Introduction to Cognitive Psychology - Department of Psychological ...

Professor Greg Francis 1/2/13Evidence of ambiguityNo one notices the ambiguityBut, give a lexical decision test for words verses nonwords Flashed visually on a screen just after the word was spoken Subjects respond faster for words related to either definition ofbugSentence ambiguitySome sentences never resolve their ambiguities Ingres enjoyed painting his models nude. Visiting relatives can be boring. I saw the man with the binoculars.Context often helps more laterant sew spyfasterslowerfasterPurdue UniversityPurdue UniversitySentence ambiguityInterestingly, people often miss ambiguities insentences Time flies like an arrow.Humans recognize only one interpretationComputer algorithms can find 5 interpretations all grammatically correct!Sentence ambiguityTime flies like an arrow.(1) Time proceeds as quickly as an arrow proceeds.(2) Measure the speed of flies in the same way thatyou measure the speed of an arrow.(3) Measure the speed of flies in the same way that anarrow measures the speed of flies.(4) Measure the speed of flies that resemble an arrow.(5) Flies of a particular kind, time-flies, arefond of an arrow. (Fruit flies like a banana.)Purdue UniversityPurdue UniversityAmbiguity and computersOr consider the following (valid) sentence thatcomputer algorithms can correctly interpret Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalobuffalo.Heres a hint to make it understandable inprincipleChicago horses (that) Milwaukee cowsintimidate (also) intimidate Cincinnatipigs.SignificanceThese types of results suggest that wordsand grammar are not enough to insurecommunicationIn a certain sense a speaker and listenermust already be agreeing about the topicbefore anything can be communicatedThus, we can understand the followingdiscourse Woman: Im leaving you.Purdue University Man: Who is he?Purdue UniversityPSY 200: Intro. to Cognitive Psychology 5