When some is not every: Dissociating scalar implicature generation and mismatch

Abstract

Making inferences beyond the literal meaning of sentences occurs with certain scalar expressions via scalar implicatures. For example, adults usually interpret some as some but not all. On the basis of behavioral research, it has been suggested that processing implicatures is cognitively costly. However, many studies have used cases where sentences with some did not match the context in which they were presented. Our study aimed to examine whether the processing cost is linked to implicature generation, to the mismatch between the implicature and the context, or to both processes. To do so, we explored the neural patterns of implicature generation and implicature mismatch using fMRI. Thirteen participants performed a sentence-picture matching task (where pictures determined the context) with mismatched implicatures, successful implicatures or no implicature conditions. Several brain regions were identified when comparing cases of implicature mismatch and cases without implicatures. One of these regions, left-IFG, was jointly activated for mismatched and successful implicatures, as observed in a conjunction analysis. By contrast, left-MFG and medial-frontal-gyrus, were identified when comparing cases of implicature mismatch with cases of successful implicatures. Thus, the left IFG can be interpreted as being linked to implicature generation, whereas the other two areas seem to participate in the processing of the mismatch between the implicature and its context. Our results indicate that scalar implicatures induce processing cost in different ways. This should be considered in future research.

Beyond words: Pragmatic inference in behavioral variant of frontotemporal degeneration

“…Thus, although controls spontaneously adopted a literal interpretation much less often than did bvFTD patients, the tolerance to pragmatic violation appears to not be an exclusive feature of bvFTD patients but may also exist in healthy aging. Variability in the performance of healthy adults was also found in previous studies of scalar implicatures (Bott & Noveck, 2004; Shetreet et al, 2014). However, this variability suggests further questions.…”

“…Previous studies pointed to the contribution of a prefrontal network in the processing of a scalar inference. Shetreet and colleagues (Shetreet, Chierchia, & Gaab, 2014) showed a critical role for orbitofrontal cortex (BA 47) in the computation of a scalar inference. BA 47 has been extensively implicated in executive functions like mental flexibility (Abe & Lee, 2011; O’Doherty, Critchley, Deichmann, & Dolan, 2003).…”

Neural correlates of fine‐grained meaning distinctions: An fMRI investigation of scalar quantifiers

“…Based on the studies reviewed above, we expect that implicature mismatch may recruit the left middle frontal gyrus and the medial frontal gyrus indexing successful implementation of meaning enrichment [Shetreet et al, ]. Conflict between scalar quantifier and contextual quantity may also activate regions related to inhibition and executive control, such as the right IFG [Li et al, ; Nieuwland, ; Ye and Zhou, ] and the basal ganglia (BG) [Mestres‐Missé et al, ], as well as the left LIFG that supports the meaning unification [Hagoort, ].…”

The neural development of pragmatic inference‐making in natural discourse

“…A recent line of neuroimaging work (Shetreet, Chierchia, & Gaab, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, which includes a developmental study, presents data supporting the claim that the main site responsible for scalar inferencemaking ought to be found in language areas (viz. A recent line of neuroimaging work (Shetreet, Chierchia, & Gaab, 2014a, 2014b, 2014c, which includes a developmental study, presents data supporting the claim that the main site responsible for scalar inferencemaking ought to be found in language areas (viz.…”