Dynamic model selection in the interpretation of discourse

Steven Cushing

pp. 351-361

in: Lucia Vaina, Jaakko Hintikka (eds), Cognitive constraints on communication, Berlin, Springer, 1984

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the interpretation of discourse involves primarily the selection of semantic models, rather than their construction, as is suggested in a number of recent proposals (e.g., Stenning, 1977; Reichman, 1978). We begin with a modified version of a logical framework developed by van Fraassen (1971) (based on Tarski (1936)) and specifically augment it to allow for relativized quantification (Cushing, 1976) and a dynamic reading of satisfaction rules (Cushing, 1977). We then argue that a selection account of discourse interpretation falls right out of the relativized rule, along with an explanation for at least some "conventional implicatures' (Karttunen and Peters, 1979).