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- Volume 1, Issue, 1993
Pragmatics & Cognition - Volume 1, Issue 2, 1993
Volume 1, Issue 2, 1993
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Coherence in text, coherence in mind
Author(s): T. Givónpp.: 171–227 (57)More LessThis paper suggests that text coherence is a multi-factored affair that, ultimately, pertains to the mental organization of episodic memory, most likely as a partially-hierarchic mental structure. What text researchers usually describe as coherence is merely an artifact of the cognitive phenomenon. The role of grammatical clues in signalling text coherence is investigated, and it is suggested that the grammar processing channel merely supplements an evolutionarily older channel of lexically-guided (content-based) coherence. Coherence is both local and global, and both properties can be signalled by both processing channels (lexicon and grammar). Finally, the establishement of text coherence is a flexible, negotiable process, and this is true of both conversation and narrative.
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Emotional states and linguistic events: A study of conceptual misconnections
Author(s): Savas L. Tsohatzidispp.: 229–243 (15)More LessThis paper intends to contribute to the evaluation of the project of analyzing speech act concepts in terms of mental state concepts, by examining Searle's and Vanderveken's proposed analyses of certain types of illocutionary acts as expressions of corresponding types of emotional states. It is argued that the proposed analyses are all defective, that the assumptions about underlying speech act/mental state parallelisms from which their initial plausibility might be taken to derive are themselves mistaken, and that the fact that they have been proposed at all betrays insufficient attention to the distinction between semanti-cally and pragmatically determined aspects of utterance interpretation. It is concluded that these results disturb both the overall structure of Searle's and Vanderveken's theory of speech acts, and the logic of several other similarly reductionist claims in the philosophy of language.
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Passionate thought: Computation, thought and action in Hobbes
Author(s): Michael Losonskypp.: 245–266 (22)More LessAccording to a computational view of mind, thinking is identified with the manipulation of internal mental representations and intelligent behavior is the output of these computations. Although Thomas Hobbes's philosophy of mind is taken by many to be a precursor of this brand of cognitivism, this is not the case. For Hobbes, not all thinking is the manipulation of language-like symbols, and intelligent behavior is partly constitutive of cognition. Cognition requires a 'passionate thought', and this Hobbsian synthesis of inner thought and outer behavior suggests a resolution to the contemporary conflict between cognitive theories of mind that make KNOWING THAT primary and pragmatic theories that make KNOWING HOW primary.
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The sensorimotor theory of cognition
Author(s): Natika Newtonpp.: 267–305 (39)More LessThe sensorimotor theory of cognition holds that human cognition, along with that of other animals, is determined by sensorimotor structures rather than by uniquely human linguistic structures. The theory has been offered to explain the use of bodily terminology in nonphysical contexts, and to recognize the role of experienced embodiment in cognition. This paper defends a version of the theory which specifies that reasoning makes use of mental models constructed by means of action-planning mechanisms. Evidence is offered from cognitive psychology, the neurosciences, and work in primatology and evolutionary theory. Further scientific and philosophical advantages of the theory are discussed: the theory is more parsimonious than its rival, and it offers better accounts of intrinsic intentionality and consciousness. The paper concludes with observations concerning the role of language in thought.
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Common-sense reasoning and everyday activities
Author(s): Yvonne Rogerspp.: 307–340 (34)More LessThis paper is concerned with the nature of common-sense reasoning and understanding in relation to practical behaviour. It examines the relationship between intuitive knowledge based on everyday experience and institutionalized theory and practice. An analysis of the types of knowledge that guide the selection of actions and understanding in the domain of cooking practice is presented. Verbal transcripts were elicited from participants, with varying levels of experience, of the cooking methods they followed and their underlying rationale. The results suggest that individuals utilize various high level knowledge primitives in combination with pragmatic utility principles in their reasoning. The findings are discussed in the light of recent theoretical approaches concerned with the relationship between knowledge and inference.
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Telling what they know: The role of gesture and language in children's science explanations
Author(s): Elaine M. Crowder and Denis Newmanpp.: 341–376 (36)More LessWhat is the role of gesture in classroom science talk? This study first approaches the question generally, by asking how children communicate their knowledge of the seasons (through language, gesture and/or deictic references to props). We then ask how gestures function as they interplay with language in students' science talk. A typology, coded for High or Low lexical and gestural specification, summarized how thirteen sixth graders externalized their knowledge of seasonal change. Applying it to sixteen student discourse excerpts, we tested its usefulness as an analytical tool. Representational gestures functioned as redundant to, or enhancing of ideas expressed through speech, or alternatively as carriers of scientific meaning. Findings show that gestures are an expected mode of communication in the science classroom. They can reveal student knowledge that is missing from verbal communication. Additionally, gestures may figure crucially in the construction as well as the communication of scientific insights.
Volumes & issues
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Volume 31 (2024)
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Volume 30 (2023)
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Volume 29 (2022)
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Volume 28 (2021)
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Volume 27 (2020)
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Volume 26 (2019)
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Volume 25 (2018)
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Volume 24 (2017)
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Volume 23 (2016)
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Volume 22 (2014)
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Volume 21 (2013)
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Volume 20 (2012)
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Volume 19 (2011)
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Volume 18 (2010)
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Volume 17 (2009)
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Volume 16 (2008)
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Volume 15 (2007)
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Volume 14 (2006)
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Volume 13 (2005)
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Volume 12 (2004)
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Volume 11 (2003)
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Volume 10 (2002)
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Volume 9 (2001)
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Volume 8 (2000)
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Volume 7 (1999)
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Volume 6 (1998)
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Volume 5 (1997)
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Volume 4 (1996)
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Volume 3 (1995)
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Volume 2 (1994)
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Volume 1 (1993)
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