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    The neural correlates of referential communication: taking advantage of sparse-sampling fMRI to study verbal communication with a real interaction partner
    (2021-9-21)
    Achim, Amélie
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    Deschamps, Isabelle
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    Thibaudeau, ELISABETH
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    Loignon, Alexandra
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    Rousseau, Louis Simon
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    Tremblay, Pascale
  • Publication
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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Referential adjustment during discourse production in Alzheimer's disease
    (2020-8-11) ; ;
    Achim, Amélie
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    Démonet, Jean-François
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    Several studies have shown that people with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) tend to use more pronouns than healthy aged adults when referring to entities during discourse. This referential behavior has been associated with the decrease of cognitive abilities, such as lexical retrieval difficulties or reduced abilities in working memory. However, the influence of certain important discourse factors on the referential choices made by people with AD has yet to be established. This study examines referential choices made at three discourse stages during narrative discourse (the introduction of a referent, the maintaining of the referent in focus, and the shift from one referent in focus to another). These referential choices are examined in increasingly complex referential contexts. In addition, this study investigates the relationships between referential choices and various cognitive abilities. To do so, the narrative discourses of 21 people with AD and 21 healthy adults were elicited using a newly developed storytelling in sequence task. The analyses focused on the production of three major referential expressions (indefinite expressions, definite expressions and pronouns) which are expected to vary according to discourse stage and the referential complexity of the stories. The results show that AD participants produce significantly fewer of the referential expressions expected at the introduction and shift stages than healthy aged adults produce. Nevertheless, the variation in the categories of referential expressions produced by the AD participants between the discourse stages is similar to that produced by the healthy aged adults, suggesting a preserved sensitivity to the factors manipulated in the task (i.e., discourse stages and referential complexity). This study also highlights the fact that different cognitive competences, especially executive abilities, are greatly involved in referential choices. The results add further evidence that referential choices rely on a variety of cognitive skills, depending on the discourse context in which they are made.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    Referential choices in a collaborative storytelling task: discourse stages and referential complexity matter
    (2018-2-20) ;
    Achim, Amélie
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    ; ;
    Bureau, Alexandre
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    Champagne-Lavau, Maud
    During a narrative discourse, accessibility of the referents is rarely fixed once and for all. Rather, each referent varies in accessibility as the discourse unfolds, depending on the presence and prominence of the other referents. This leads the speaker to use various referential expressions to refer to the main protagonists of the story at different moments in the narrative. This study relies on a new, collaborative storytelling in sequence task designed to assess how speakers adjust their referential choices when they refer to different characters at specific discourse stages corresponding to the introduction, maintaining or shift of the character in focus, in increasingly complex referential contexts. Referential complexity of the stories was manipulated through variations in the number of characters (1 vs. 2) and, for stories in which there were two characters, in their ambiguity in gender (different vs. same gender). Data were coded for the type of reference markers as well as the type of reference content (i.e. the extent of the information provided in the referential expression). Results showed that, beyond the expected effects of discourse stages on reference markers (more indefinite markers at the introduction stage, more pronouns at the maintaining stage, and more definite markers at the shift stage), the number of characters and their ambiguity in gender also modulated speakers’ referential choices at specific discourse stages, For the maintaining stage, an effect of the number of characters was observed for the use of pronouns and of definite markers, with more pronouns when there was a single character, sometimes replaced by definite expressions when two characters were present in the story. For the shift stage, an effect of gender ambiguity was specifically noted for the reference content with more specific information provided in the referential expression when there was referential ambiguity. Reference content is an aspect of referential marking that is rarely addressed in a narrative context, yet it revealed a quite flexible referential behavior by the speakers.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Impact of theory of mind abilities and negative symptoms in schizophrenia during real social interactions
    (Schizophrenia Bulletin, Oxford Academic, 2017-3-27)
    Achim, Amélie
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    Parent, Carolane
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    There is a recognized need to understand the determinants of social functioning in people with schizophrenia. While several factors such as cognitive or social cognitive deficits or negative symptoms are linked to social functioning, we know little about the impact of these symptoms during real social interactions.
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    Knowledge likely held by others affects speakers' choices of referential expressions at different stages of discourse
    (2017-2-20)
    Achim, Amélie
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    Achim, André
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    ABSTRACT Effective communication requires adjusting one’s discourse to be understood by the addressee. While some suggest that choices of referring expressions are dependent on the addressee’s accessibility to the referent, there is also evidence for an egocentric bias in speech production. This study relied on two new experimental tasks designed to assess whether speakers adapt their choices of referential expressions when introducing movie characters that are either likely known or likely unknown by their addressee, and when maintaining or reintroducing these characters at a later point in the discourse. Results revealed an adjustment to the addressee in the use of character’s names (increased for likely known characters) and definite expressions (increased for likely unknown characters) observed at all the discourse stages. Use of indefinite expressions and names was affected by the participant’s own knowledge specifically when introducing the characters. These results indicate that speakers take their addressee’s likely knowledge into account at multiple discourse stages.
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    Métadonnées seulement