Comprehending Indirect Replies: When and How Are Their Conveyed Meanings Activated?

Abstract

Six experiments examined the comprehension of indirect replies conveyed by violating Grice's (1975) relation maxim (be relevant). In contrast to the nonliteral meanings examined in prior research (e.g., metaphors), the replies examined in these experiments yielded particularized rather than generalized implicatures (Grice, 1975); their indirect meanings were optional and accessed only with reference to the conversational context. Experiments 1–3 demonstrated that these conveyed meanings are activated during comprehension and form part of the comprehender's representation of the remark. Experiments 4–6 demonstrated that the comprehension of most of these replies involves a time-consuming inference process, including an activation of the remark's literal meaning. The need for an inference process was mediated by the conventionality of the reply.