An investigation into the online processing of counterfactual and indicative conditionals.

A study was conducted to investigate how readers process counterfactual conditionals and indicative conditionals. Data were obtained using two experiments involving 72 university students. Findings revealed that a reading-time penalty arises during the processing of counterfactual conditionals whe...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Vol. 62; no. 11; pp. 2113 - 2126
Autores principales: Stewart, Andrew J., Haigh, Matthew, Kidd, Evan
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd November 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:A study was conducted to investigate how readers process counterfactual conditionals and indicative conditionals. Data were obtained using two experiments involving 72 university students. Findings revealed that a reading-time penalty arises during the processing of counterfactual conditionals when there is a mismatch between the information communicated about the counterfactual condition and prior context. Findings indicated that no such penalty occurs as a function of mismatch between the conditional and prior context during the reading of indicative conditionals. Findings are discussed in detail.