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What's the Point? *
Author(s) -
Schank Roger C.,
Collins Gregg C.,
Davis Ernest,
Johnson Peter N.,
Lytinen Steve,
Reiser Brian J.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
cognitive science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.498
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1551-6709
pISSN - 0364-0213
DOI - 10.1207/s15516709cog0603_2
Subject(s) - conversation , point (geometry) , comprehension , computer science , cognitive science , cognitive psychology , psychology , communication , mathematics , programming language , geometry
We present a theory of conversation comprehension in which a line of the conversation is “understood” by relating it to one of seven possible “points”. We define these points, and present examples where it seems plausible that the failure to “get the point” would indeed constitute a failure to understand the conversation. We argue that the recognition of such points must proceed in both a top down and bottom up fashion, and thus is likely to be quite complicated. Finally, we see the processing of information in the conversation to be dependent upon which point classification the user decides upon.