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On‐line consultation of definitions and examples: Implications for the design of interactive dictionaries
Author(s) -
Black Alison
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
applied cognitive psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.719
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1099-0720
pISSN - 0888-4080
DOI - 10.1002/acp.2350050208
Subject(s) - comprehension , extension (predicate logic) , natural language processing , word (group theory) , task (project management) , meaning (existential) , computer science , psychology , artificial intelligence , information retrieval , linguistics , philosophy , management , economics , psychotherapist , programming language
The paper discusses how dictionary consultation during text comprehension varies according to dictionary users' prior knowledge of a word and of the concept it represents. Four types of consultation are isolated: the construction, extension, confirmation , and recognition of word meaning. Two experiments (one using an interactive electronic dictionary and the second a pencil‐and‐paper task) show that people's use of definitions and examples varies with type of consultation. The findings suggest that dictionary entries giving definitions as the primary source of information are appropriate for construction, extension, and confirmation tasks but that examples should be the primary information for recognition tasks. The implications of the findings for the design of interactive dictionaries are discussed.