Proposes the subsuming theory criterion for experiments on common ground in mutual knowledge (i.e., the design must keep common information constant and only vary whether or not it is common). Demonstrates how doing so makes stronger claims. Illustrates how experiments can be designed to satisfy the criterion by evaluating some earlier studies…

Appraises R. Kaplan's "contrastic rhetoric" in the light of a multilanguage research project on discourse structure. Concludes that Kaplan's specific analyses are in need of substantive revision. (FL)

Suggests that even the youngest children use systematic strategies in ordering the elements of a story based on causal and temporal relationships. (FL)

Demonstrates that (1) in a theory of comprehension, global coherence must refer not just to the availability of a macrostructure, but also to its ease of construction; and (2) the topic-comment assignment at the sentence level can be an important influence on the reader's perception of the passage topic. (FL)

Describes the seven main components of QUEST, a cognitive model of question answering that attempts to simulate the answers adults produce when they answer different types of questions, both closed class and open class. Illustrates how the model could be applied to different types of knowledge structures, including causal networks, goal…

Tests the QUEST model of question answering in two experiments. Examines which components of QUEST could predict good answers to why-questions and how-questions in the context of short stories. Supports the validity of arc-search procedures and structural distance for both question categories. Finds only partial support for number of information…

Tests the QUEST model of question answering in naturalistic settings and in settings with complex pragmatic constraints: telephone surveys, business interactions, filmed interviews, and interviews on popular television programs. Finds that QUEST explains most of the answers in these contexts and virtually all of the answers that refer to the…

Examines the differences in perspective and training of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, and effects of these on their interactive strategies with patients. Shows how the macro issue of differences in occupational perspective can be incorporated into micro studies of the form and content of talk in social interactions. (SR)

Describes a recursive transition network model that analyzes and represents a story as a causal network of categorized clauses and labeled relations. Reports on two experiments using procedural criteria to identify inferences and the assumptions that inferences operate over distances in the text and are transitive, resulting in a network…

Investigates the management of expertise in advice-giving in the calls to a radio advice line. Analyzes how the expert's talk handles the tension between the personal and public dimensions of advice-giving in such a public forum. (HB)

Supports the hypothesis that literal and metaphorical interpretations can result from similar contextual constraints. Finds that a metaphorical interpretation may be selected because a literal interpretation would have been inappropriate and that likewise a literal interpretation may be selected because a metaphorical interpretation would have…

Examines the activity of storytelling at dinnertime in English-speaking, Caucasian-American families. Demonstrates that, through the process of story conarration, family members draw upon and stimulate critical social, cognitive, and linguistic skills that underlie scientific and other scholarly discourse. (SR)

Demonstrates that in spoken discourse many clauses introduced by "subordinating conjunctions" are actually neither structurally nor informationally subordinate. Suggests that the study of linguistic complexity must include spoken as well as written discourse and take account of cultural and situational language contexts. (SR)

Introduces a multistate probabilistic causal chain notation for describing the knowledge structures implicitly represented by the subjective conditional probability distribution. Proposes a psychological process model of how story comprehension and recall processes operate using causal chain representations. Compares the model's story-recall…

Investigates the conventions that govern telephone communication through answering machines, both domestic and institutional. Finds that talk on answering machines is highly structured and highly routinized. Identifies the internal structures of both callers' contributions and machine contributions. (SR)