Ofer Fein
Datos Biográficos
| ID | 1024229 |
|---|---|
| NOMBRE | Ofer Fein |
| NOMBRES | Ofer |
| APELLIDO | Fein |
| FIRMA | FEIN O |
| AFILIACIONES | Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yafo |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3877-4143 |
| VERIFICADO | Sí |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 27 |
| TOTAL DE CITAS | 115 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 27 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN | 1996 |
| AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN | 2020 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
Whether Verbal or Visual, Affirmative or Negative, Tautologies are Not Tautologies
In this paper we test the hypothesis that tautologies (An X is an X; X is X) are actually not tautologies (i.e., not repetitive). Indeed, when exploring natural language use, it seems that, having expressed such “uninformative” statements, speakers, most often, spell out their specific intended interpretation, rendering these messages informative (Section 2). Visual/pictorial tautologies are also informative; either they allow the observers to co…
Default sarcastic interpretations of attenuated and intensified similes
On the superiority of defaultness
Defining defaultness in terms of an unconditional, automatic response to a stimulus allows the Defaultness Hypothesis to predict the speed superiority of default over nondefault counterparts. Here we examined the relative contribution of the cerebral hemispheres to the processing of default versus nondefault interpretations (of Hebrew items). Participants performed a lexical decision task on lateralized probes (messy) related to the default/nonde…
The Role of Defaultness in Affecting Pleasure
The Optimal Innovation Hypothesis (Giora et al., 2004), following from the Graded Salience Hypothesis (Giora, 2003), is being reviewed and revisited. The attempt is to expand the notion of Optimal Innovation to allow it to apply to both stimuli’s coded meanings as well as their noncoded, constructed interpretations. According to the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis, Optimal Innovations, when devised (KNOW HOPE), will be more pleasing than nonoptimal…
Defaultness Reigns
Findings from two experiments (run in Hebrew) argue in favor of the superiority of default, preferred interpretations over non-default less favored counterparts, outshining degree of (a) non-salience, (b) non-literalness, (c) contextual strength, and (d) negation. They show that, outside of a specific context, the default interpretation of specific negative constructions (He is not the most organized student) is a non-salient interpretation (here…
On the priority of salience-based interpretations
Results from 2 experiments support the view that, regardless of strength of contextual expectation for utterance nonsalient (ironic) interpretation, (a) salience-based interpretations will not be blocked. Instead, they will be facilitated initially. And, (b) if conducive to the interpretation process, they will not be suppressed, albeit incompatible (Giora 2003; Giora and Fein 1999a; Giora and Fein 1999b; Giora et al. 2007). In Experiment 1, expe…
Under/standing cartoons
Default Sarcastic Interpretations
Findings from five experiments support the view that negation generates sarcastic utterance-interpretations by default.1 1 We view “sarcasm” and “verbal irony” as interchangeable. When presented in isolation, novel negative constructions (“Punctuality is not his forte,” “Thoroughness is not her most distinctive feature”), free of semantic anomaly or internal incongruity, were interpreted sarcastically and rated as sarcastic compared to their nove…
Levels of interpretation
Resonating with contextually inappropriate interpretations in production
According to the graded salience hypothesis, salient meanings and salience-based interpretations are not only involved in language comprehension but also in language production (Giora 2003, 2011a; Giora and Gur 2003). This should be true of irony production as well. If, as predicted by the graded salience hypothesis, the ironist herself indeed activates utterance interpretations on account of their salience-based accessibility rather than solely …
On sarcasm, social awareness, and gender
Sarcastic irony, uttered in four (within and between) gender-based settings, is used here as a tool to diagnose affective attitudes toward women. The kind of sarcasm tested here is an aggressive type of humor, whereby a speaker derides another individual, turning her or him into the victim of the humorous utterance. Finding this kind of irony less or more pleasing allows indexing between- and within-group attitudes. Participants were overall nons…
Negation Generates Nonliteral Interpretations by Default
Four experiments and 2 corpus-based studies demonstrate that negation is a determinant factor affecting novel nonliteral utterance-interpretation by default. For a nonliteral utterance-interpretation to be favored by default, utterances should be potentially ambiguous between literal and nonliteral interpretations. They should therefore be (a) unfamiliar, (b) free of semantic anomaly or any kind of internal incongruity, and (c) unbiased by contex…
Salience and Context
Asperger's Syndrome (AS) involves difficulties in social communication but no delays in language or cognitive development. According to the received view, individuals with AS are biased toward the literal and are insensitive to contextual cues. According to the graded salience hypothesis (Giora, 1997 Giora, R. 1997. Understanding figurative and literal language: The graded salience hypothesis. Cognitive Linguistics, 7(1): 183–206. [Crossref], [We…
When we say no we mean no
How can you compare! On negated comparisons as comparisons
Results from 3 experiments argue in favor of the view that, when relevant to contextual information, negated concepts are retained rather than suppressed (Giora 2006, 2007; Giora et al. 2007). It is this retainability of negated information that allows for negated comparisons to come across as similarly appropriate as their affirmative counterparts (Experiment 1), and be as similarly sensitive to degree of prototypicality, as found earlier for af…
Expecting Irony
Results from 4 experiments support the view that, regardless of contextual information, when an end-product interpretation of an utterance does not rely on the salient (lexicalized and prominent) meanings of its components, it will not be faster than nor as fast to derive as when it does. To test this view, we looked into interpretations of salience-based (here, literal) interpretations and expectation-based (here, ironic) interpretations in cont…
Negation in Context
Three experiments show that, contrary to the current view, comprehenders do not unconditionally deactivate information marked by negation. Instead, they discard negated information when it is functionally motivated. In Experiment 1, comprehenders discarded negated concepts when cued by a topic shift to dampen recently processed information. However, in the presence of a global cue suggesting topic continuity, they retained it, despite a local neg…
Irony aptness
In this paper, we test the hypothesis that irony aptness is sensitive to both ironiness and sophistication. In a previous study, we established irony gradedness as a function of narrowing the gap between what is said and what is referred to (Giora et al. 2005b). Experiments 1A and 1B show that the higher the ironiness of a target, the more apt it is. This has been replicated for echoic ironies (Sperber and Wilson 1986) as well. Indeed, in Experim…
On Negation as Mitigation
Four experiments support the view of negation as mitigation (Giora, Balaban, Fein, & Alkabets, 2004). They show that when irony involves some sizable gap between what is said and what is criticized (He is exceptionally bright said of an idiot), it is rated as highly ironic (Giora, 1995). A negated version of that overstatement (He is not exceptionally bright), is also rated as ironic, albeit to a lesser extent. Indeed, rather than eliminating the…
Weapons of Mass Distraction
In 6 experiments we test the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis, according to which an optimally innovative stimulus, such that induces a novel response while allowing for the recovery of a salient one (Giora, 1997b, 2003), would be rated as more pleasing than either a more or a less familiar stimulus. Experiment 1 shows that it is the stimulus that meets the requirements for optimal innovativeness that is most pleasurable. Reading times obtained in E…
Salience and Context Effects
Salience and Context Effects
This study provides evidence supporting the hypothesis that language comprehension involves 2 separate mechanisms that run in parallel: a linguistic mechanism and a contextual mechanism. The linguistic mechanism (e.g., lexical access) is modular and stimulus driven; it is a bottom-up, perceptual mechanism, induced by a lexical stimulus to search the mental lexicon for its match. This mechanism is encapsulated with respect to nonlinguistic informa…
Irony
Two experiments test a graded salience account of irony processing Experiment 1 shows that, as predicted, less familiar targets embedded in ironically biasing contexts facilitate only the salient literal meaning initially: 150 msec after their offset. However, 1,000 msec after their offset, the less salient ironic meaning becomes available and the literal meaning is still as active. In contrast, familiar ironies facilitate both their salient lite…
Irony comprehension
On understanding familiar and less-familiar figurative language
On understanding familiar and less-familiar figurative language
On Negation as Mitigation
Four experiments support the view of negation as mitigation (Giora, Balaban, Fein, & Alkabets, 2004). They show that when irony involves some sizable gap between what is said and what is criticized (He is exceptionally bright said of an idiot), it is rated as highly ironic (Giora, 1995). A negated version of that overstatement (He is not exceptionally bright), is also rated as ironic, albeit to a lesser extent. Indeed, rather than eliminating the…
Levels of interpretation
Negation in Context
Three experiments show that, contrary to the current view, comprehenders do not unconditionally deactivate information marked by negation. Instead, they discard negated information when it is functionally motivated. In Experiment 1, comprehenders discarded negated concepts when cued by a topic shift to dampen recently processed information. However, in the presence of a global cue suggesting topic continuity, they retained it, despite a local neg…
On the priority of salience-based interpretations
Results from 2 experiments support the view that, regardless of strength of contextual expectation for utterance nonsalient (ironic) interpretation, (a) salience-based interpretations will not be blocked. Instead, they will be facilitated initially. And, (b) if conducive to the interpretation process, they will not be suppressed, albeit incompatible (Giora 2003; Giora and Fein 1999a; Giora and Fein 1999b; Giora et al. 2007). In Experiment 1, expe…
Irony comprehension
When we say no we mean no
Default Sarcastic Interpretations
Findings from five experiments support the view that negation generates sarcastic utterance-interpretations by default.1 1 We view “sarcasm” and “verbal irony” as interchangeable. When presented in isolation, novel negative constructions (“Punctuality is not his forte,” “Thoroughness is not her most distinctive feature”), free of semantic anomaly or internal incongruity, were interpreted sarcastically and rated as sarcastic compared to their nove…
Irony aptness
In this paper, we test the hypothesis that irony aptness is sensitive to both ironiness and sophistication. In a previous study, we established irony gradedness as a function of narrowing the gap between what is said and what is referred to (Giora et al. 2005b). Experiments 1A and 1B show that the higher the ironiness of a target, the more apt it is. This has been replicated for echoic ironies (Sperber and Wilson 1986) as well. Indeed, in Experim…
How to do things with words and gestures in comics
On sarcasm, social awareness, and gender
Sarcastic irony, uttered in four (within and between) gender-based settings, is used here as a tool to diagnose affective attitudes toward women. The kind of sarcasm tested here is an aggressive type of humor, whereby a speaker derides another individual, turning her or him into the victim of the humorous utterance. Finding this kind of irony less or more pleasing allows indexing between- and within-group attitudes. Participants were overall nons…
Resonating with contextually inappropriate interpretations in production
According to the graded salience hypothesis, salient meanings and salience-based interpretations are not only involved in language comprehension but also in language production (Giora 2003, 2011a; Giora and Gur 2003). This should be true of irony production as well. If, as predicted by the graded salience hypothesis, the ironist herself indeed activates utterance interpretations on account of their salience-based accessibility rather than solely …
Default sarcastic interpretations of attenuated and intensified similes
How to do things with words and gestures in comics
Irony
According to the graded salience hypothesis, salient (e.g., conventional, frequent, familiar) meanings should be activated before less salient meanings are retrieved (R. Giora, 1997). The graded salience hypothesis thus predicts that irony should take longer to understand than non-ironic language, because its comprehension should involve activation of the salient, literal meaning initially, before the less salient ironic meaning is derived. Accor…
Irony
Two experiments test a graded salience account of irony processing Experiment 1 shows that, as predicted, less familiar targets embedded in ironically biasing contexts facilitate only the salient literal meaning initially: 150 msec after their offset. However, 1,000 msec after their offset, the less salient ironic meaning becomes available and the literal meaning is still as active. In contrast, familiar ironies facilitate both their salient lite…
Irony comprehension
On understanding familiar and less-familiar figurative language
Salience and Context Effects
Salience and Context Effects
This study provides evidence supporting the hypothesis that language comprehension involves 2 separate mechanisms that run in parallel: a linguistic mechanism and a contextual mechanism. The linguistic mechanism (e.g., lexical access) is modular and stimulus driven; it is a bottom-up, perceptual mechanism, induced by a lexical stimulus to search the mental lexicon for its match. This mechanism is encapsulated with respect to nonlinguistic informa…
Weapons of Mass Distraction
In 6 experiments we test the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis, according to which an optimally innovative stimulus, such that induces a novel response while allowing for the recovery of a salient one (Giora, 1997b, 2003), would be rated as more pleasing than either a more or a less familiar stimulus. Experiment 1 shows that it is the stimulus that meets the requirements for optimal innovativeness that is most pleasurable. Reading times obtained in E…
Irony aptness
In this paper, we test the hypothesis that irony aptness is sensitive to both ironiness and sophistication. In a previous study, we established irony gradedness as a function of narrowing the gap between what is said and what is referred to (Giora et al. 2005b). Experiments 1A and 1B show that the higher the ironiness of a target, the more apt it is. This has been replicated for echoic ironies (Sperber and Wilson 1986) as well. Indeed, in Experim…
On Negation as Mitigation
Four experiments support the view of negation as mitigation (Giora, Balaban, Fein, & Alkabets, 2004). They show that when irony involves some sizable gap between what is said and what is criticized (He is exceptionally bright said of an idiot), it is rated as highly ironic (Giora, 1995). A negated version of that overstatement (He is not exceptionally bright), is also rated as ironic, albeit to a lesser extent. Indeed, rather than eliminating the…
Expecting Irony
Results from 4 experiments support the view that, regardless of contextual information, when an end-product interpretation of an utterance does not rely on the salient (lexicalized and prominent) meanings of its components, it will not be faster than nor as fast to derive as when it does. To test this view, we looked into interpretations of salience-based (here, literal) interpretations and expectation-based (here, ironic) interpretations in cont…
Negation in Context
Three experiments show that, contrary to the current view, comprehenders do not unconditionally deactivate information marked by negation. Instead, they discard negated information when it is functionally motivated. In Experiment 1, comprehenders discarded negated concepts when cued by a topic shift to dampen recently processed information. However, in the presence of a global cue suggesting topic continuity, they retained it, despite a local neg…
How can you compare! On negated comparisons as comparisons
Results from 3 experiments argue in favor of the view that, when relevant to contextual information, negated concepts are retained rather than suppressed (Giora 2006, 2007; Giora et al. 2007). It is this retainability of negated information that allows for negated comparisons to come across as similarly appropriate as their affirmative counterparts (Experiment 1), and be as similarly sensitive to degree of prototypicality, as found earlier for af…
When we say no we mean no
Salience and Context
Asperger's Syndrome (AS) involves difficulties in social communication but no delays in language or cognitive development. According to the received view, individuals with AS are biased toward the literal and are insensitive to contextual cues. According to the graded salience hypothesis (Giora, 1997 Giora, R. 1997. Understanding figurative and literal language: The graded salience hypothesis. Cognitive Linguistics, 7(1): 183–206. [Crossref], [We…
Negation Generates Nonliteral Interpretations by Default
Four experiments and 2 corpus-based studies demonstrate that negation is a determinant factor affecting novel nonliteral utterance-interpretation by default. For a nonliteral utterance-interpretation to be favored by default, utterances should be potentially ambiguous between literal and nonliteral interpretations. They should therefore be (a) unfamiliar, (b) free of semantic anomaly or any kind of internal incongruity, and (c) unbiased by contex…
Resonating with contextually inappropriate interpretations in production
According to the graded salience hypothesis, salient meanings and salience-based interpretations are not only involved in language comprehension but also in language production (Giora 2003, 2011a; Giora and Gur 2003). This should be true of irony production as well. If, as predicted by the graded salience hypothesis, the ironist herself indeed activates utterance interpretations on account of their salience-based accessibility rather than solely …
On sarcasm, social awareness, and gender
Sarcastic irony, uttered in four (within and between) gender-based settings, is used here as a tool to diagnose affective attitudes toward women. The kind of sarcasm tested here is an aggressive type of humor, whereby a speaker derides another individual, turning her or him into the victim of the humorous utterance. Finding this kind of irony less or more pleasing allows indexing between- and within-group attitudes. Participants were overall nons…
Defaultness Reigns
Findings from two experiments (run in Hebrew) argue in favor of the superiority of default, preferred interpretations over non-default less favored counterparts, outshining degree of (a) non-salience, (b) non-literalness, (c) contextual strength, and (d) negation. They show that, outside of a specific context, the default interpretation of specific negative constructions (He is not the most organized student) is a non-salient interpretation (here…
On the priority of salience-based interpretations
Results from 2 experiments support the view that, regardless of strength of contextual expectation for utterance nonsalient (ironic) interpretation, (a) salience-based interpretations will not be blocked. Instead, they will be facilitated initially. And, (b) if conducive to the interpretation process, they will not be suppressed, albeit incompatible (Giora 2003; Giora and Fein 1999a; Giora and Fein 1999b; Giora et al. 2007). In Experiment 1, expe…
Under/standing cartoons
Default Sarcastic Interpretations
Findings from five experiments support the view that negation generates sarcastic utterance-interpretations by default.1 1 We view “sarcasm” and “verbal irony” as interchangeable. When presented in isolation, novel negative constructions (“Punctuality is not his forte,” “Thoroughness is not her most distinctive feature”), free of semantic anomaly or internal incongruity, were interpreted sarcastically and rated as sarcastic compared to their nove…
Levels of interpretation
The Role of Defaultness in Affecting Pleasure
The Optimal Innovation Hypothesis (Giora et al., 2004), following from the Graded Salience Hypothesis (Giora, 2003), is being reviewed and revisited. The attempt is to expand the notion of Optimal Innovation to allow it to apply to both stimuli’s coded meanings as well as their noncoded, constructed interpretations. According to the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis, Optimal Innovations, when devised (KNOW HOPE), will be more pleasing than nonoptimal…
On the superiority of defaultness
Defining defaultness in terms of an unconditional, automatic response to a stimulus allows the Defaultness Hypothesis to predict the speed superiority of default over nondefault counterparts. Here we examined the relative contribution of the cerebral hemispheres to the processing of default versus nondefault interpretations (of Hebrew items). Participants performed a lexical decision task on lateralized probes (messy) related to the default/nonde…
Psychology (25 obras) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (23 obras) · Linguistics (23 obras) · Cognitive psychology (20 obras) · Philosophy (20 obras) · Computer Science (14 obras) · Irony (13 obras) · Artificial Intelligence (12 obras) · Philosophy (12 obras) · Social Psychology (11 obras)