Using shared knowledge to determine ironic intent; a conversational response paradigm

Mentalising has long been suggested to play an important role in irony interpretation. We hypothesised that another important cognitive underpinning of irony interpretation is likely to be children's capacity for mental set switching – the ability to switch flexibly between different approaches...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child language 2020-11, Vol.47 (6), p.1170-1188
Main Authors: ZAJĄCZKOWSKA, Maria, ABBOT-SMITH, Kirsten, KIM, Christina S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child
Children
Cognitive Processes
Communication
Comprehension - physiology
Female
Figurative Language
Humans
Intention
Interpersonal Communication
Knowledge Level
Language Acquisition
Language Processing
Language Usage
Male
Task Analysis
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Summary:Mentalising has long been suggested to play an important role in irony interpretation. We hypothesised that another important cognitive underpinning of irony interpretation is likely to be children's capacity for mental set switching – the ability to switch flexibly between different approaches to the same task. We experimentally manipulated mentalising and set switching to investigate their effects on the ability of 7-year-olds to determine if an utterance is intended ironically or literally. The component of mentalising examined was whether the speaker and listener shared requisite knowledge. We developed a paradigm in which children had to select how a listener might reply, depending on whether the listener shared knowledge needed to interpret the utterance as ironic. Our manipulation of requisite set switching found null results. However, we are the first to show experimentally that children as young as seven years use mentalising to determine whether an utterance is intended ironically or literally.
ISSN:0305-0009
1469-7602
DOI:10.1017/S0305000920000045