1. Accent and reference resolution (Dahan, Tanenhaus & Chambers, in press) Experiment 1: –Tested hypothesis that de-accented noun is interpreted as referring to the most salient entity and accented noun phrase introduces a new entity (standard view) –Used cohorts: Any effects of accent can be localized to effects from the vowel prior to disambiguating information

2. What is “given”? Discourse-given –Inferrable (Prince, 1992), c.f. bridging inferences Hearer-given Salient/ accessible

3. Put the candle below the triangle. Now put the candle above the square

4. Moved object will be most salient

5. Anaphoric (new competitor) accented target word: Put the candle below the triangle Now put the CANDLE above the square Anaphoric (new competitor) deaccented target word: Put the candle below the triangle Now put the candle ABOVE THE SQUARE Non-anaphoric (given competitor) accented target word: Put the candy below the triangle Now put the CANDLE above the square Non-anaphoric (given competitor) deaccented target word: Put the candy below the triangle Now put the candle ABOVE THE SQUARE

6. Proportion of fixations to the target and competitor pictures over the 0-300 and 300- 1000 ms time windows, as a function of the discourse context (anaphoric or nonanaphoric) and the accent pattern of the target word (accented or de-accented). 0-300 ms 300-1000 ms competitortargetcompetitortarget anaphoric accented.25.05.17.50 anaphoric de-accented.31.03.12.59 nonanaphoric accented.06.25.06.58 nonanaphoric de-accented.04.26.13.55 When word begins in second instruction subjects are more likely to be fixating on a new picture

7. Proportion of fixations to the target and competitor pictures over the 0-300 and 300- 1000 ms time windows, as a function of the discourse context (anaphoric or nonanaphoric) and the accent pattern of the target word (accented or de-accented). 0-300 ms 300-1000 ms competitortargetcompetitortarget anaphoric accented.25.05.17.50 anaphoric de-accented.31.03.12.59 nonanaphoric accented.06.25.06.58 nonanaphoric de-accented.04.26.13.55 Larger cohort effects to accented anaphoric noun and de-accented non-anaphoric noun

8. 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Fixation Proportion 0200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Time since target onset (ms) Fixations in Anaphoric Conditions D: candle… A: CANDLE A D Put the candle below the triangle. Now put the CANDLE / candle…

9. 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Fixation Proportion 0200400600800100012001400 Time since target onset (ms) Fixations in Nonanaphoric Conditions D: candle… A: CANDLE A D Put the candy below the triangle. Now put the CANDLE / candle…

10. Conclusion: De-accented nouns are preferentially interpreted as anaphoric Question: Are accented nouns preferentially interpreted as introducing new entities or as shifting focus to a discourse-old but not focused entity? Corpus analyses show that accented definite noun phrases are often (most often, in fact) used to refer to discourse- old entities In Experiment 1, the non-focused, but mentioned entity wasn’t a moveable object: Put the candle below the triangle

11. Experiment 2 Theme: Put the candle below the triangle. Now put the CANDLE above the square Goal: Put the necklace below the candle Now put the CANDLE above the square Theme with moveable Goal: Put the candle below the necklace Now put the CANDLE above the square Predictions: 1) Theme should show a big cohort effect (replication) 2) Goal should not show a big cohort effect if accent is interpreted as shifting focus to a previously mentioned entity. 3) Theme with Moveable Goal should show a big cohort effect only if accent is interpreted as shifting to a new entity

12. 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 036912151821242730333639424548 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 036912151821242730333639424548 Targets Cohorts Theme Goal Theme-moveable goal Theme: Put the candle below the triangle. Now put the CANDLE above the square Goal : Put the necklace below the candle. Now put the CANDLE above the square Theme with moveable Goal: Put the candle below the necklace Now put the CANDLE above the square X

13. Theme Put the candle below the triangle. Now put the CANDLE....

14. Goal Put the necklace below the candle. Now put the CANDLE...

15. Theme-moveable Goal Put the candle below the necklace Now put the CANDLE...

16. Conclusion: Accented noun phrase is interpreted as shifting focus to non-focused discourse-old entity