Abstract
The paper deals with the relation between linguistic presupposition and epistemic vigilance. It proposes evolutionary and cognitive reasons why presuppositions should induce shallower processing, that proves effective in persuasion and manipulation. It shows examples of presuppositions being associated with reduced critical attention from commercial advertising and political propaganda. It summarizes the available experimental verification of this assumption, commenting on the fact that behavioural evidence confirms reduced attention for presupposed contents, while neurophysiological evidence, on the contrary, shows increased processing effort. An explanation for the apparent contradiction is proposed, namely that the measured effort accounts for the mismatch between the cognitive and contextual status of new information and its being linguistically presented as presupposed. The fact that processing resources are devoted to repairing the mentioned mismatch is seen as further reducing the attentional resources available for epistemic vigilance and critical evaluation.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
