Reference to objects : an empirically based study of task-oriented dialogues

Effective cooperation of humans with other humans and with intelligent machines requires a language of words and gestures that is accurate and efficient in making reference to objects. In the present investigation, expressions and gestures that we re used by subjects to direct partners' attentions to building blocks during a collaborative construction task were analyzed and classified into Jour main categories. In addition, the influence of mutual knowledge of the partleipants ( either knowied ge about the dialogue or about the domain of conversation) on the referenttal acts used was studied. The focus of attention, both within the dialogue and within the domain, plays an important role in the use of references. In particular, the effect of focus within the domain of conversation on the use of referentlal acts needs to be investigated further. * This chapter is a slightly revised version of the paper that has been publisbed as: Cremers, A.H.M. (1994) Referring in a shared workspace. In: M.D. Brouwer-Janse and T.L. Harrington (eds.) Human-machine communicationfor educational systems design (NATO ASI Series, Subseries F, Computer and Systems Design 129). Berlin, Springer Verlag, pp. 71-78. ** An abstract of a version of this paper has been publisbed as: Cremers, A. (1993) Referring behaviour in task dialogues. In: Sanford, AJ., Anderson, A.H., Moxey, L.M. and Gilhooly, K. (eds.) Abstract of papers. Glasgow, International Conference on The Psychology of Language and Communication, University of Glasgow, 31st August3rd September 1993.

[1]  Robbert-Jan Beun,et al.  Deictic use of Dutch demonstratives , 1995 .

[2]  Ronald J. Brachman,et al.  An Overview of the KL-ONE Knowledge Representation System , 1985, Cogn. Sci..

[3]  John D. Burger,et al.  The Application of Natural Language Models to Intelligent Multimedia , 1991, AAAI Workshop on Intelligent Multimedia Interfaces.

[4]  郑有志 谈谈A Grammar of Contemporary English对于分句与句子问题的若干处理 , 1993 .

[5]  Mira Ariel Accessing Noun-Phrase Antecedents , 1990 .

[6]  Oliviero Stock,et al.  Natural Language and Exploration of an Information Space: The ALFresco Interactive System , 1991, IJCAI.

[7]  Philip R. Cohen,et al.  Discourse structure and performance efficiency in interactive and non-interactive spoken modalities☆ , 1991 .

[8]  Irene Heim,et al.  The semantics of definite and indefinite noun phrases : a dissertation , 1982 .

[9]  Hans Bennis,et al.  De syntaxis van het Nederlands : een inleiding in de regeer- en bindtheorie , 1983 .

[10]  Barbara J. Grosz,et al.  The representation and use of focus in dialogue understanding. , 1977 .

[11]  Candace L. Sidner,et al.  Attention, Intentions, and the Structure of Discourse , 1986, CL.

[12]  Harry Bunt,et al.  Context and Dialogue Control , 1994 .

[13]  Brouwer-Janse,et al.  Referring in a shared workspace , 1994 .

[14]  Hiyan Alshawi,et al.  Memory and context for language interpretation , 1987 .

[15]  Harry Bunt,et al.  Object reference during task-related terminal dialogues , 1995 .

[16]  Norbert Reithinger,et al.  Generating Multimodal Output- Conditions, Advantages and Problems , 1988, COLING.

[17]  James A. Mason,et al.  Surveying Projects on Intelligent Dialogue , 1988, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[18]  Beth Levy,et al.  Conceptual Representations in Lan-guage Activity and Gesture , 1980 .

[19]  N. Mackworth,et al.  The gaze selects informative details within pictures , 1967 .

[20]  Steven K. Feiner,et al.  Coordinating Text and Graphics in Explanation Generation , 1989, HLT.

[22]  M. Knapp,et al.  Nonverbal communication in human interaction , 1972 .

[23]  Robbert-Jan Beun,et al.  Object reference in a shared domain of conversation , 1998 .

[24]  Carla Huls,et al.  EDWARD: full integration of language and action in a multimodal user interface , 1994, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[25]  R. Kirsner Deixis in Discourse: An Exploratory Quantitative Study of the Modem Dutch Demonstrative Adjectives , 1979 .

[26]  Vaj Tijn Borghuis,et al.  Cooperative multimodal communication in the DenK project , 1995 .

[27]  Bradley A. Goodman Reference Identification and Reference Identification Failures , 1986, Comput. Linguistics.

[28]  James D. Hollan,et al.  Direct Manipulation Interfaces , 1985, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[29]  T. Herrmann,et al.  Speech and Situation: A Psychological Conception of Situated Speaking , 1983 .

[30]  Maddy D. Brouwer-Janse,et al.  Human-Machine Communication for Educational Systems Design , 1994 .

[31]  Barbara J. Grosz,et al.  Focusing and Description in Natural Language Dialogues , 1979 .

[32]  D R Olson,et al.  Language and thought: aspects of a cognitive theory of semantics. , 1970, Psychological review.

[33]  Norbert Reithinger,et al.  XTRA: A Natural-Language Access System to Expert Systems , 1989, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[34]  Harry Bunt,et al.  Investigating linguistic behaviour in information dialogues with a computer , 1987 .

[35]  Philip R. Cohen The Pragmatics of Referring and the Modality of Communication , 1984, Comput. Linguistics.

[36]  Carla Huls,et al.  Automatic Referent Resolution of Deictic and Anaphoric Expressions , 1995, CL.

[37]  Andreas H. Jucker Relevance. Communication and cognition , 1997 .

[38]  R. Brown How shall a thing be called. , 1958, Psychological review.

[39]  Stuart C. Shapiro,et al.  Intelligent Multi-Media Interface Technology , 1988, SGCH.

[40]  S. Levinson Primer for the field investigation of spatial description and conception , 1992 .

[41]  Peter Wright Using Constraints and Reference in Task-oriented Dialogue , 1990, J. Semant..

[42]  N. Mackworth,et al.  Cognitive determinants of fixation location during picture viewing. , 1978, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.