Description Types and Method of Conjoining as Factors Influencing Plural Anaphora: a Continuation Study of Focus
Anthony J. Sanford, F. LOCKHART · Journal of Semantics · 1990
An experiment is reported which investigates the impact of two variables on the likelihood of obtaining plural pronoun anaphors in a continuation task. The first variable is syntactic: the use of and versus with as a means of relating two singular characters. Use of and enhances the likelihood of obtaining a plural anaphor in continuations, but the incidence of plural is never as high as 60%. The second variable is description type: whether the characters are introduced through proper names (e. g. Harry), or through a simple definition noun phrase (e. g. the doctor). When two descriptions are of the same type, plural reference is enhanced, regardless of syntactic condition, and regardless of whether the two descriptions are names or noun phrases. This effect is traced in part to the special status afforded to characters which are introduced through proper names. A discussion is presented within the framework of an account of plural anaphora based on singular individuals mapping into common role-slots in background knowledge (scenario)