title: The on-line processing of written irony.
abstract: We report an eye-tracking study in which we investigate the on-line processing of written irony. Specifically, participants' eye movements were recorded while they read sentences which were either intended ironically, or non-ironically, and subsequent text which contained pronominal reference to the ironic (or non-ironic) phrase. Results showed longer reading times for ironic comments compared to a non-ironic baseline, suggesting that additional processing was required in ironic compared to non-ironic conditions. Reading times for subsequent pronominal reference indicated that for ironic materials, both the ironic and literal interpretations of the text were equally accessible during on-line language comprehension. This finding is most in-line with predictions of the graded salience hypothesis, which, in conjunction with the retention hypothesis, states that readers represent both the literal and ironic interpretation of an ironic utterance.
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, UK. ruth.filik@nottingham.ac.uk
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Filik
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Moxey
mesh_terms: D032882:Comprehension / Q000502:physiology*; D005133:Eye Movements; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007802:Language; D011930:Reaction Time; D011932:Reading; D014956:Writing