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THE CHOICE OF THE PASSIVE VOICE IN A COMMUNICATIVE TASK
Author(s) -
JOHNSONLAIRD P. N.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
british journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0007-1269
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1968.tb01110.x
Subject(s) - psychology , stimulus (psychology) , cognitive psychology , communication , contrast (vision) , linguistics , artificial intelligence , computer science , philosophy
Subjects had to rank‐order four logically equivalent but syntactically different sentences in terms of their appropriateness as descriptions of one diagram in contrast to another. A prediction of this rank order was derived on the assumption that subjects would attempt to emphasize the larger areas of colour in the stimuli, and that passive sentences emphasize the logical object to a greater extent than active sentences. Four groups were run in a 2 times 2 design. One variable was whether the stimulus to be described was symmetrically or asymmetrically divided into two colours. When one type of stimulus was to be described the other type served as a contrast. The other variable was whether the larger area of the asymmetrical stimulus was denoted by the logical subject or the logical object of the sentences. These two variables gave rise to a subsidiary prediction concerning the degree of correlation between the predicted rank orders and the actual performance of the groups. Both predictions were confirmed.