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Quantity-based reasoning in the broader autism phenotype: A web-based study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2018

BOB VAN TIEL  and
MIKHAIL KISSINE
BOB VAN TIEL*
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS)
MIKHAIL KISSINE
Affiliation:
Université Libre de Bruxelles
*
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE Bob van Tiel, Leibniz-Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft (ZAS), Schützenstrasse 18, 10118 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: bobvantiel@gmail.com
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Abstract

We conducted a web-based study investigating whether the probability of deriving four types of pragmatic inferences depends on the degree to which one has traits associated with the autism spectrum, as measured by the autism spectrum quotient test (Baron-Cohen, Wheelwright, Skinner, Martin, & Clubley, 2001). In line with previous research, we show that, independently of their autism spectrum quotient, participants are likely to derive those pragmatic inferences that can be derived by reasoning solely about alternatives that the speaker could have used. However, if the derivation of the pragmatic inference draws upon more complex counterfactual reasoning about what the speaker could have said, the probability that it is derived decreases significantly with one’s autism quotient. We discuss the consequences for theories of pragmatics in autism and for linguistic theorizing in general.

Keywords

broader autism phenotypeconversational implicaturelanguagepragmaticsscalar implicature
Type
Original Article
Information
Applied Psycholinguistics , Volume 39 , Issue 6 , November 2018 , pp. 1373 - 1403
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2018 

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