L.G.M.M. Hustinx

The use of referential expressions in structuring discourse

Abstract Referential expressions that refer to entities that occur in a text differ in lexical specificity. It is claimed that if these anaphoric expressions are more specific than necessary for their identificational function, they not only relate the current information to the intended referent, but also contribute to the expression of the thematic structure of the discourse and to the comprehension of the thematic structure. In two controlled production experiments, it is demonstrated that thematic shifts are produced when one has to make use of such an overspecified expression, and that overspecified referential expressions are produced when one has to formulate a thematic shift. In two comprehension experiments, using a probe recognition technique, it is shown that an overspecified referential expression decreases the availability of information contained in a sentence that precedes the overspecification. This finding is interpreted in terms of the thematic structuring function of referential express...

The Impact of Exemplars on Responsibility Stereotypes in Fund-Raising Letters:

Exemplars are capable of influencing perceptions of reality in newspaper contexts. Can exemplars in fund-raising letters also influence the responsibility stereotype of the group funds are raised for and the effectiveness of these letters? In three experiments, 679 participants received a fund-raising letter containing an exemplar that was or was not held responsible for the trouble he or she was in. In all experiments, the responsibility perception of the group as a whole was influenced by the exemplar manipulation. If the group members were held responsible for the trouble they were in, participants were less inclined to donate money unless the trouble was considered very severe. The study shows how exemplars influence responsibility stereotypes and the persuasiveness of fund-raising letters.

The Concept of Argument Quality in the Elaboration Likelihood Model

Petty and Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM: see, e.g., Petty & Cacioppo, 1986) has been the most influential model of the persuasion process for almost two decades. Its basic postulate is that when people are confronted with a persuasive message, they want to assess the validity of the message’s claim. To do so, people may systematically and critically evaluate the arguments supporting this claim. Although this systematic evaluation is the safest way to assess a claim’s validity, people are not always motivated and/or able to do so. In that case, they can use rules of thumb to assess the validity of the message’s claim. They may reason, for instance, “Experts are usually right, and this claim is put forward by an expert, therefore this claim is correct.” Other factors that can influence their assessment under those conditions are the number of arguments (instead of the content of these arguments), or even more superficial message characteristics such as the layout or the use of attractive colors. Depending on the way in which people process the message, arguments will or will not determine the outcome of the persuasion process. Only when people are motivated and able to systematically evaluate the arguments does the quality of these arguments influence their assessment of the claim’s validity.

Two dimensions of language intensity in evaluative discourse: Contextuality and semantic richness

Language intensity has been investigated within several disciplines, such as linguistics, stylistics and social psychology, and from several approaches. As a result, a wide range of intensifying elements and effects have been identified. In this chapter, we demonstrate on the basis of a qualitative corpus-analytical study that two dimensions play a decisive role in the discrimination of intensified language: contextuality and semantic richness. Contextuality reflects the degree to which the intensifying meaning of an element depends on its context. Semantic richness describes the amount of meaningful information that an intensifying element contains on top of its intensification function. This chapter is a starting point for further research concerning the characteristics of language intensity. Our insights contribute to established approaches in corpus-analytical and stylistic research.