Communicative functions of directional verbal probabilities: Speaker's choice, listener's inference, and reference points.
Verbal probabilities have directional communicative functions, and most can be categorized as positive (e.g., "it is likely") or negative (e.g., "it is doubtful"). We examined the communicative functions of verbal probabilities based on the reference point hypothesis According to this hypothesis, listeners are sensitive to and can infer a speaker's reference points based on the speaker's selected directionality. In four experiments (two of which examined speakers' choice of directionality and two of which examined listeners' inferences about a speaker's reference point), we found that listeners could make inferences about speakers' reference points based on the stated directionality of verbal probability. Thus, the directionality of verbal probabilities serves the communicative function of conveying information about a speaker's reference point.
['Honda|Hidehito|H|', 'Yamagishi|Kimihiko|K|']
D000328:Adult D000704:Analysis of Variance D001307:Auditory Perception D002755:Choice Behavior D003142:Communication D032882:Comprehension D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007600:Judgment D008297:Male D011336:Probability D011930:Reaction Time D012016:Reference Values D013060:Speech D014705:Verbal Behavior D014825:Vocabulary D055815:Young Adult
Verbal probabilities Reference point hypothesis Directionality Information leakage Probability communication