Causalidad, iconicidad y continuidad: el efecto del conocimiento previo sobre el mundo en la comprensión de relaciones causales

Abstract

This paper studies the involvement of world knowledge and its interaction with linguistic (semantic) knowledge in the understanding of causal relations. We will attempt to determine to what extent the iconicity principle and the continuity hypothesis ? see especially Murray (1997) ? apply in Spanish and whether they are subject to restrictions attributable to the type of information processed. We also discuss Sanders´ (2005) causality-by-default hypothesis and provide relevant evidence for assessing its correctness. To test our hypotheses, we investigate the comprehension of two-sentence texts of two types (in ?everyday? and in ?technical? language) under four conditions: normal and inverted order (cause?effect vs. effect?cause); with and without connective. We predict that our ?type of information? variable, one of the core elements of this study, will condition causal relations processing and modify to some extent the classical claims of iconicity and continuity hypothesis. The results show that lack of prior knowledge, indeed, can affect the predictions and assumptions of the iconicity principle and the continuity hypothesis and that, if there is no prior knowledge, the introduction of linguistic clues (connectives) facilitates and even becomes indispensable for understanding.///Este trabajo estudia la intervención del conocimiento previo sobre el mundo y su articulación con el conocimiento lingüístico (semántico) durante la comprensión de relaciones causales. Se intenta verificar hasta qué punto el principio de iconicidad y la hipótesis de continuidad ? especialmente, a partir de la propuesta de Murray (1997)-, se confirman en español. Esperamos, también, relacionar nuestros resultados con la propuesta de Sanders (2005): Hipótesis de causalidad por defecto. Para ello, se evalúa la comprensión de textos bioracionales de dos tipos (?cotidianos? y ?técnicos?), en cuatro condiciones: orden habitual e invertido (causa-efecto vs. efecto-causa); sin y con partícula conectiva presente. Esperamos que la variable ?tipo de información?, uno de los elementos centrales de este trabajo, genere un condicionamiento notable durante el procesamiento de relaciones causales y modifique de algún modo las predicciones del principio de continuidad e iconicidad. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la ausencia de conocimiento previo, en efecto, puede alterar las predicciones y supuestos del principio de iconicidad y de la hipótesis de continuidad; y que, en casos de ausencia de conocimiento previo, la introducción de pistas lingüísticas (partículas conectivas) no sólo es facilitadora del proceso de comprensión sino imprescindible para poder llevarlo a cabo exitosamente.

This paper studies the involvement of world knowledge and its interaction with linguistic (semantic) knowledge in the understanding of causal relations. We will attempt to determine to what extent the iconicity principle and the Continuity Hypothesis – see especially Murray (1997) – apply in Spanish and whether they are subject to restrictions attributable to the type of information processed. We also discuss Sanders’ (2005) causality-by-default hypothesis and provide relevant evidence for assessing its correctness. To test our hypotheses, we investigate the comprehension of two-sentence texts of two types (in “everyday” and in “technical” language) under four conditions: normal and inverted order (cause–effect vs. effect–cause); with and without connective. We predict that our “type of information” variable, one of the core elements of this study, will condition causal relations processing and modify to some extent the classical claims of iconicity and Continuity Hypothesis. The results show that lack of prior knowledge, indeed, can affect the predictions and assumptions of the iconicity principle and the Continuity Hypothesis and that, if there is no prior knowledge, the introduction of linguistic clues (connectives) facilitates and even becomes indispensable for understanding.