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Article published In:
Interaction Studies
Vol. 17:1 (2016) ► pp.48–76

Construals of meaning

The role of attention in robotic language production

| Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France
| Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France
| LUX, Lund University
| Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute U1208, Bron, France

In robotics research with language-based interaction, simplifications are made, such that a given event can be described in a unique manner, where there is a direct mapping between event representations and sentences that can describe these events. However, common experience tells us that the same physical event can be described in multiple ways, depending on the perspective of the speaker. The current research develops methods for representing events from multiple perspectives, and for choosing the perspective that will be used for generating a linguistic construal, based on attentional processes in the system. The multiple perspectives are based on the principle that events can be considered in terms of the force driving the event, and the result obtained from the event, based on the theory of Gärdenfors. In addition, within these perspectives a further refinement can be made with respect to the agent, object, and recipient perspectives. We develop a system for generating appropriate construals of meaning, and demonstrate how this can be used in a realistic dialogic interaction between a behaving robot and a human interlocutor.

Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The problem of focus in sentence production
    • 1.2Different construals of event meanings
  • 2.Coding of meaning
    • 2.1A model of events
    • 2.2From construals to sentences
    • 2.3Determining the focus of the speaker
  • 3.Central components of the computational system
    • 3.1Sentence comprehension model
    • 3.2Sentence production model
    • 3.3PAOR representation of meaning
    • 3.4Force-result event construal
    • 3.5Ontic processes in mental model formation
  • 4.Method of implementation
    • 4.1Spoken language platform
    • 4.2Construal development
    • 4.3Functional requirements
  • 5.Demonstrations of construal and sentence generation
    • 5.1Conceptualization and construal of spatial configurations
    • 5.2Generating construals from actions
  • 6.Discussion
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
Published online: 7 October 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/is.17.1.03mea
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