Interpreting subjectivity in causal relations takes effort: Subjective, claim-argument relations are read slower than objective, cause-consequence relations. In an eye-tracking-while-reading experiment, we investigated whether connectives and stance markers can play a facilitative role. Sixty-five Chinese participants read sentences expressing a…

The thinking underlying people's positions on complex issues is often of limited scope or complexity, yet changing minds is notoriously difficult. We investigated the thinking underlying people's positions on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Rather than seek to influence their thinking by engaging them in considering alternative…

The rhetoric used by right-wing anti-immigration politicians is considered important to their political success. Such rhetoric commonly contains figurative frames with metaphor and/or hyperbole. In two experiments (n[subscript experiment1] = 411, n[subscript experiment2] = 407), we tested when and how such figurative frames add to the intense and…

In the context of texts that depicted either a minimally confrontational conversation (study 1) or a more confrontational argument (study 2) with a close friend, the use of ironic criticism was rated as being more humorous, polite, and positive, yet also as more sarcastic and mocking than direct criticism. Although our results were consistent with…

This article focuses on the grammar of Japanese "kara" "because/so" and "kedo" "but", traditionally understood as conjunctive particles whose function is to mark a "subordinate" clause and connect it to a following "main" clause. This article shows that, in conversation, these forms are often used turn-finally without an apparent main clause and…

We examine students' processing and representation of arguments and counterarguments in one-sided scientific texts. In Experiment 1, students read texts about evolution and TV violence. Sentence reading times indicated that subjects slowed down reading to the extent that arguments were both more consistent, and inconsistent, with the text…

Several studies showed how coherence markers, like connectives and lexical cue phrases, influence the processing and representation of informative text. Although discourse analysts have repeatedly argued that coherence markers influence the processing of persuasive text as well, there is hardly any empirical evidence for this idea. This article…

This study investigates cultural and communication medium effects on conversational argumentation in a decision-making context. Chinese and U.S. participants worked in pairs on two decision-making tasks via face-to-face (FtF) and instant messaging (IM). The analyses showed that Chinese participants tended to engage in potentially more complex…