Processing of It and This in Written Narrative Discourse. Issue 3 (3rd April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Çokal, Derya; Sturt, Patrick; Ferreira, Fernanda
• Is Part Of: Discourse processes. Volume 55:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 272
• Page End: 289
• Publication Date: 2018-04-03
• Subjects: Discourse analysis -- Periodicals; 401.41
• DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2016.1236231
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0163-853X

Abstract

Abstract : Two experiments explored the hypothesis that anaphors and demonstratives signal different procedural instructions: Whereas the anaphor it brings a concrete entity into a reader's focus, the demonstrative this directs the focus to a predicate proposition in a discourse representation. The findings from an online eye-tracking reading experiment confirm that preferences for it and this differ as predicted. Moreover, a sentence-completion experiment revealed converging evidence for this difference, with clear differences in antecedent preferences for it and this . Overall, findings show that the processing and use of anaphoric expressions is affected by the interaction between the lexical characteristics of referential forms and different types of referent.