Papers by Reinhard Blutner
The article aims to give an overview about the application of Optimality Theory (OT) to the domai... more The article aims to give an overview about the application of Optimality Theory (OT) to the domain of pragmatics. In the introductory part we discuss different ways to view the division of labor between semantics and pragmatics. Rejecting the doctrine of literal meaning we conform to (i) semantic underdetermination and (ii) contextualism (the idea that the mechanism of pragmatic interpretation is crucial both for determining what the speaker says and what he means). Taking the assumptions (i) and (ii) as essential requisites for a natural theory of pragmatic interpretation, section 2 introduces the three main views conforming to these assumptions: Relevance theory, Levinson’s theory of presumptive meanings, and the Neo-Gricean approach. In section 3 we explain the general paradigm of OT and the idea of bidirectional optimization. We show how the idea of optimal interpretation can be used to restructure the core ideas of these three different approaches. Further, we argue that bidire...
ZAS Papers in Linguistics, 2009
The main concern of this article is to discuss some recent findings concerning the psychological ... more The main concern of this article is to discuss some recent findings concerning the psychological reality of optimality-theoretic pragmatics and its central part – bidirectional optimization. A present challenge is to close the gap between experimental pragmatics and neo-Gricean theories of pragmatics. I claim that OT pragmatics helps to overcome this gap, in particular in connection with the discussion of asymmetries between natural language comprehension and production. The theoretical debate will be concentrated on two different ways of interpreting bidirection: first, bidirectional optimization as a psychologically realistic online mechanism; second, bidirectional optimization as an offline phenomenon of fossilizing optimal form-meaning pairs. It will be argued that neither of these extreme views fits completely with the empirical data when taken per se.
ZAS Papers in Linguistics, 2009
Ever since the discovery of neural networks, there has been a controversy between two modes of in... more Ever since the discovery of neural networks, there has been a controversy between two modes of information processing. On the one hand, symbolic systems have proven indispensable for our understanding of higher intelligence, especially when cognitive domains like language and reasoning are examined. On the other hand, it is a matter of fact that intelligence resides in the brain, where computation appears to be organized by numerical and statistical principles and where a parallel distributed architecture is appropriate. The present claim is in line with researchers like Paul Smolensky and Peter Gärdenfors and suggests that this controversy can be resolved by a unified theory of cognition – one that integrates both aspects of cognition and assigns the proper roles to symbolic computation and numerical neural computation. The overall goal in this contribution is to discuss formal systems that are suitable for grounding the formal basis for such a unified theory. It is suggested that ...
Pragmatics, 2007
Optimality Theoretic Pragmatics is a (partly) formalized theory that conforms to a dynamic neo-Gr... more Optimality Theoretic Pragmatics is a (partly) formalized theory that conforms to a dynamic neo-Gricean approach. It assumes one phase of the updating process that involves the application of the so-called Q-and I/Rprinciples. Critics of the theory have maintained that such an approach does not discriminate between processes where apparent conversational implicatures enter into propositional content from processes where conversational implicatures supplement the propositional content without becoming part of it. Hence, it does not account for the Relevance-Theoretic distinction between explicatures and implicatures. In the present paper I discuss the possibility for reconstructing the distinction in Optimality Theoretic Pragmatics. After careful consideration of recent empirical observations on implicatures in complex sentences the conclusion is drawn that the distinction should not be stipulated by referring to separate principles of the cognitive architecture (neither by stipulating different modes of interpretation nor by assuming distinct phases of processing). Instead, the distinction seems to be a consequence of a global optimization mechanism the results of which can be frozen into a local projection mechanism that conforms to the principles of incremental interpretation.
Quantum mechanics emerged as the result of a successful resolution of stringent empirical and pro... more Quantum mechanics emerged as the result of a successful resolution of stringent empirical and profound conceptual conflicts within the development of atomic physics at the beginning of the last century. At first glance, it seems to be bizarre and even ridiculous to apply ideas of quantum physics in order to improve current psychological and linguistic or semantic ideas. However, a closer look shows that there are some parallels in the development of quantum physics and advanced theories of cognitive science dealing with concepts, conceptual composition, vagueness, and prototypicality. In both cases of the historical development, the underlying basic ideas are of geometric nature. In psychology, geometric models of meaning have a long tradition. However, they suffer from many shortcomings which are illustrated by discussing several puzzles of bounded rationality. The main suggestion of the present approach is that geometric models of meaning can be improved by borrowing basic concepts from (von Neumann) quantum theory. In the first part of this article, we consider several puzzles of bounded rationality. These include the Allais-and Ellsberg paradox, the disjunction effect, the conjunction and disjunction fallacies, and question order effects. We argue that the present account of quantum cognition-taking quantum probabilities rather than classical probabilities-can give a more systematic description of these puzzles than the alternate and rather eclectic treatments in the traditional framework of bounded rationality. Unfortunately, the quantum probabilistic treatment does not always and does not automatically provide a deeper understanding and a true explanation of these puzzles. One reason is that quantum approaches introduce additional parameters which possibly can be fitted to empirical data but which do not necessarily explain them. Hence, the phenomenological research has to be augmented by responding to deeper foundational issues. In the second part of this article, we aim to illustrate how recent progress in the foundation of quantum theory can help to answer the foundational questions of quantum cognition. This includes the opportunity of interpreting the free parameters, which are pure stipulations in the quantum probabilistic framework. Making a careful distinction between foundational and phenomenological research programs, we explain the foundational issue from the perspective of Piron, Foulis, Randall, and others, and we apply it to the foundation of quantum cognition. In this connection, we show that quantum probabilities are of (virtual) conceptual necessity if grounded in an abstract algebraic framework of orthomodular lattices. This framework is motivated by assuming partial Boolean algebras (describing particular perspectives) that are combined into a uniform system while considering certain capacity restrictions. It is at this point that one important aspect of the whole idea of bounded rationality directly enters the theoretical scenery of quantum cognition: resource limitation. Another important aspect of the foundational issue is that it automatically leads to a distinction between probabilities that are defined by pure states and probabilities arising from the statistical mixture of such states. It is possible to relate this formal distinction to the deep conceptual distinction between risk and ignorance. A third outcome is the possibility to identify quantum aspects in dynamic macro-systems using the framework of symbolic dynamics, closely related to the operational perspective of Piron, Foulis, Randall, and others. This helps to understand the ideas of epistemic complementarity and entanglement, and to analyse quantum aspects in third generation neural networks.
Bidirektionale Optimalitätstheorie
Kognitionswissenschaft, 2002
Bidirectional Optimality Theory Summary. Optimality Theory as developed by Prince, Smolensky and ... more Bidirectional Optimality Theory Summary. Optimality Theory as developed by Prince, Smolensky and others has been fruitfully applied to phonology, morphology, and syntax. The attempt to apply the ideas developed in these fields to the semantics/pragmatics interface necessitates the conception of a bidirectional OT. The main reason for assuming the idea of bidirectionality (combining expressive and interpretive optimization) derives from a number of phenomena which, on the one hand, demand the treatment of preferred ...
Normality" in Update Semantics
Semantics and Linguistic Theory, 2015
Modelling tonal attraction
How well does a given pitch fit into a tonal scale or tonal key, let it be a major or minor key? ... more How well does a given pitch fit into a tonal scale or tonal key, let it be a major or minor key? A similar question can be asked regarding chords and tonal regions. Structural and probabilistic approaches in computational music theory have tried to give systematic answers to the problem of tonal attraction. We will discuss two previous models of tonal attraction, one based on tonal hierarchies and the other based on interval cycles. To overcome the shortcomings of these models, both methodologically and empirically, I propose a new kind of models relying on insights of the new research field of quantum cognition. I will argue that the quantum approach integrates the insights from both group theory and quantum probability theory. In this way, it achieves a deeper understanding of the cognitive nature of tonal music, especially concerning the nature of musical expectations (Leonhard Meyer) and a better understanding of the affective meaning of music.
Linguistics and Philosophy, 2002
In recent years, the linguistic framework of optimality theory (OT) received great attention, and... more In recent years, the linguistic framework of optimality theory (OT) received great attention, and not only among phonologists. Students of morphology, syntax and natural language interpretation likewise learned to appreciate the opportunities and challenges of the new framework. The reasons for this growing interest in OT are empirical and conceptual. First, a series of empirical generalizations and observed phenomena can be expressed very naturally within this framework; this especially holds for phonology where in-depth analyses of many languages have given a much better insight into cross-linguistic tendencies than we had before the invention of OT. Second, and perhaps much more important in linking scientists to a new research paradigm, there are the conceptual reasons, which are manifold in the present case: (i) the aim to decrease the gap between competence and performance, (ii) interest in an architecture that is closer to neural networks than to the standard symbolist architecture, (iii) the aim to overcome the gap between probabilistic models of language/speech and standard symbolist models, (iv) the problem of learning hidden structure and the logical problem of language acquisition. The present book addresses the latter point, effectively concentrating on the issue of learnability. In this way, it tries to develop a rather strong argument favoring OT over alternative linguistic frameworks such as the Principle and Parameter model (PP). This is not a book arguing with an impressive bundle of empirical data. Most examples are used only demonstratively and aim to illustrate the main ideas. For the sake of completeness, they correspond to the basic CV syllable theory (Sections 2, 3, 7 and 8), the distribution of clausal subjects (Sections 2 and 3), a basic metrical stress grammar (Section 4), and German syllable-final devoicing (Section 5). Although there may be good reasons against writing a linguistic book of this kind, in the present case this strategy proves compelling and powerful: it allows the authors to present the conceptual points and theoretical ideas in a fairly condensed, rigorous, and authoritative way (in only 140 pages, where 12 pages are allotted to endnotes, references and index).
Dimensional designation: A case study in Lexical Pragmatics
this paper is to apply this framework to resolve some puzzles of dimensionaldesignation of spatia... more this paper is to apply this framework to resolve some puzzles of dimensionaldesignation of spatial objects. The term `dimensional designation" refers to the contextualinterpretation of a group of spatial adjectives such as long, high, broad, deep, thick and can beillustrated by the following example:
Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today, 2011
The human language faculty is a bidirectional system, i.e. it can be used by processes of approxi... more The human language faculty is a bidirectional system, i.e. it can be used by processes of approximately equal computational complexity to understand and to generate utterances of a language. We assume the general framework of optimality theory and treat the language faculty as a constraint-based system where the very same constraints are uses both in comprehension and in generation. In the simplest case comprehension and generation can be modelled by unidirectional optimization: finding an optimal interpretations for a given speech input in the case of comprehension; producing an optimal expression for a given message in case of generation. In the simplest case, the speaker and the listener roles are strictly separated. However, there are linguistic observations which indicate that the listener's and the speaker's perspectives are integrated to some extent. Bidirectional optimization is an explicit proposal for doing the integration. In this article we propose a general architecture of the language faculty and discuss the precise extent to which speakers are listener-oriented and/or listeners are speaker-oriented. Interestingly, this extent does not seem to vary with regard to the different subsystems considered: the sensorimotor system, the system of grammar proper and the conceptual-intentional system (pragmatics). Though the experimental evidence is not very strong at the moment it seems in online processing the speaker takes the hearer into account but not vice versa. Besides the online (actual processing) view of bidirection we discuss bidirectional optimization as an offline phenomenon taking place during language acquisition, and giving raise to fossilization phenomena.
NeuroQuantology, 2010
I reflect on several aspects of the general claim that a quantum-like approach to Cognitive Scien... more I reflect on several aspects of the general claim that a quantum-like approach to Cognitive Science is advantageous over classical approaches. The classical approaches refer to the symbolic approaches including models using a classical (Kolmogorov) probability calculus. The general claim seems to be right from a descriptive viewpoint but not necessarily from an explanatory viewpoint. The explanatory perspective needs a more careful analysis since adding some additional arbitrary parameters (such as phase shift parameters in quantum probabilities) does not automatically increase the explanatory value of the approach; rather, it seems to decrease it. I argue further that there is another class of traditional models-the class of geometric models of cognition. These models have a much longer tradition than the symbolic models. Interestingly, quantum mechanics does not contradict the geometric models. Hence, real progress at the meeting between quantum mechanics and cognitive science could be made by unifying these geometric models with ideas from quantum theory.
The Handbook of Pragmatics
This contribution investigates the interactions between the (mental) lexicon and pragmatics. It a... more This contribution investigates the interactions between the (mental) lexicon and pragmatics. It aims to give an overview about pragmatic phenomena that are connected with the semantic underspecification of lexical items. Cases in point are the pragmatics of adjectives, effects of negative strengthening, systematic polysemy, the distribution of lexical and productive causatives, blocking phenomena, the interpretation of compounds, and many phenomena presently discussed within the framework of Cognitive Semantics. After emphasizing some important consequences of the traditional view of lexical semantics-the contrastive analysis of lexemes within the Katz-Fodor tradition of semantics-several phenomena are collected that seem to conflict with its theoretical settings. These phenomena are taken as arguments in favor of a particular account of the division of labor between lexical semantics and pragmatics. This account combines the idea of (radical) semantic underspecification in the lexicon with a theory of pragmatic strengthening, based on conversational implicatures. The basic pragmatic mechanism can be expressed within the framework of (bidirectional) optimality theory for interpretation. It is argued that this approach may provide a principled account of several of the lexical-pragmatic phenomena that are currently discussed.
Topics in Cognitive Science, 2013
The term 'vagueness' describes a property of natural concepts, which normally have fuzzy boundari... more The term 'vagueness' describes a property of natural concepts, which normally have fuzzy boundaries, admit borderline cases and are susceptible to Zeno's sorites paradox. We will discuss the psychology of vagueness, especially experiments investigating the judgment of borderline cases and contradictions. In the theoretical part, we will propose a probabilistic model that describes the quantitative characteristics of the experimental finding and extends Alxatib's and Pelletier's (2011) theoretical analysis. The model is based on a Hopfield network for predicting truth values. Powerful as this classical perspective is, we show that it falls short of providing an adequate coverage of the relevant empirical results. In the final part, we will argue that a substantial modification of the analysis put forward by Alxatib and Pelletier and its probabilistic pendant is needed. The proposed modification replaces the standard notion of probabilities by quantum probabilities. The crucial phenomenon of borderline contradictions can be explained then as a quantum interference phenomenon.
Mass dependent slopes of momentum transfer distributions in inclusive reactions according to the thermodynamic model
Nuclear Physics B, 1971
Abstract Inclusive single particle spectra according to the thermodynamic model are studied in th... more Abstract Inclusive single particle spectra according to the thermodynamic model are studied in the form View the MathML source. It is found, that the slopes of the momentum transfer dependence decrease with increasing| t| in a similar way as found in experimental data. At small| t| the slopes decrease with growing M∗ less strongly than found experimentally. The slopes differ also for different produced particles X. Furthermore the cross sections View the MathML source rise exponentially with growing M∗, the slope depending again on the ...
Dynamic Generalized Quantifiers and Existential Sentences in Natural Languages
Journal of Semantics, 1993
Abstract The central topic to be discussed in this paper is the definiteness restriction in there... more Abstract The central topic to be discussed in this paper is the definiteness restriction in there-insertion contexts. Various attempts to explain this definiteness restriction using the standard algebraic framework are discussed (Barwise & Cooper 1981; Keenan 1978; Milsark 1974; Higginbortham 1987; Lappin 1988) and the shortcomings of these attempts are demonstrated. Finally, a new approach to the interpretation of existential there be-sentences is developed within the framework of Groenendijk & Stokhof's (1990) Dynamic Montague ...
Journal of Semantics, 2000
In a series of papers, Petra Hendriks, Helen de Hoop, and Henriette de Swart Lave applied optimal... more In a series of papers, Petra Hendriks, Helen de Hoop, and Henriette de Swart Lave applied optimality theory (OT) to semantics. These authors argue that there is a fundamental difference between the form of OT as used in syntax on the one hand and its form as used in semantics on the other hand. Whereas in the first case OT takes the point of view of the speaker, in the second case the point of view of the hearer is taken. The aim of this paper is to argue that the proper treatment of OT in natural language interpretation has to take both perspectives at the same time. A conceptual framework is established that realizes the integration of both perspectives. It will be argued that this framework captures the essence of the Gricean maxims and gives a precise explication of Atlas & Levinson's (1981) idea of balancing between informativeness and efficiency in natural language processing. The ideas are then applied to resolve some puzzles in natural language interpretation.
Questions and Answers in an Orthoalgebraic Approach
Journal of Logic, Language and Information, 2012
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2013
We propose a way in which Pothos & Busemeyer (P&B) could strengthen their position. Taking a dyna... more We propose a way in which Pothos & Busemeyer (P&B) could strengthen their position. Taking a dynamic stance, we consider cognitive tests as functions that transfer a given input state into the state after testing. Under very general conditions, it can be shown that testable properties in cognition form an orthomodular lattice. Gleason's theorem then yields the conceptual necessity of quantum probabilities (QP).
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Papers by Reinhard Blutner