Documentation

Linglib.Phenomena.Polarity.Studies.DenicEtAl2021

@cite{denic-homer-rothschild-chemla-2021} #

The influence of polarity items on inferential judgments. Cognition 215, 104791.

The puzzle #

The standard story is unidirectional: monotonicity determines where PIs are grammatical. If the arrow goes only from monotonicity to PIs, then PI presence should be inert — it shouldn't change how listeners perceive the monotonicity of the environment. This paper shows it does.

Design #

Four experiments (§3–§7):

Participants rated sentence pairs (related by a narrowing substitution) for both UE-ness and DE-ness on 7-point scales. The directional rating (UE − DE) gives a single bipolar measure.

Core findings #

  1. NPI in NM: directional ratings shift toward DE (significant across all exps)
  2. PPI in DN: directional ratings shift toward UE (significant in Exp 3)
  3. UE and DE: no PI effects (ceiling/floor)
  4. Scalar side-effect not the sole mechanism: the NPI effect holds across NPIs with heterogeneous scalar properties (e.g., "ever" lacks domain widening; §10.2)

Significance for linglib #

The finding that PIs distinguish DN from UE challenges ContextPolarity, which maps both to .upward. The full EntailmentSig preserves the distinction (DN = addMult, simple UE = mono), suggesting PI-sensitive code should use EntailmentSig paths rather than ContextPolarity.

The four monotonicity environments tested.

A refinement of Core.NaturalLogic.ContextPolarity that keeps DN distinct from UE. ContextPolarity maps both to .upward; the paper shows PIs distinguish them empirically.

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      The four PI conditions in the experimental design.

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          A finding about PI influence on directional ratings within an environment. The key observable: does PI presence significantly shift ratings relative to the no-PI baseline, and in which direction?

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              NPI in NM: shifts directional ratings toward DE.

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                PPI in DN: shifts directional ratings toward UE (Exp 3, §6.3).

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                  NPI in UE: no effect (ceiling).

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                    NPI in DE: no effect (floor).

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                      PPI in UE: no effect.

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                        PPI in DE: no effect.

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                          NPI in DN: no significant effect (Exp 3, §6.3).

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                            PPI in NM: no significant effect.

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                                NPI effect in NM replicates in Experiment 3 (§6.3). The NPI effect holds across NPIs with heterogeneous scalar properties (any = domain widening, ever = non-domain-widening), which argues against scalar side-effects as the sole mechanism (§10.2).

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                                  The complementary pattern: each PI type affects exactly the environment where its associated polarity is ambiguous.

                                  • NPIs (associated with DE) affect NM but not DN
                                  • PPIs (associated with UE) affect DN but not NM
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                                      The three proposed mechanisms for PI influence on monotonicity.

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                                          Experiment 3 rules out the scalar side-effect as the sole mechanism.

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                                                Mechanism constraints: effect persists across semantically heterogeneous NPIs (different base forces) and without domain widening. The heterogeneity that matters for the non-scalar argument is in baseForce (existential vs temporal vs degree), not in scalar direction — all three are strengthening per @cite{israel-2001}.

                                                Predict PPI significance from signature.

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