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49Pragmatic identification of the witness setsProceeding of the 8th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation. 2012.Among the readings available for NL sentences, those where two or more sets of entities are independent of one another are particularly challenging from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view. Those readings are termed here as ‘Independent Set (IS) readings'. Standard examples of such readings are the well-known Collective and Cumulative Readings. (Robaldo, 2011) proposes a logical framework that can properly represent the meaning of IS readings in terms of a set-Skolemization of the …Read more
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157Semantic bounds for everyday languageSemiotica 2012 (188): 363-372. 2012.We consider the notion of everyday language. We claim that everyday language is semantically bounded by the properties expressible in the existential fragment of second–order logic. Two arguments for this thesis are formulated. Firstly, we show that so–called Barwise's test of negation normality works properly only when assuming our main thesis. Secondly, we discuss the argument from practical computability for finite universes. Everyday language sentences are directly or indirectly verifiable. …Read more
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80A Computational Approach to Quantifiers as an Explanation for Some Language Impairments in SchizophreniaJournal of Communication Disorder 44 2011. 2011.We compared the processing of natural language quantifiers in a group of patients with schizophrenia and a healthy control group. In both groups, the difficulty of the quantifiers was consistent with computational predictions, and patients with schizophrenia took more time to solve the problems. However, they were significantly less accurate only with proportional quantifiers, like more than half. This can be explained by noting that, according to the complexity perspective, only proportional q…Read more
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66We study a generalization of the Muddy Children puzzle by allowing public announcements with arbitrary generalized quantifiers. We propose a new concise logical modeling of the puzzle based on the number triangle representation of quantifiers. Our general aim is to discuss the possibility of epistemic modeling that is cut for specific informational dynamics. Moreover, we show that the puzzle is solvable for any number of agents if and only if the quantifier in the announcement is positively acti…Read more
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44The Computational Complexity of Quantified ReciprocalsIn Peter Bosch, David Gabelaia & Jérôme Lang (eds.), Lecture Notes on Artificial Intelligence 5422, Logic, Language, and Computation 7th International Tbilisi Symposium on Logic, Language, and Computation, Springer. 2009.We study the computational complexity of reciprocal sentences with quantified antecedents. We observe a computational dichotomy between different interpretations of reciprocity, and shed some light on the status of the so-called Strong Meaning Hypothesis.
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136Comprehension of Simple Quantifiers: Empirical Evaluation of a Computational ModelCognitive Science 34 (3): 521-532. 2010.We examine the verification of simple quantifiers in natural language from a computational model perspective. We refer to previous neuropsychological investigations of the same problem and suggest extending their experimental setting. Moreover, we give some direct empirical evidence linking computational complexity predictions with cognitive reality.<br>In the empirical study we compare time needed for understanding different types of quantifiers. We show that the computational distinction betwe…Read more
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120Logic in Cognitive Science: Bridging the Gap between Symbolic and Connectionist ParadigmsJournal of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (2): 279-309. 2010.This paper surveys applications of logical methods in the cognitive sciences. Special attention is paid to non-monotonic logics and complexity theory. We argue that these particular tools have been useful in clarifying the debate between symbolic and connectionist models of cognition.
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61Almost All Complex Quantifiers are SimpleIn C. Ebert, G. Jäger, M. Kracht & J. Michaelis (eds.), Mathematics of Language 10/11, Lecture Notes in Computer Science 6149, Springer. 2010.We prove that PTIME generalized quantifiers are closed under Boolean operations, iteration, cumulation and resumption.
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88Quantifiers and Working MemoryIn Maria Aloni & Katrin Schulz (eds.), Amsterdam Colloquium 2009, LNAI 6042, Springer. 2010.The paper presents a study examining the role of working<br>memory in quantifier verification. We created situations similar to the<br>span task to compare numerical quantifiers of low and high rank, parity<br>quantifiers and proportional quantifiers. The results enrich and support<br>the data obtained previously in and predictions drawn from a computational<br>model.
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36On the Identification of Quantifiers' Witness Sets: A Study of Multi-quantifier SentencesJournal of Logic, Language and Information 23 (1): 53-81. 2014.Natural language sentences that talk about two or more sets of entities can be assigned various readings. The ones in which the sets are independent of one another are particularly challenging from the formal point of view. In this paper we will call them ‘Independent Set (IS) readings’. Cumulative and collective readings are paradigmatic examples of IS readings. Most approaches aiming at representing the meaning of IS readings implement some kind of maximality conditions on the witness sets inv…Read more
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79Tractable versus Intractable Reciprocal SentencesIn J. Bos & S. Pulman (eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference on Computational Semantics 9, . 2011.In three experiments, we investigated the computational complexity of German reciprocal sentences with different quantificational antecedents. Building upon the tractable cognition thesis (van Rooij, 2008) and its application to the verification of quantifiers (Szymanik, 2010) we predicted complexity differences among these sentences. Reciprocals with all-antecedents are expected to preferably receive a strong interpretation (Dalrymple et al., 1998), but reciprocals with proportional or numerical q…Read more
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55The paper presents two case studies of multi-agent information exchange involving generalized quantifiers. We focus on scenarios in which agents successfully converge to knowledge on the basis of the information about the knowledge of others, so-called Muddy Children puzzle and Top Hat puzzle. We investigate the relationship between certain invariance properties of quantifiers and the successful convergence to knowledge in such situations. We generalize the scenarios to account for public announce…Read more
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42Understanding Quantifiers in LanguageIn N. A. Taatgen & H. van Rijn (eds.), Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, . 2009.We compare time needed for understanding different types of quantifiers. We show that the computational distinction between quantifiers recognized by finite-automata and pushdown automata is psychologically relevant. Our research improves upon hypothesis and explanatory power of recent neuroimaging studies as well as provides evidence for the claim that human linguistic abilities are constrained by computational complexity.
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20Computational semantics for monadic quantifiers in natural languageStudia Semiotyczne 26 219-244. 2007.
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74A remark on collective quantificationJournal of Logic, Language and Information 17 (2): 131-140. 2008.We consider collective quantification in natural language. For many years the common strategy in formalizing collective quantification has been to define the meanings of collective determiners, quantifying over collections, using certain type-shifting operations. These type-shifting operations, i.e., lifts, define the collective interpretations of determiners systematically from the standard meanings of quantifiers. All the lifts considered in the literature turn out to be definable in second-or…Read more
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66Contribution of Working Memory in the Parity and Proportional JudgmentsBelgian Journal of Linguistics 25 189-206. 2011.The paper presents an experimental evidence on differences in the sentence-picture verification under additional memory load between parity and proportional quantifiers. We asked subjects to memorize strings of 4 or 6 digits, then to decide whether a quantifier sentence is true at a given picture, and finally to recall the initially given string of numbers. The results show that: (a) proportional quantifiers are more difficult than parity quantifiers with respect to reaction time and accuracy; (b) mainta…Read more
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Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Language |
Logic and Philosophy of Logic |
Philosophy of Computing and Information |
PhilPapers Editorships
Generalized Quantifiers |