Abstract

A research program is described in which a particular representational format for meaning is tested as broadly as possible. In this format, developed by the LNR research group at The University of California at San Diego, verbs are represented as interconnected sets of subpredicates. These subpredicates may be thought of as the almost inevitable inferences that a listener makes when a verb is used in a sentence. They confer a meaning structure on the sentence in which the verb is used. To be psychologically valid, these representations should capture (at least):1. Similarity of meaning The more similar two verbs seem in meaning to people, the more their representations should overlap.2. Confusability The more confusable two verb meanings are, the more their representations should overlap.3. Memory for sentences containing the verb The sentence structures set up by the verb's meaning should in part determine the way in which sentences are remembered.4. Semantic integration The representations should allow for the integration of information from different sentences into discourse structure5. Acquisition patterns The structural partitions in the representations should correspond to the structures children acquire when they are learning the meanings of the verbs.6. Patterns of extension The representations should be extendible so as to reflect the ways in which people interpret verb meanings when the verbs are used outside their normal context.7. Reaction times The time taken to comprehend a sentence using a given verb should reflect the structural complexity of the verb meaning.