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ABSTRACT This paper identifies and critiques a tendency for public health risk communication to be ‘sneakily’ persuasive. First, I describe how trends in the social and health sciences have facilitated an approach to public health risk communication which focuses on achieving behaviour change directly, rather than informing people's decisions about their health behaviour. I then consider existing discussions of the merits of informing versus persuading in public health communication, which largely endorse persuasive approaches. I suggest such accounts are unsatisfying insofar as their definitions of persuasion often fail to recognise its directional nature and the distorting effect this has on the total picture of the evidence. I re‐characterise persuasion as directional influence aimed at achieving a particular outcome in the recipient and acknowledge that persuasive influence may also be manipulative. I then contrast this with (non‐directional) information provision. I suggest that much persuasive public health risk communication is ‘sneaky’: it appears to be informative, but in fact presents a distorted picture of the evidence (in accordance with my characterisation of persuasion). I argue that such sneakily persuasive public health risk communication is unethical on the basis that it fails to adhere to the norms of cooperative communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spontaneous discourse, a speaker sometimes encounters word-formulation trouble, and she may use a 'placeholder' (PH) such as whatchamacallit and you-know-what, a dummy expression to be inserted into the slot of a 'target form' in the sentence structure of an utterance. It has been widely held that there are two types of usage motives: (i) a speaker cannot produce a target form when, e.g., she does not recall it, or (ii) a speaker does not want to produce a target form when, e.g., it is considered taboo. Previous studies have described the grammatical and functional properties of PHs in a variety of languages, but no study has examined their usage-motive patterns crosslinguistically. In this paper, I propose an implicational hierarchy relating to the usage motives of PHs based on the relevance-theoretic notions of 'ability' and 'preference' and derive several predictions from this hierarchy, which are tested against PH data in 56 languages. The predictions are mostly confirmed, with some (putative) counterexamples explained by non-cognitive–pragmatic factors (e.g., lexical-semantic factors). As an implication, the hierarchy may also serve as a basis for drawing predictions in other linguistic fields (e.g., language acquisition). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantic gesture is considered one of Jan Mukařovský's key conceptual contributions to the theory of (artistic) communication. It is also a contribution that is still commented on and further expanded upon today. As a semantic-synthetic principle of dynamic unification of a work of art, the mechanism of semantic gesture defies reduction to pure intention, content or simply coded meaning. This paper develops the view that semantic gesture represents a pragmatic mechanism with potential for elaboration within the framework of a pragmatic theory of relevance. In the first part, it attempts to substantiate the view that semantic gesture exhibits a distinctly pragmatic character, as it is both (i) dependent on the under-determination of linguistic input and (ii) applicable outside the domain of artistic texts. The second part attempts to define the context of relevance theory as a suitable field for further exploration of semantic gesture beyond traditional semiological boundaries, especially by pointing out two types of dynamism and by relating the notion of semantic gesture to the pragmatic mechanisms of poetic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade there has been growing relevance-theoretic interest in the interpretation of creative metaphors. Much of this interest has focused on non-propositional aspects of interpretation: mental image effects/emotive effects. Central to this enquiry is the following question: are non-propositional effects essential to the metaphorical interpretation process? The implications of answering this question are important, since, if the answer is positive, then the delivery of metaphorical interpretation depends, not only on utterance processing, but also on the hearer's formation of mental images as well as emotive experience. Relevance-theoretic studies argue that mental images do not fulfill an essential role in the metaphorical interpretation process. While the supporting evidence is solid, it requires experimental substantiation. The current paper responds to this requirement, taking on board emotive effects, too, apart from mental images. Ultimately, the current work concludes that the role of non-propositional effects in metaphorical interpretation is not essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the meaning of love on the basis of mystical texts. The theoretical basis of the study is the relevance theory of Sperber and Wilson. The result of this research shows that in the review of mystical texts (a case study of a sonnet from Hafez's Divan) from the audience's point of view, love has no prescribed and predetermined meaning and is in fact a multiple phenomenon And because of the impossibility of expressing metaphysical experiences in mysticism the mystics’s speech is implicitly presented to the audience in the form of textural patterns. And this is the reason for the emergence of multiple phenomena of semantics outside the world of mysticism. According to relevance theory, these implications comprise a series of strong and weak hints that the reader of the text interprets depending on the encyclopedic information and the contents of long-term and short-term memory, as well as on his own perceptual context and other cases, and whenever the listener's expectation of the relevance of the message seems sufficient, he abandons the attempt. In addition, using a questionnaire created on the basis of relevance theory and the importance of contextual implications for the method of exploratory comprehension of words, factors such as age, gender, education, beliefs, etc. were examined and it showed that some of these factors can affect the reader's perception of love is effective in rereading mystical texts and others.

Based on the analysis of a linguistic corpus, this study uses relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1986/1995) to demonstrate that the Tunisian Arabic particle ha :, which has never received any research attention, acts as an attitudinal marker in addition to its vocative function. Namely, ha: is restricted to utterances in which the speaker is expressing negative emotion or a subtype of positive emotion that can only be directed at the addressee. The data analysis shows that, unlike its relatively unmarked and well-studied counterpart ya: , ha: is restricted in terms of its frequency of distribution and the types of speaker emotions and attitudes expressed in the utterance in which it occurs. This study argues that ha: encodes a procedure which instructs the hearer to recognize the speaker's emotion or attitude expressed toward them in the utterance. The particle ha: therefore, serves as an explicit additional guarantee of relevance that encourages the hearer to look for additional contextual assumptions in order to achieve the speaker's desired interpretation. • The choice between the two vocative particles ha: and ya: is not arbitrary. • The Tunisian Arabic particle ha: acts as an attitudinal marker. • ha: encodes a procedure guiding the hearer to recognize the speaker's emotions. • The particle ha: serves as an explicit additional guarantee of relevance. • The particle ha : is no always compatible with the speaker's preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Targeting is a communication strategy in which a message is designed to address a particular group. It has been postulated that targeting increases message relevance; however, researchers are still explicating relevance and its impact on downline cognitive processes (e.g. message quality, cognitive cost). The current study addresses both gaps by evaluating the impact of targeted materials for White and African American audiences. Design: Adult women (N = 266) aged 18-74 (Mage = 47.12, SD = 1.40) were recruited to participate in a 2 (targeting: multiracial, African American) × 2 (race: White participants, African American participants) × 2 (topic: Hypertension, Environmental Breast Cancer) message experiment. Results: Across both topics, African American participants in the African American condition had reduced cognitive costs, increased message clarity, and increased message relevance. An indirect serial mediation model was supported wherein the relationship between targeting and behavioral intention was mediated by perceived relevance and perceived message quality. Conclusion: Targeting enhances perceived message relevance which, in turn, impacts behavioral intentions via perceived message quality. This model is consistent with the postulates of relevance theory and informs both intervention design and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article proposes a method for analyzing visual metaphors using Relevance Theory tools, including ad hoc concepts, emergent properties, and meta-representations. It identifies the specific features of visual metaphor meaning inference as a multi-component structure based on the interplay of explicature, contextual assumptions, and implicatures from ad hoc properties of visually encoded source and target concepts. The study demonstrates that implicatures from the source domain concept's ad hoc properties, adapted to the target, form primary and secondary mappings between domains, checked for relevance against contextual constraints and metarepresentations. A hypothesis is proposed and tested regarding the influence of domain visualization methods and processing focus on cognitive effort and achieving an optimal balance between effort and cognitive effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fast-paced, densely populated information landscape shaped by digitization, distinguishing information from misinformation is critical. Fact-checkers are effective in fighting fake news but face challenges such as cognitive overload and time pressure, which increase susceptibility to cognitive biases. Establishing standards to mitigate these biases can improve the quality of fact-checks, bolster audience trust, and protect against reputation attacks from disinformation actors. While previous research has focused on audience biases, we propose a novel approach grounded on relevance theory and the argumentum model of topics to identify (i) the biases intervening in the fact-checking process, (ii) their triggers, and (iii) at what level of reasoning they act. We showcase the predictive power of our approach through a multimethod case study involving a semi-automatic literature review, a fact-checking simulation with 12 news practitioners, and an online survey involving 40 journalists and fact-checkers. The study highlights the distinction between biases triggered by relevance by effort and effect, offering a taxonomy of cognitive biases and a method to map them within decision-making processes. These insights can inform trainings to enhance fact-checkers’ critical thinking skills, improving the quality and trustworthiness of fact-checking practices.

Wason's Selection Task, often used by information technology researchers, has traditionally highlighted the perceived inadequacies of software testers from a falsificationist perspective. However, a pragmatic approach to reasoning suggests that human cognition is influenced not only by logic but also by contextual factors. This perspective suggests that testers' deficiencies may arise from prioritizing information relevance over strict logical adherence. Addressing confirmation bias and contextual influences is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the issue and for developing new testing strategies. Experiment 1 examined two thematic versions of the Wason task among computer science students, confirming enhanced performance in line with relevance theory. Experiment 2 showed students' ability to grasp falsification concepts and apply them to abstract tasks. This suggests the Wason test's value as a didactic tool for illustrating confirmation bias rather than solely assessing reasoning proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language, in various spheres of interaction has a reciprocal relationship. This implies that language shapes our ideas and interactions much in the same way that interactions shape language. People think in the language they learn, solve their problems in that medium. They learn experiences in that medium and convey by way of opinions, advice, requests, instructions or commands which they have learned to others. The military, as a unit of society has its language which is necessary because of the delicate nature of its operation. The aim of this study is to examine the use of an alternative vocabulary which in this sense, refers to the registers or jargons which are peculiar to the military for its peculiar needs. The data which was sourced from observation and others mainly from Nairaland, includes English and French terminologies that are associated with the military. The data was analyzed using relevance theory. Finding shows that the military has been able to maintain a high level of confidence in its operations because it encodes and upgrades its lexicon. The study concludes that the initiative of the military to have its terminology is commendable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) is the property of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) is the property of International Journal of Arabic-English Studies (IJAES) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Explicitation might be the most discussed phenomenon in Translation Studies history, and yet the most elusive of them all. This study aims to contribute to the literature on the cognitive relevance-theoretic approach to explicitation and implicitation, adopting the view that translation is a type of pragmatically communicative and interpretive act. First, the study presents a brief critical overview of selected existing accounts of explicitation and implicitation to show how the definitions are riddled with circularity and the classifications with lack of conformity. Second, it addresses the existing relevance-theoretic models in an attempt to reconcile their classifications in a unified, applicable relevance-theoretic model of analysis. It puts to good use the fuller account of the range of pragmatic processes widely discussed in Relevance Theory; namely, disambiguation, reference assignment, free enrichment, higher-level explicature and ad hoc concept. The corpus of the study is selected articles from Nature , as representative of scientific and technical discourse, in English and their translations into Arabic as published in the Arabic edition of Nature. The study leans upon Gutt's Optimal Relevance theory and Pym's Risk Management hypothesis to explain the outcomes of the analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores what I call Dissociative Syntactic Amalgam (DSA) constructions, observed in conversation parts of fictional varieties of English, such as film/TV scripts and novels. I provide 27 cases of DSAs, most of which come from Corpus of Contemporary American English and Movie Corpus. A paradigm example is I get off at ten past I'm never going out with you (as an answer to What time do you get off (work) tonight?), where I'm never going out with you is clausal but fills a nominal slot. In DSAs, the speaker initially lures the hearer to create a positive expectation (e.g., I can go out with her), but the speaker 'dissociates' herself from this expectation, that is, expresses her negative attitude (e.g., irritation) towards it. DSAs have received little (if any) analytic attention, and this paper aims to fill this gap in the literature. More specifically, I describe interpretive aspects of DSAs in comparison with the standard cases of syntactic amalgams (e.g., Ken sent you'll never guess how many letters to Naomi) and develop a cognitive–pragmatic account in relevance theory, explicating the interpretive path a hearer takes in comprehending a DSA utterance. • Identifying the Dissociative Syntactic Amalgam (DSA) construction. • Considering the ways in which a speaker conveys a variety of emotive meanings. • Presenting a theory-neutral description of interpretive aspects of DSAs. • Developing a cognitive–pragmatic account of DSAs in relevance theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to characterise the form of verbal irony common among Nigerians by identifying its motivation, inherent properties, and communicative value. Data for this study comprised detailed field notes taken within the last five years in contexts in which utterances occurred naturally. These were then tested among informants from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds at the University of Benin to determine the prevalence and motivation of the ironic utterances. In addition, 500 questionnaires were administered to a group of students and staff in the same institution. These were analysed using frequency tables and simple percentages. Results support the claim that irony in this context is governed by a single cultural principle: "You hurt yourself by admitting a negative situation." Although the study draws heavily from the relevance-theoretic echoic account, it seeks to reevaluate this account by suggesting that positive attitudes in negative situations are salient cultural notions that underlie the echoic account in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the 'A More Perfect Union' speech by Barack Obama using a pragmatic approach. The paper is qualitative and descriptive and uses textual analysis for interpretation. This study utilizes the principles of relevance theory developed by Dan Sperber and Deirdre Wilson to unlock the intricate ways through which Obama powerfully crafted his message to connect, persuade, and resonate with his audience. Through a careful and purposeful examination of the context, implication, and cognitive effects, the paper intends to make known the cognitive mechanisms that Obama employs to establish relevance and get his message across effectively. The presented research work contributes to a deeper knowledge of the pragmatic aspects of political rhetoric and offers insights into the impact of linguistic strategies on the formation of public opinion and debates nowadays.

Despite their central role in mediated linguistic communication, headlines have not been a prime topic of linguistic pragmatics. However, not only may pragmatic notions and categories prove useful for a comprehensive account of strategies of headline communication, headlines may also provide interesting test cases for current pragmatic debates. In this editorial, I provide a short overview of previous pragmatic research into headlines, sketch the relevance of headline studies for current research trends in pragmatics, and emphasize the need for a more systematic pragmatic approach to headline communication. Finally, I introduce the four research papers which make up this virtual special issue, providing short summaries of their main findings and clarifying their contribution to the topic of the special issue. • Headlines play a central role in mediated linguistic communication. • Linguistic pragmatics may contribute to a more consistent and more comprehensive understanding of headline communication. • Headlines provide interesting test cases for current pragmatic debates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial aim of political communication is to engage specific groups of citizens through pragmatic policies and various media channels to convey messages and gain the audience's acceptance effectively. This study investigates political communication as a form of discourse that occurs within political contexts, which involves the exchange of messages among political actors to address and resolve political issues. It is an interdisciplinary field encompassing aspects of psychology, economics, culture, society, and linguistics. This paper aims to give a satisfactory explanation for the question concerning effective communication characteristics: how might politicians utilize them in their speech to be more effective? This pragmatic study in discourse is devoted to analyzing the various effective syntactic structures that arise within political interactions according to Sperber and Wilson's Theory of Relevance. The contribution of this study is evident as guidelines for further understanding the correlation between language and cognition. The researchers find that politicians seek to cognitively take advantage of the tendency of the audience to strive for relevance. In this way, expectations and attitudes are to be recognized and met by either interlocutors. The focal point of the study is the linguistic and inferential aspects of communication (verbal and non-verbal forms), represented in explicatures and implicatures. The study's findings exhibit the politicians' efforts in crafting their utterances optimally to meet the audience's expectations of relevance, which could be used as an influential method for further studies concerning discourse and communication. This research paper aims to pragmatically exploit the effectiveness of the political interactions (extracts) in the House of Commons (UK parliamentary debates). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central tenet of theories of meaning in the Gricean tradition—such as Relevance Theory—is that others will come to believe certain things simply by recognizing our intentions to communicate. In this article I demonstrate that this is not equally the case for all interlocutors; some bear additional burdens. In particular, I argue that this can happen in two ways. First, I demonstrate how a response to persistent testimonial injustice can be understood in terms of Sperber and Wilson’s distinction between meaning-that and showing-that; a speaker who experiences repeated testimonial injustice will often move down the meaning vs. showing continuum. This is a result of a speaker learning that recognition of her intention has not in her experience been sufficient to induce the intended response in the hearer. Secondly, in consideration of social science research around perception of accent prestige and other status cues, I detail further costs borne by those who change their physical appearance and voice to be perceived as more credible. The costs of communication are not equal for all: they are greater for those who face a credibility deficit based in identity prejudice. Overall, by bringing Fricker’s notion of testimonial injustice to bear on Relevance Theory, this article shows how social factors affect the reality of how interlocutors communicate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the utilization of Arabic tautological expressions, provided by customers as a reiteration of an element of an English compound such as 'apple pie' [ fatˁi:rit ʔabil bai 'an apple pie pie'], from the perspective of Relevance Theory (RT). Data was collected from 90 participants, divided into two groups: 40 native speaker informants recruited from various shopping malls, and 50 shop assistants in Amman, Jordan. The first group was interviewed, whereas the second group filled out a multiple-choice task aimed at identifying the type of expression they typically receive when taking orders from customers. The data analysis revealed that Arabic tautological expressions are more frequently used compared to other alternatives. Drawing on RT, we argue that Arabic tautological expressions function as an ostensive stimulus. We propose that tautological expressions, utilized within a code-switching context, function as a means of pragmatic enrichment. This occurs through the process of ad hoc construction, wherein speakers refine the originally encoded concept to convey corrective or contrasting meanings. Instead of lacking information, the use of tautological phrases can be seen as a pragmatic tactic to maximize relevance by minimizing cognitive effort, optimizing successful communication of the intended meaning, and reinforcing contextual effects. • Examining the use of Arabic tautology in English compounds provided by customers. • Arabic tautologies are preferred and more frequently used than alternatives. • Drawing on RT, Arabic tautological expressions function as an ostensive stimulus. • The use of tautology conveys corrective or contrastive meanings via ad hoc concept construction. • The use of tautological phrases can be seen as a pragmatic tactic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We mobilize in this article theoretical notions of relevance and semiotic representation registers to observe distortions in the presentation of statistics in infographics. So, we analyzed three infographics published on the section Beste Bedingungen für deine Partnersuche (The best conditions for your partner search) of the Parship platform homepage--a European agency in the online dating and relationship segment--dedicated to the proportion of women and men, the application's success rate, and the academic quota of their users. We conclude that the agency suggests fallacious conclusions from supposedly accurate statistics to increase its performance by manipulating the scale of the dependent variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have described a range of placeholder (PH) items. A PH fills in the grammatical slot of a target that a speaker is unable or unwilling to produce. This paper argues that Japanese unnun, an expression wholly underdescribed in the literature, serves as a PH and that it may also be used as a general extender (GE). Unlike previously known PHs, unnun is regarded as a 'meta-discourse' PH; it replaces a discourse segment, rather than a linguistic form. I develop a cognitive-pragmatic account in Relevance theory, arguing that unnun encodes procedural meaning and that the PH and GE functions emerge through interaction among encoded meaning, pragmatic principles, and contextual assumptions. Further, the account situates unnun in the broader picture of vague language in a theoretically coherent manner. I also suggest that some of the previously described PHs in other languages may be re-classified as meta-discourse PHs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Language & Literary Studies / Folia Linguistica & Litteraria is the property of Journal of Language & Literary Studies / Folia Linguistica & Litteraria and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study conducts an examination of Mandarin Chinese Discourse Markers (DMs) within oral speech, guided by the Relevance Theory as proposed by Sperber and Wilson (1986). By exploring the pragmatic and semantic layers of DMs, the research clarifies how these linguistic tools streamline communication, ensuring optimal relevance through minimal cognitive effort. The analysis of the research categorizes DMs into eight pragmatic functions, ranging from topic-related markers to illocutionary performatives, each serving distinct roles in enhancing discourse coherence and listener comprehension. This research not only explains the procedural versus conceptual nature of DMs but also reveals a spectrum where Mandarin DMs predominantly exhibit conceptual properties, underlining the critical role of context in DM utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Signa is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A central tenet of theories of meaning in the Gricean tradition—such as Relevance Theory—is that others will come to believe certain things simply by recognizing our intentions to communicate. In this article I demonstrate that this is not equally the case for all interlocutors; some bear additional burdens. In particular, I argue that this can happen in two ways. First, I demonstrate how a response to persistent testimonial injustice can be understood in terms of Sperber and Wilson’s distinction between meaning-that and showing-that; a speaker who experiences repeated testimonial injustice will often move down the meaning vs. showing continuum. This is a result of a speaker learning that recognition of her intention has not in her experience been sufficient to induce the intended response in the hearer. Secondly, in consideration of social science research around perception of accent prestige and other status cues, I detail further costs borne by those who change their physical appearance and voice to be perceived as more credible. The costs of communication are not equal for all: they are greater for those who face a credibility deficit based in identity prejudice. Overall, by bringing Fricker’s notion of testimonial injustice to bear on Relevance Theory, this article shows how social factors affect the reality of how interlocutors communicate.

Some empirical studies have argued that humblebragging is ineffective as a self-praising strategy and generates more negative emotion than bragging. Conversely, other case studies have shown that the perception of humblebrags varies in different circumstances. The addressees may also disagree as to whether an expression qualifies as humblebragging or not. Therefore, it is important to investigate the factors affecting how humblebrags are received, that is, how they are perceived and interpreted. This study addresses this issue within Relevance Theory. We propose that the addressees attribute to the humblebraggers not only the transactional intention of bragging but also the affective intention to "make a good impression despite the negative feelings the addressees might have" and "to be insincere with the addressees". The interpreting process involves three steps: 1) recognizing the transactional intention of bragging; 2) constructing the implicated premises at the emotive level of communication while considering the incongruity between what is inferred and what is explicitly expressed; 3) formulating the implicated conclusions by combining the premises and the situational context. Each step is influenced by an individual's cognitive environment and would evoke a different emotional reaction from humblebragging. This study's analysis is supported by data from actual communications. • Communicators have both transactional and affective intentions. • The inference of the humblebragger's affective intention is guided by the pursuit of relevance. • The "incongruity" is crucial for perceiving humblebrags. • One's cognitive environment influences each step of their reception of humblebrags. • Addressees attribute the affective intention to be insincere to the humblebragger, intensifying the negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Readers' habit to glance over the news has spawned brief, creative and imaginative headlines. Of these, which element is capable of arresting eye movement on a newspaper (web)page, of sparking interest in the story? Lexical patterns, semantic content, pragmatic, or psychological effects elicited during interpretation? By raising this question, it may be possible to pull out the element which is an indispensable condition for captivating readers' interest and ultimately, influencing public opinion. The variety of linguistic expression displayed in newspaper headlines (even when the same story is covered), vagueness, and creative style make convention and regularity less operative in an account of elements which influence the interpretation of headlines. It should then follow that an explanation of their distinctiveness and importance as autonomous, or accompanying, texts is to be sought elsewhere. Following up on Ifantidou (2009), I will grant that an adequate treatment of newspaper headlines presents a more pressing challenge: that of accounting for their non-propositional effects, i.e. emotions and experiential responses, which are capable of giving rise to inference and optimally relevant cognitive effects (as defined within relevance-theoretic pragmatics). In this way, the ultimate goal of engaging the reader in the story, by sharing the emotion of the story, is fulfilled. • Headline writers aim to create an 'impression'. • Headlines are commonly read as autonomous texts. • A sufficient condition to mobilize readers' attention is to impinge directly upon emotional attitudes. • Successful communication via underinformative headlines can be achieved through a "loosely descriptive use". • Relevance may not depend entirely on cognitive effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If employees have access to additional relevant knowledge and information, they can be more innovative, which is a reason for many firms to ally. Key in an alliance is the sharing of existing and creating of new knowledge, but transferring knowledge inside an alliance is not obvious or easy. Knowledge exchanged within an alliance must be perceived as relevant in order for it to be used. If individuals in an alliance can readily perceive knowledge to be relevant, the right knowledge is transferred and is transferred in an efficient manner. Building on stickiness of knowledge and knowledge relevance theory, we examine the relationship between an individual's job experience as well as intrinsic motivation on the one hand, on their perception of the relevance of others' knowledge on the other hand. These relationships are positively moderated by an individual's favourable position and connection strength in the network of individuals engaged in the alliance, respectively. We find a weak but insignificant negative relationship between job experience and perceived knowledge relevance. Being well‐positioned in a network brings out the positive effect of job experience, as expected, whereas connection strength does not further enhance the positive effect of intrinsic motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication is a focal point in studies of joint action, where collective cognitive activity required (Sebanz and Knoblich, 2006). In this study, a virtual experimental environment was utilized where participants’ communication was restricted to text messaging interface with a limited set of letters and symbols. In eight experimental sessions, similar but different joint action tasks were given; each couple improved their joint action skills and developed their own private communication systems. Analysis shows, in addition to several quantitative parameters, trends of diminishing use ratio of directive speech acts and increasing use ratio of assertive speech acts had been observed which are claimed to be characteristics of development of a mature and effective communication system and cognitive mechanisms of joint action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most work in the epistemology of testimony is built upon a simple model of communication according to which, when the speaker asserts that p, the hearer must recover this very content, p. In this paper, I argue that this 'Content Preservation Model' of communication cannot bear the weight placed on it by contemporary work on testimony. It is popularly thought that testimonial exchanges are often successful such that we gain a great deal of knowledge through testimony. In addition, the testimonial knowledge so gained is thought to be informative: it closes off epistemic possibilities for the agent. However, in the literature on truth-conditional content, there is no theory of content that can underpin both of these commitments simultaneously if the Content Preservation Model is true. There is a minimal notion of content, which is commonly preserved in communication, but which is typically uninformative; there is a maximal notion of content, which is often informative, but which is not often preserved in communication; and, although there are moderate positions between these two extremes, these views cannot strike the right balance between informativeness and shareability. Thus, an epistemology of testimony that endorses the Content Preservation Model faces a dilemma: on the first horn, testimonial exchanges are rarely successful; on the second horn, testimonial content is rarely informative. I suggest that this dilemma motivates further exploration of alternative communicative foundations for the epistemology of testimony. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During social interactions, the ability to detect and respond to gaze-based joint attention bids often involves the evaluation of non-communicative eye movements. However, very little is known about how much humans are able to track and parse spatial information from these non-communicative eye movements over time, and the extent to which this influences joint attention outcomes. This was investigated in the current study using an interactive computer-based joint attention game. Using a fully within-subjects design, we specifically examined whether participants were quicker to respond to communicative joint attention bids that followed predictive, as opposed to random or no, non-communicative gaze behaviour. Our results suggest that in complex, dynamic tasks, people adaptively use and dismiss non-communicative gaze information depending on whether it informs the locus of an upcoming joint attention bid. We also went further to examine the extent to which this ability to track dynamic spatial information was specific to processing gaze information. This was achieved by comparing performance to a closely matched non-social task where eye gaze cues were replaced with dynamic arrow stimuli. Whilst we found that people are also able to track and use dynamic non-social information from arrows, there was clear evidence for a relative advantage for tracking gaze cues during social interactions. The implications of these findings for social neuroscience and autism research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative research explores the differences in the interpretation of novel veiling and concealing euphemisms from a relevance-theoretic perspective. I argue that the relevance of an utterance containing a novel veiling euphemism is established (1) via the adjustment of its linguistically encoded meaning so that it communicates the meaning encoded by a dispreferred expression, which is derived as an explicature, or (2) via its linguistically encoded meaning, derived as an explicature, and the meaning encoded by a dispreferred expression, recovered as a strong implicature. The relevance of an utterance containing a novel concealing euphemism is established via its linguistically encoded meaning, recovered as an explicature, and via weak implicatures. The recovery of weakly implicit content is not essential for inferring the speaker's meaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sentence 'The boss fired the employee who is always late' invites the defeasible inference that the speaker is attempting to convey that the lateness caused the firing (cf. 'The boss fired the employee who is from Philadelphia', which does not invite an analogous inference). We argue that such inferences cannot be understood in terms of familiar approaches to extrasemantic enrichment such as implicature, impliciture, explicature, or species of local enrichment already in the literature. Rather, we propose that they arise from more basic cognitive strategies, grounded in processes of coherence establishment, that thinkers use to make sense of the world. Attention to such cases provides a richer and more varied landscape of extrasemantic enrichment than has been appreciated to date.