Journal Article

Predicting Pragmatic Reasoning in Language Games

Goodman, Noah D., Frank, Michael C.

2012

Overview

Different languages rely on distinct sets of terminology to classify relatives, such as maternal grandfather in English, and precision in language usage is a key component for successful communication (see the Perspective by Levinson ). Kemp and Regier (p. 1049 ) propose an organizing framework whereby kinship classification systems can all be seen to optimize or nearly optimize both simplicity and precision. The labels applied to kin are constructed from simple units and are precise enough to reduce confusion and ambiguity when used in communication. Frank and Goodman (p. 998 ) show that simplicity and precision also explain how listeners correctly infer the meaning of speech in the context of referential communication. A Bayesian inference model predicts how listeners decode communications. One of the most astonishing features of human language is its capacity to convey information efficiently in context. Many theories provide informal accounts of communicative inference, yet there have been few successes in making precise, quantitative predictions about pragmatic reasoning. We examined judgments about simple referential communication games, modeling behavior in these games by assuming that speakers attempt to be informative and that listeners use Bayesian inference to recover speakers’ intended referents. Our model provides a close, parameter-free fit to human judgments, suggesting that the use of information-theoretic tools to predict pragmatic reasoning may lead to more effective formal models of communication.

• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science,The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subject: Ambiguity / Austenitic stainless steels / Bayes Theorem / Bayesian Statistics / Bayesian theory / Betting / Biological and medical sciences / BREVIA / Classification / Cognition & reasoning / Communication / Communication (Thought Transfer) / Confusion / Construction / Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology / Games / Games, Experimental / Human condition / Humans / Inferences / Information dissemination / Judgment / Language / Language Usage / Listening / Modeling / Modeling (Psychology) / Models, Statistical / Philosophical object / Pragmatics / prediction / Probability / Production and perception of spoken language / Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry / Psychology. Psychophysiology / Referents / Semiotics / Speech / Terminology