Inferring from language

Comprehension in the present study is characterized as a process of integrating new information with old information. This process is considered to include infernetial processes, as is discussed in the fist chapter. The new information in this study is presented in the form of sentences. The study consists of three parts that differ with respect to what information is treated as old information. In the first part comprehension deals with the integration of information in sentences with information in other sentences.The materials that are studied are comparative constructions. The empahsis in the second part is on the integration of information in sentences with knowledge of the world. The verbal material consists of conditional sentences. The third part deals again with the comprehension of sentences with respect to knowledge of the world. In this part, the notion of old information is extended as to include pragmatic factors such as certain presuppositions and expectations. The verbal material consists of kinschip terms. ... Zie: Summary and Conclusions