An Integrated Approach to Reference and Presupposition Resolution
Robert T. Kasper, Paul C. Davis, Craige Roberts · 1999
We describe an approach to resolving de nite descriptions and pronominal anaphora as subcases of a general strategy for presupposition satisfaction. Generally, a presupposition is satis ed in a context if the context contains a speci c type of information and is organized in such away that this information can be retrieved by the interlocutors. The model of discourse context we develop assumes that discourse structure is organized around a stack ofquestions under discussion, which plays a crucial role in narrowing the search for referents and other presupposed information. The algorithms for maintaining the discourse structures and retrieving presupposed information are presented and illustrated by several example dialogues in which human users interact with an agent to make hotel reservations. 1