Pragmatics Quiz

What does Relevance theory predict you will do when someone is trying to communicate with you?

• Put less effort into looking for something

• Ignore the person

• Not pay attention

• Look more carefully to see what they might be trying to communicate

According to Relevance theory, what makes something more relevant?

• Having fewer effects

• Being easy to process

• Being ambiguous

• Having more effects

What is the Cognitive Principle of Relevance about?

• Maximizing effort in processing information

• Ignoring communication

• Deriving as many effects as possible with minimal effort

• Minimizing relevance

What does the communicative principle of relevance state?

• People do not intend to communicate

• People intend to communicate irrelevant information

• People intend to communicate with specific expectations of relevance

• People communicate randomly

What is the difference between Explicature and Implicature?

• Explicature is irrelevant, while Implicature is relevant

• Explicature is implicit, while Implicature is explicit

• Explicature is ambiguous, while Implicature is clear

• Explicature is direct communication, while Implicature is indirect

According to Relevance theory, what is the role of implicatures?

• To hide the speaker's intentions

• To complicate communication

• To confuse the listener

• To provide evidence for conclusions

What does Relevance theory say about the strength of communicated assumptions?

• They are always strong

• They can be more or less strongly communicated

• They are irrelevant

• They are always weak

What is the Relevance-guided Comprehension Heuristic about?

• Following the most complicated path in interpreting information

• Testing interpretive hypotheses in order of complexity

• Following a path of least effort in computing cognitive effects

• Ignoring cognitive effects

How does Relevance theory explain small changes in the effort involved in processing an utterance?

• They are irrelevant

• They can have significant effects

• They lead to confusion

• They have no effect on interpretation

What is the role of higher-level explicatures in Relevance theory?

• To eliminate implicatures

• To complicate communication

• To embed other propositions within explicatures

• To simplify communication