in terms of their ability to recursively apply theory of mind; finally, it sheds new light on the question why the interpretation of numerals does not require implicatures generation

Pragmatics is not a monolithic phenomenon, and neither is theory of mind:Response to Kissine

In this commentary, we emphasize the importance of the observations presented by Kissine (2021) in his target article for our understanding of the nonmonolithic nature of pragmatics. Our first aim is to complement Kissine's argument, discussing some critical cases of linguistic processes that demonstrate the need for a finer-grained characterization of pragmatic phenomena. In addition, we report some findings that suggest that perspective taking may emerge as atypical even in autistic individuals who appear to be able to pass the standard theory-of-mind tasks. Our second aim is thus to argue that, albeit difficult to spot in experimental settings, the atypical theory-of-mind profile of low- and high-functioning autistic individuals is mirrored in their difficulties in everyday sociocommunicative interactions. Moreover, we claim that subtle differences in perspective-taking abilities may explain the highly heterogeneous linguistic profile of autistic individuals. Ultimately, with this commentary we wish to highlight the need for an increased appreciation of the role of perspective taking in typical and atypical language acquisition. This is crucial to our understanding of the nature of language acquisition, and can shed more light on the interaction between language and other aspects of human cognition

Dinâmica do estoque de carbono como serviço ambiental prestado por um fragmento de Floresta Ombrófila Mista Montana localizada no sul do estado do Paraná

Orientador : Prof. Dr. Carlos Roberto SanquettaDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Agrárias, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Florestal. Defesa: Curitiba, 15/02/2011Bibliografia: fls. 94-102Área de concentração : Manejo FlorestalO presente estudo teve como tema a dinâmica do carbono florestal como serviço ambiental prestado pela Floresta Ombrófila Mista Montana, uma vez que existe uma carência de informações sobre o assunto. O objetivo geral do estudo foi quantificar a dinâmica do estoque de carbono no componente arbóreo acima do solo, analisando a dinâmica da diversidade florística e dos índices fitossociológicos, além de propor uma discussão do papel das florestas enquanto sumidouros de carbono. Foram utilizados dados de inventário florestal contínuo advindos de quatro parcelas permanentes de um hectare cada, localizadas em General Carneiro - PR. O período de coleta desses dados iniciou em 1999 e foi concluído em 2009. Além disso, utilizou-se um mecanismo conhecido como REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), empregando-se um cenário de linha de base que engloba uma área de 4.000 ha, durante um período de 50 anos, com taxa histórica de desmatamento de 0,55 % para a Mata Atlântica. Os resultados obtidos na análise da composição florística mostraram que no ano de 1999 a floresta era composta de 50 espécies arbóreas, distribuídos em 24 famílias botânicas, ocorrendo um leve aumento do número de espécies após onze anos, ou seja, com 53 espécies pertencentes a 25 famílias botânicas, no ano 2009. O índice de diversidade de Shannon observado foi de 2,79 para 2,83, demonstrando nriquecimento na diversidade florística. A densidade absoluta em 1999 foi de 629,25 Ind. ha-1, alterando-se para 629,50 Ind. ha-1 em 2009, influenciada pelas taxas anuais médias de recrutamento (1,83%) e de mortalidade (1,97%). A dominância absoluta iniciou com 32,61 m².ha-1 em 1999, concluindo o estudo em 2009 com 33,94 m².ha-1, tendo um modesto incremento periódico anual (IPA) de 0,12 m².ha-1.ano-1. O estoque de carbono estimado para 1999 foi de 74,07 t.ha-1, finalizando em 2009 com 77,53 t.ha-1, com um IPA de 0,31 t.ha-1.ano-1, ou 1,15 t.ha-1.ano-1 de CO2eq. Dentre os grupos estudados o grupo das Araucárias apresentou um IPA de 0,76 t.ha-1.ano-1 de CO2eq., seguido pelo grupo das Canelas com 0,45 t.ha-1.ano-1 de CO2eq. Já o grupo denominado "Brancas" (outras espécies) teve um IPA de CO2eq. com valor negativo de 0,05 t.ha-1.ano-1. A espécie Araucaria angustifolia foi responsável por mais de 65% do IPA nos estoques de carbono. Por meio do projeto de REDD estimou-se uma compensação ambiental ao proprietário superior a cinco milhões de reais (US$1,00 = R$ 1,72) durante todo o período do projeto, ou seja, mais de 100 mil reais por ano, pela conservação dos maciços florestais, uma vez que, durante o projeto, estimou-se que 319.745 t de CO2eq. deixaram de ser emitidas pelo desmatamento evitado. Concluiu-se neste que a floresta estudada, mesmo com um baixo incremento anual de carbono, representa um importante sumidouro de carbono. Assim, por meio da aplicação do projeto REDD, o estoque de carbono pode ser considerado como produto do serviço prestado pela floresta, possibilitando ao proprietário receber compensação por serviços ambientais, podendo conservar seus remanescentes florestais obtendo uma compensação financeira por isso.This research has a main scientific issue the dynamics of forest carbon stocks as an environmental service provided by the Montane Mixed-Araucaria Forest, once studies on this subject are scarce. Hence, the general objective of the study was to quantify the dynamics of the aboveground carbon stocks of the forest, analyzing the changes in floristic diversity, phytossiological indexes, as well as to discuss the role of forests as carbon sinks and the payment for environmental services. Data from continuous forest inventory carried out at four 1.00hecatre permanent plots located in General Carneiro county, Parana State, southern Brazil. The first measurement of the plots was done in 1999 and the last in 2009. Besides that, the so-called REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), using a baseline scenario for 4,000 hectares of Mixed-Araucaria Forest, for a period of 50 years and a deforestation rate of 0.55% for the Atlantic Rain Forest. The results showed the occurrence of 50 tree species at the first inventory in 1999, distributed over 24 botany families, and a slight increase in number after 11 years, reaching 53 species and 25 families in 2009. Shannon diversity index shifted from 2.79 to 2.83, indicating an enrichment in floristic diversity. Absolute density in 1999 was 32.61 m².ha-1 at the beginning of the study (1999) and 33.94 m².ha-1 at the end (2009), with a slight periodic annual increment (PAI) of 0.12 ².ha-1.year-1. The estimated carbon stock for 1999 was 74.07 t.ha-1, increasing in 2009 to 77.53 t.ha-1, with a PAI of 0.31 t.ha-1.year-1, i.e. 1.15 t.ha-1.year-1 CO2eq. Among the species groups, "Araucarias" showed a PAI of 0.76 t.ha-1.year-1 CO2eq., followed by "Canelas", with 0.45 t.ha-1.year-1 CO2eq. The group "Brancas" (other species) performed a negative CO2eq.PAI of 0.05 t.ha-1.year-1. Araucaria angustifolia shared over 65% of the PAI in carbon stocks. A hypothetical REDD project would provide an environmental compensation to the land owner estimated at over R$5 million (US$ 1.00 = R$1.72) throughout the project duration period, i.e., over R$ 100 thousands/year. The conservation of the forest stand would mean an avoided emission of 319,745 t CO2eq. It was concluded by this study that the forest studied, even though shows a low annual carbon growth, it represents and important carbon sink. Therefore, by applying it to a REDD project, the carbon stock would be maintained, representing an environmental service provided by the forest. It would give to the land owner the possibility to earn an extra-money to protect the forest and maintain their ecological services

Are second language speakers more pragmatically tolerant? Explaining the differences in scalar implicature generation between L2 and L1

Children’s difficulties with Scalar Implicature (SI) generation have been argued to stem from their tolerance towards pragmatic violations rather than from issues with the inferential process per se (Katsos & Bishop 2011). Ternary judgment tasks have been used to support this view. In these tasks, when presented with underinformative sentences, children, as well as adults, choose an intermediate option between acceptance and rejection, thus demonstrating sensitivity to underinformativeness. Some recent studies show that adult second language (L2) speakers also generate SIs at lower rates. In this work, we investigated whether pragmatic tolerance, possibly emerging because of limited language exposure, could explain the difference between (adult) L2 and L1 speakers. Contrary to our expectations, neither our L1 control group nor our L2 groups (L2 High and L2 Low Proficiency) consistently selected the intermediate option when judging underinformative sentences. However, the L2 Low Proficiency group showed a significantly higher tendency to accept underinformative sentences compared to the L1 group. Hence, our results do not support the hypothesis that L2 speakers are more pragmatically tolerant than L1 speakers. However, our findings show that, despite the adoption of a ternary judgment task, low-proficient L2 speakers display a strong tendency to interpret underinformative sentences literally. We argue that this tendency in the L2 can be attributed to the increased cognitive effort involved in SI generation

Avaliação comportamental do crescimento, biomassa e estoque de carbono em espécies de bambu

Orientador : Prof. Dr. Carlos Roberto SanquettaCoorientadores : Profª Drª Ana Paula Dalla Corte, Prof. Dr. Christopher Thomas BlumTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Agrárias, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Florestal. Defesa: Curitiba, 23/02/2015Inclui referências : f. 70-77Área de concentração : Manejo florestalResumo: Ações antrópicas vêm provocando atualmente a redução da cobertura florestal em muitas partes do Globo. Como resultado há uma perda de potenciais fontes de matéria prima para a indústria de base florestal e problemas ambientais decorrentes, como o aumento das áreas degradadas e a emissão de CO2 para a atmosfera. Os bambus representam uma importante fonte de matéria prima e possuem um potencial de mitigar problemas ambientais. Contudo, no Brasil estudos experimentais sobre o cultivo de bambus são praticamente inexistentes. Desta forma, o objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar e comparar o desempenho do crescimento de espécies de bambu, sua produção de biomassa e capacidade de fixar carbono. Para tal, foi avaliado durante um período de cinco anos, por meio de experimento com delineamento em blocos ao acaso, seis espécies de bambu sendo: Guadua chacoensis, Guadua angustifolia, Merostachys skvortzovii, Dendrocalamus asper; Bambusa vulgaris e Bambusa oldhamii, em quatro blocos. O experimento foi implantado em dezembro de 2008 na Fazenda Canguiri pertencente à Universidade Federal do Paraná, localizado no município de Pinhais, região metropolitana de Curitiba/PR. Avaliaram-se anualmente no mês de abril, a sobrevivência e as variáveis de crescimento da touceira de bambu: área da base, área de cobertura, altura, densidade de colmos, biomassa aérea e estoque de carbono, além das variáveis biométricas do colmo: dcolo (diâmetro do colo), dap (diâmetro à altura do peito) e h (altura do mesmo). Os resultados revelaram que a sobrevivência inicial das espécies estudadas foi satisfatória e similar entre elas. Contudo, no decorrer do experimento, houve aumento de mortalidade para todas as espécies de bambu, exceto para Bambusa vulgaris, sendo Guadua chacoencis a espécie com maior mortalidade, embora seu crescimento mostrou-se promissor no decorrer do experimento. Observou-se que existem diferenças significativas no desenvolvimento das espécies estudas nas condições encontradas neste estudo. A espécie Guadua angustifolia não se adaptou as condições edafoclimáticas da região, sendo a espécie com menor crescimento. Para Dendrocalamus asper e Bambusa vulgaris seu crescimento, provavelmente, foi afetado pelas baixas temperaturas ocorridas no período do inverno, contudo ambas apresentaram potencial de recuperação. Na avaliação da produção de matéria prima, observou-se por meio da variável biomassa aérea, que a espécie Bambusa oldhamii foi a que obteve maior destaque entre as demais, atingindo estimativas de 76 t.ha-1 após cinco anos de plantio. Desta forma, com base nos resultados deste experimento, a espécie Bambusa oldhamii foi a que apresentou maior potencial em termos de crescimento entre as espécies de bambu estudadas, com potencial para produção de matéria prima e em projetos que visam à fixação do carbono. Por fim, as espécies Bambusa oldhamii e Guadua chacoensis são indicadas para plantios experimentais críticos, que deverão confirmar as tendências desta pesquisa. Palavras chave: experimento; sustentabilidade; mitigação; compensação ambiental.Abstract: Nowadays, human actions have been responsible for the reduction of the forest cover around the world. As result of such process, there has been loss of potential sources of raw material for the forest based industry and environmental problems; such as increasing of degraded lands and CO2 emission to the atmosphere. Bamboos represent an important source of raw material and have potential for the mitigation of environmental problems. However, in Brazil, experimental studies on bamboo cultivation are rare. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the growth performance of bamboo species, their biomass production and ability to fix carbon. An experimental essay was conducted in a randomized block design, evaluated for five years, considering the following species: Guadua chacoensis, Guadua angustifolia, Merostachys skvortzovii, Dendrocalamus asper; Bambusa vulgaris and Bambusa oldhamii, in a four-blocks replication. The experiment was established in December 2008 at the Canguiri Farm, belonging to the Federal University of Paraná, placed at the Pinhais county, metropolitan region of Curitiba, PR. Annual evaluations were performed, always in April, to assess the survival, growth variables of the bamboo clump, aboveground biomass and carbon stocks, and the biometric variables of the culm as well: dcolo (diameter at the base), dap (diameter at breast height) and h (height). Results have shown that the initial survival of the assessed species was satisfactory and similar among them. However, during the experiment, there was an increase of mortality in all the species, except for Bambusa vulgaris, and Guadua chacoencis was the species that presented higher mortality, although its growth was promising during the study. Significant differences was observed regarding the development of the studied species.The species Guadua angustifolia has not adapted to the regional edaphoclimatic condictions and was the species with lower growth. Dendrocalamus asper and Bambusa vulgaris growth rates were probably affected by the low temperatures experienced in the winter time, but both showed potential for recovery. Regarding the production of raw material, represented by the aboveground biomass, it was observed that Bambusa oldhamii was the species with the best performance, reaching estimates of 76 t.ha-1 after five years of cultivation. Therefore, based on the results of this experiment, Bambusa oldhamii was the one which presented the highest growth potential among the studied bamboo species, with potential possible uses in the production of raw material and in projects which aim the carbon storage. Finally, Bambusa oldhamii and Guadua chacoensis are indicated for critical experimental studies, which should confirm the trends of this research. Keywords: experiment, mitigation, sustainability, environmental compensation