The role of look-backs in the processing of written sarcasm

Abstract

Previous eye-tracking studies suggest that when resolving the meaning of sarcastic utterances in a text, readers often initiate fixations that return to the sarcastic utterance from subsequent parts of the text. We used a modified trailing mask paradigm to examine both the role of these look-back fixations in sarcasm comprehension and whether there are individual differences in how readers resolve sarcasm. Sixty-two adult participants read short paragraphs containing either a literal or a sarcastic utterance while their eye movements were recorded. The texts were presented using a modified trailing mask paradigm: sentences were initially masked with a string of x's and were revealed to the reader one at a time. In the normal reading condition, sentences remained visible on the screen when the reader moved on to the next sentence; in the masked condition, the sentences were replaced with a mask. Individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) and the processing of emotional information were also measured. The results showed that readers adjusted their reading behavior when a mask prevented them from re-examining the text content. Interestingly, the readers' compensatory strategies depended on spatial WMC. Moreover, the results showed that the ability to process emotional information was related to less processing effort invested in resolving sarcasm. The present study suggests that look-backs are driven by a need to re-examine the text contents but that they are not necessary for the successful comprehension of sarcasm. The strategies used to resolve sarcasm are mediated by individual differences.

Reading is disrupted by intelligible background speech: Evidence from eye-tracking.

“…This procedure was then repeated until the whole paragraph had been presented (see Figure 4a for an illustration of the method). To avoid delays due to having to fixate exactly within the square, the line check was triggered immediately after participants' gaze moved to 6 It should be noted that Olkoniemi, Johander, and Kaakinen (2018) have recently also used the trailing mask paradigm in a paragraph-reading study. However, in their experiment the trailing mask was triggered at the sentence level and not word-by-word as in the present research.…”

Do They Really Mean It? Children’s Inference of Speaker Intentions and the Role of Age and Gender

“…Additionally, individual differences in working memory and emotional intelligence can contribute to how nonliteral speech is interpreted. Superior working memory suppresses the literal meaning of ironic speech (Giora, 1999; Olkoniemi, Ranta, & Kaakinen, 2016; Olkoniemi, Johander, & Kaakinen, 2019), whereas the ability to recognize emotions aids irony comprehension (Nicholson, Whalen, & Pexman, 2013). There is also evidence that different communities of practice base their recognition of attitudes, intentions, and emotions in part on culturally defined factors such as overall communication style (directness vs. indirectness; Holtgraves, 1997; Rockwell & Theriot, 2001).…”

The ability to recognise emotions predicts the time-course of sarcasm processing: Evidence from eye movements

“…In the present study, we examined whether this slowdown is an implication of a reader resolving the sarcastic meaning (e.g., Olkoniemi et al, 2016), or whether it merely reflects a coherence break caused by the sarcastic statement, which contradicts the context in which it is presented. Finally, recent eye-tracking studies have shown that there are individual differences in how readers process sarcastic statements, and that these differences are related to the time-course of resolving the sarcastic meaning (Kaakinen et al, 2014; Olkoniemi, Johander, & Kaakinen, 2018; Olkoniemi et al, 2016). In the present study, we examined how the ability to recognise emotions and working memory capacity (WMC) are related to the processing of written sarcasm.…”