11 ambiguity

8/14/2019 11 ambiguity

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Fun with Structural Ambiguity


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More Ambiguity: Examples of Structural Ambiguity

STUD TIRES OUT

BRITISH LEFT WAFFLES ON FALKLAND ISLANDS

LUNG CANCER IN WOMEN MUSHROOMS SQUAD HELPS DOG BITE VICTIM

ENRAGED COW INJURES FARMER WITH AX

JUVENILE COURT TO TRY SHOOTINGDEFENDANT

STOLEN PAINTING FOUND BY TREE

TWO SISTERS REUNITED AFTER 18 YEARS INCHECKOUT COUNTER

KILLER SENTENCED TO DIE FOR SECOND TIME IN

10 YEARS


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Examples from ads:

Take your mother-in-law out back andshoot her. (Kodak)

Are you up in the air about your future?

(Air Force)

Most parents and doctors trust Tylenol.

Come meet our new French pastry chef.


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Processing of lexical ambiguity:

incremental associative


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Processing of lexical ambiguity:

incremental associative

Is processing of structural ambiguities similar?


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Put the apple on the towel into the box.


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Garden Path sentences:

Sentences where initially, the wrongstructure and interpretation is assigned to a

temporary ambiguity - at some point, an

error signal is detected, resulting in

processing breakdown or backtracking


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--- ----- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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The ----- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- horse ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- raced ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ----- past --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ----- ---- the ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ----- ---- --- barn ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ----- ---- --- ---- fell --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- and ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- broke - ---.


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--- ----- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- a ---.


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--- ----- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - leg.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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The ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- horse ---- --- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- that --- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ---- was ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- raced ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- past --- ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- the ---- ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- barn ---- --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- ---- fell --- ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- and ----- - ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- broke - ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- a ---.


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--- ----- ---- --- ----- ---- --- ---- ---- --- ----- - leg.


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The horse raced past the barn fell and broke a leg.

The horse that was raced past the barn fell and broke a leg.


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--- --------- -------- --- ------ ----- --- ------ --- ---- ------.


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The --------- -------- --- ------ ----- --- ------ --- ---- ------.


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--- President -------- --- ------ ----- --- ------ --- ---- ------.


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--- --------- believed --- ------ ----- --- ------ --- ---- ------.


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--- --------- -------- the ------ ----- --- ------ --- ---- ------.


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--- --------- -------- --- report ----- --- ------ --- ---- ------.


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--- --------- -------- --- ------ about --- ------ --- ---- ------.


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--- --------- -------- --- ------ ----- the ------ --- ---- ------.


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--- --------- -------- --- ------ ----- --- attack --- ---- ------.


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--- --------- -------- --- ------ ----- --- ------ had ---- ------.


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--- --------- -------- --- ------ ----- --- ------ --- been ------.


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--- --------- -------- --- ------ ----- --- ------ --- ---- forged.


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The President believed the report about the attackhad been forged.

The President believed that the report about the attackhad been forged.


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--- ---- ------ --- --- ------ ---- - ---- --- ------- ------.


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The ---- ------ --- ------ ---- - ---- --- ------- ------.


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--- gang ------ --- --- ------ ---- - ---- --- ------- ------.


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--- ---- leader --- --- ------ ---- - ---- --- ------- ------.


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--- ---- ------ hit --- ------ ---- - ---- --- ------- ------.


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--- ---- ------ --- the ------ ---- - ---- --- ------- ------.


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--- ---- ------ --- --- lawyer ---- - ---- --- ------- ------.


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--- ---- ------ --- --- ------ with - ---- --- ------- ------.


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--- ---- ------ --- --- ------ ---- a ---- --- ------- ------.


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--- ---- ------ --- --- ------ ---- - wart --- ------- ------.


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--- ---- ------ --- --- ------ ---- - ---- and ------- ------.


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--- ---- ------ --- --- ------ ---- - ---- --- laughed ------.


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--- ---- ------ --- --- ------ ---- - ---- --- ------- loudly.


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The gang leader hit the lawyer with a wart and laughed loudly.

The gang leader hit the lawyer with a stickand laughed loudly.


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More garden path sentences

After the police stopped the cardrove off at top speed.

The therapist told the woman that he was having trouble withabout the new medication.

What did John readthe newspaper to find out about?


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The President believed the report about the attackhad been forged.

The President believed that the report about the attackhad been forged.


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The President believed the report about the attack had been forged.

The President sentthe report

The Presidentconcluded

the report


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The President


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believed


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the report


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about the attack


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had been forged


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The President believed the report about the attackhad been forged

sent

concluded


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The President


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sent


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believed


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the report


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about the attack


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had been forged.


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Observations about structural ambiguity:

1. Involve incremental interpretation

2. Meanings other than the ultimate meaning may be accessed

along the way


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1. Involve incremental interpretation

2. Meanings other than the ultimate meaning may be accessed

along the way

Implications:

1. Can advertising take advantage of these temporarily encoded

meanings?

2. Do processes underlying ambiguity resolution result in greater

cognitive engagement?


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No Road Works in London


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No Road Works in London

-- They do in Miltonkeynes


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Both lexical and structural ambiguity generally result inlonger processing times.

Incongruity garden path effects can be played with for

attention-grabbing purposes

11 ambiguity

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