Conceptual pacts and lexical choice in conversation

被引:822
作者
Brennan, SE [1 ]
Clark, HH [1 ]
机构
[1] STANFORD UNIV,DEPT PSYCHOL,STANFORD,CA 94305
关键词
D O I
10.1037/0278-7393.22.6.1482
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
When people in conversation refer repeatedly to the same object, they coma to use the same terms. This phenomenon, called lexical entrainment, has several possible explanations. A historical accounts appeal only to the informativeness and availability of terms and to the current salience of the object's features. Historical accounts appeal in addition to the recency and frequency of past references and to partner-specific conceptualizations of the object that people achieve interactively. Evidence from 3 experiments favors a historical account and suggests that when speakers refer to an object, they are proposing a conceptualization of it, a proposal their addressees may or may not agree to. Once they do establish a shared conceptualization, a conceptual pact, they appeal to it in later references even when they could use simpler references. Over time, speakers simplify conceptual pacts and, when necessary, abandon them for new conceptualizations.
引用
收藏
页码:1482 / 1493
页数:12
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