Kwon, Nayoung

Sturt, Patrick

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     Edinburgh Research Explorer                                      The use of theory of mind in pronoun resolution: An eye-trackingstudyCitation for published version:Sturt, P & Kwon, N 2015, 'The use of theory of mind in pronoun resolution: An eye-tracking study'.Link:Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research ExplorerDocument Version:Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordGeneral rightsCopyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s)and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise andabide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.Take down policyThe University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorercontent complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright pleasecontact openaccess@ed.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately andinvestigate your claim.Download date: 05. Apr. 2019THEU NI V E R SI TYOFED I N B URGHThe use of Theory of Mind in Pronoun Resolution:An Eye-tracking StudyPatrick Sturt 1 Nayoung Kwon 21University of Edinburgh2Konkuk UniversityBackgroundI Language comprehension often requires reasoning about mental states ofothers (i.e. Theory of Mind: ToM)IThis experiment examines the use of ToM in pronoun resolution.I Is ToM used immediately to constrain a pronoun’s antecedent?IOr, is there an early stage where ToM information is ignored?Related work: CounterfactualsIFerguson & Sanford (JML, 2008) examined plausibility effects in real-world orcounterfactual contexts:ICounterfactual:If cats were vegetarians, . . . families could feed their cats a bowl of carrots/fish . . .IReal world:If cats are hungry, . . . families could feed their cats a bowl of carrots/fish . . .I Initial processing difficulty for real-world violation, regardless of contextI Suggests that counterfactual information ignored in early processing.IHowever, cf. Nieuwland (2012): ERP study showed similar plausibility effectsfor both real and counterfactual worldsExperimental InformationI 40 itemsparticipantsIEye-tracking during reading (Eyelink 1000)I StimuliI 40 Short narratives with false belief manipulationI Gender-match manipulation on pronoun to probe pronoun assignmentTrue Belief conditionCarol and Patrick submitted their scripts to the production team. production team had made the decision, chosen to work with the producer and Carol had not. that the producer had chosen himherover the other promising screenwriters instead.The production team decided to produce Patrick’s screenplay. After thewe informed him that he had been He was interested to hearFalse Belief conditionCarol and Patrick submitted their scripts to the production team. that the producer had chosen himherover the other promising screenwriters instead.The production team decided to produce Patrick’s screenplay. After theproduction team had made the decision, we playfully misled him to believe that he hadnot been chosen, and the producer had decided to work with Carol. He was interested to hearRegionsthe producer had chosen him over the other promising screenwriters...PRE−CRITICAL PRONOUN SPILL−OVERMeasuresfirst passGo pastTotal Timethe producer had chosen him over the other promising screenwriters...IFirst-pass/Go-past collectively referred to as “First-pass measures” (theymeasure fixations immediately after first gaze on relevant information)ITotal Time is a more general measure of processing (measures fixationsregardless of when they occur)PredictionsToM delay Hypothesis (early stage where ToM is ignored)IMain effect of gender match in early eye-movement measuresINo interaction of gender match × belief in early measuresEarly ToM Hypothesis (ToM not ignored in early stages)I Interaction of gender match × belief in early measuresResults: Initial ProcessingTRUE BELIEF FALSE BELIEF200210220230240250260270F ir st  Pa ss  Ti me  ( ms e c)REAL WORLD MATCHREAL WORLD MISMATCHFIRST PASS TIME at pronoun region "him over"Match x Belief, F1+, F2**Results: Spill-overTRUE BELIEF FALSE BELIEF340360380400420440460480500520540560580600620640660680700Go -p as t  t i me  ( ms e c)REAL WORLD MATCHREAL WORLD MISMATCHGO-PAST time at spill-over region "the other"Match x Belief, F1*, F2*Results: General Processing MeasuresTRUE BELIEF FALSE BELIEF240260280300320340360380T ot al  Ti me  ( ms e c)REAL WORLD MATCHREAL WORLD MISMATCHTOTAL TIME at pre-critical region "chosen"Match x Belief, F1***, F2***TRUE BELIEF FALSE BELIEF240260280300320340360380400420T ot al  Ti me  ( ms e c)REAL WORLD MATCHREAL WORLD MISMATCHTOTAL TIME at pronoun region "him over"Match x Belief, F1***, F2***SummaryINo sign of an early stage where ToM information is ignored:I At the earliest points where gender affected processing, it interacted with beliefI gender×belief interaction found in first-pass measuresIMain effect of gender-matching was not found in absence of interactionIHowever, gender-matching effect for true-belief condition was larger than forfalse-belief conditionI Suggests either less certainty in false-belief condition, or ToM information may be ignored insome trials.Supported by Global Research Network grant, funded by the Korean Government email: patrick.sturt@ed.ac.uk

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The use of theory of mind in pronoun resolution: An eye-tracking study

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