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Linglib.Phenomena.ScalarImplicatures.Studies.VanTielEtAl2016

@cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016} — Scalar Diversity #

@cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016} @cite{ronai-2024}

Theory-neutral empirical data and argumentation chain from @cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016}.

Central Question #

Do all scalar expressions yield scalar implicatures at comparable rates? The "uniformity assumption" — implicit in decades of SI research focused on ⟨some, all⟩ and ⟨or, and⟩ — predicts yes.

Argumentative Structure #

  1. Scalar diversity is real (Exps 1–2, §2): SI rates vary continuously from 4% (⟨content, happy⟩) to 100% (⟨cheap, free⟩) across 43 scales. Experiment 1 (N=25) uses neutral content (pronouns); Experiment 2 (N=29) uses non-neutral content (full NPs). Results correlate highly (r=.91), confirming robustness to sentential context.

  2. Availability does not explain diversity (Exp 3, §4): Four operationalisations of scale availability all fail to predict SI rates:

    • Association strength (modified cloze task, Exp 3, N=60): β=0.16, n.s.
    • Grammatical class (open vs closed): β=−0.38, n.s.
    • Relative word frequency (corpus log-ratio): β=−0.15, n.s.
    • Semantic relatedness (LSA cosine): β=0.01, n.s.
  3. Distinctness does explain diversity (Exp 4, §5): Two measures of how easy it is to distinguish scalemates both predict SI rates:

    • Semantic distance (7-point rating, Exp 4, N=24): β=0.65, p=.018
    • Boundedness (stronger term is endpoint): β=−1.87, p<.001
  4. Combined model (§6, Table 5): Mixed model with all six predictors explains R²=0.52 of variance (0.22 fixed effects, 0.30 random). Of the fixed-effects variance, boundedness alone accounts for 10.8%, distance for 2.7%, and all four availability measures combined for <1%.

  5. Remaining variance (§6): ~78% of variance is unexplained, suggesting item-specific statistical learning from language use — hearers track frequencies of upper-bounding inferences for individual scales and use Gricean reasoning to combine prior likelihoods with the current context.

Grammatical category of a scale. Van Tiel et al. distinguish open vs closed classes for availability hypothesis.

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      Complete data for each scale tested in @cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016}.

      Fields capture all predictors tested in the paper:

      • SI rates from Experiments 1 and 2
      • Availability measures (cloze, frequency, LSA)
      • Distinctness measures (semantic distance, boundedness)
      • weakerTerm : String

        Weaker scalar term

      • strongerTerm : String

        Stronger scalar term

      • category : GrammaticalClass

        Grammatical category

      • siRateExp1 :

        SI rate in Experiment 1 (neutral content, %)

      • siRateExp2 :

        SI rate in Experiment 2 (non-neutral content, %)

      • clozeNeutral : Option

        Cloze task: % mentioning stronger term (Exp3, neutral, lenient)

      • clozeNonNeutral : Option

        Cloze task: % mentioning stronger term (Exp3, non-neutral, lenient)

      • freqRatio : Option Float

        Log ratio of weaker/stronger term frequencies

      • lsaRelatedness : Option Float

        LSA semantic relatedness (0-1)

      • semanticDistance : Float

        Mean semantic distance rating (1-7 scale, Exp4)

      • bounded : Bool

        Whether stronger term denotes an endpoint (bounded scale)

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          ⟨cheap, free⟩ - highest SI rate (100%)

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            ⟨sometimes, always⟩

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              ⟨some, all⟩ - the "workhorse" of SI research

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                ⟨possible, certain⟩

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                  ⟨may, will⟩

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                    ⟨difficult, impossible⟩

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                      ⟨rare, extinct⟩

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                        ⟨may, have to⟩

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                          ⟨warm, hot⟩

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                            ⟨few, none⟩

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                              ⟨low, depleted⟩

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                                ⟨hard, unsolvable⟩

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                                  ⟨allowed, obligatory⟩

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                                    ⟨scarce, unavailable⟩

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                                      ⟨try, succeed⟩

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                                        ⟨palatable, delicious⟩

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                                          ⟨memorable, unforgettable⟩

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                                            ⟨like, love⟩

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                                              ⟨good, perfect⟩

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                                                ⟨good, excellent⟩

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                                                  ⟨cool, cold⟩

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                                                    ⟨hungry, starving⟩

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                                                      ⟨adequate, good⟩

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                                                        ⟨unsettling, horrific⟩

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                                                          ⟨dislike, loathe⟩

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                                                            ⟨believe, know⟩

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                                                              ⟨start, finish⟩

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                                                                ⟨participate, win⟩

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                                                                  ⟨wary, scared⟩

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                                                                    ⟨old, ancient⟩

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                                                                      ⟨big, enormous⟩

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                                                                        ⟨snug, tight⟩

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                                                                          ⟨attractive, stunning⟩

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                                                                            ⟨special, unique⟩

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                                                                              ⟨pretty, beautiful⟩

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                                                                                ⟨intelligent, brilliant⟩

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                                                                                  ⟨funny, hilarious⟩

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                                                                                    ⟨dark, black⟩

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                                                                                      ⟨small, tiny⟩

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                                                                                        ⟨ugly, hideous⟩

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                                                                                          ⟨silly, ridiculous⟩

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                                                                                            ⟨tired, exhausted⟩

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                                                                                              ⟨content, happy⟩ - lowest SI rate (4%)

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                                                                                                All 43 scales tested in @cite{van-tiel-geurts-2016}

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                                                                                                  Bounded scales

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                                                                                                    Non-bounded scales

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                                                                                                      SI rates span 96 percentage points: 4% to 100%. ⟨content, happy⟩ is the floor, ⟨cheap, free⟩ the ceiling.

                                                                                                      Bounded scales yield far more SIs than non-bounded scales.

                                                                                                      Total SI rate (Exp 1) across 21 bounded scales: 1287%. Total SI rate (Exp 1) across 22 non-bounded scales: 465%. Even though bounded scales have fewer items, their total is nearly 3× higher. The paper reports mean bounded ≈ 62% vs mean non-bounded ≈ 25%.

                                                                                                      ⟨some, all⟩ — the "workhorse" of SI research — sits near the top at 96%, far above the mean. Generalizing from ⟨some, all⟩ to all scales is unjustified.

                                                                                                      In this sample, every closed-class scale is also bounded. This confound partially explains the nonsignificant grammatical-class effect: closed-class scales look high-SI because they're all bounded, not because the search space for alternatives is smaller.

                                                                                                      Experiments 1 and 2 agree directionally: no scale reverses from high to low or vice versa (defined as >50% in one experiment and <15% in the other).

                                                                                                      A row from the mixed-effects regression in Table 5.

                                                                                                      The model predicts SI rates from Exps 1–2 using six fixed-effect predictors (four availability measures, two distinctness measures) plus random slopes and intercepts for participants and items.

                                                                                                      • name : String

                                                                                                        Name of the predictor

                                                                                                      • beta :

                                                                                                        Estimated coefficient

                                                                                                      • se :

                                                                                                        Standard error

                                                                                                      • z :

                                                                                                        z-statistic

                                                                                                      • p :

                                                                                                        p-value (two-tailed)

                                                                                                      • r2 :

                                                                                                        Marginal R² (variance explained by this predictor alone)

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                                                                                                          Association strength (lenient cloze, Exp 3): β=0.16, p=.611.

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                                                                                                            Grammatical class (open/closed): β=−0.38, p=.606. Confounded with boundedness — all closed-class scales in this sample are also bounded (see closed_class_subsumes_bounded).

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                                                                                                              Relative word frequency (log ratio weaker/stronger): β=−0.15, p=.461.

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                                                                                                                Semantic relatedness (LSA cosine): β=0.01, p=.355.

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                                                                                                                  Semantic distance (7-point rating, Exp 4): β=0.65, p=.018.

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                                                                                                                    Boundedness (stronger term is endpoint): β=−1.87, p<.001. Negative β because the coding is bounded=1, so bounded scales are associated with higher SI rates (higher positive response = lower log-odds of "no"). Largest single predictor: R²=10.8%.

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                                                                                                                      All six predictor rows, for iteration.

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                                                                                                                        Both distinctness predictors are significant (p < .05).

                                                                                                                        Boundedness alone explains more variance than all four availability predictors combined. R²(boundedness) = 0.108 > 0 + 0.001 + 0.003 + 0.006 = 0.010.

                                                                                                                        Distinctness explains >10× more variance than availability. (27 + 108)/1000 = 135/1000 vs (0 + 1 + 3 + 6)/1000 = 10/1000.