Abstract
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1617-1647 |
| Number of pages | 31 |
| Journal | Cognitive Science |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
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Keywords
- Definite reference
- Overspecification
- Visual clutter
- DIstractor distance
- Computational models
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How distractor objects trigger referential overspecification : Testing the effects of visual clutter and distractor distance. / Koolen, Ruud; Krahmer, Emiel; Swerts, Marc.
In: Cognitive Science, Vol. 40, No. 7, 2016, p. 1617-1647.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - How distractor objects trigger referential overspecification
T2 - Testing the effects of visual clutter and distractor distance
AU - Koolen, Ruud
AU - Krahmer, Emiel
AU - Swerts, Marc
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - In two experiments, we investigate to what extent various visual saliency cues in realistic visual scenes cause speakers to overspecify their definite object descriptions with a redundant color attribute. The results of the first experiment demonstrate that speakers are more likely to redundantly mention color when visual clutter is present in a scene as compared to when this is not the case. In the second experiment, we found that distractor type and distractor color affect redundant color use: Speakers are most likely to overspecify if there is at least one distractor object present that has the same type, but a different color than the target referent. Reliable effects of distractor distance were not found. Taken together, our results suggest that certain visual saliency cues guide speakers in determining which objects in a visual scene are relevant distractors, and which not. We argue that this is problematic for algorithms that aim to generate human-like descriptions of objects (such as the Incremental Algorithm), since these generally select properties that help to distinguish a target from all objects that are present in a scene.
AB - In two experiments, we investigate to what extent various visual saliency cues in realistic visual scenes cause speakers to overspecify their definite object descriptions with a redundant color attribute. The results of the first experiment demonstrate that speakers are more likely to redundantly mention color when visual clutter is present in a scene as compared to when this is not the case. In the second experiment, we found that distractor type and distractor color affect redundant color use: Speakers are most likely to overspecify if there is at least one distractor object present that has the same type, but a different color than the target referent. Reliable effects of distractor distance were not found. Taken together, our results suggest that certain visual saliency cues guide speakers in determining which objects in a visual scene are relevant distractors, and which not. We argue that this is problematic for algorithms that aim to generate human-like descriptions of objects (such as the Incremental Algorithm), since these generally select properties that help to distinguish a target from all objects that are present in a scene.
KW - Definite reference
KW - Overspecification
KW - Visual clutter
KW - DIstractor distance
KW - Computational models
U2 - 10.1111/cogs.12297
DO - 10.1111/cogs.12297
M3 - Article
VL - 40
SP - 1617
EP - 1647
JO - Cognitive Science
JF - Cognitive Science
SN - 0364-0213
IS - 7
ER -