Pragmatic understanding: comprehension of conversation in individuals with and without communication challenges

Thesis

Pragmatic processing of language involves inferring a speaker’s intended meaning by integrating their utterance in context. Pragmatics is thought to be dissociable from “core” aspects of language processing, such as vocabulary and grammar, and to be a specific area of difficulty for some individuals, such as autistic people. As there are limitations in current pragmatic assessments, a new Implicature Comprehension Test was developed to specifically measure a person’s ability to process implied meaning in context. Results supported the hypotheses, showing that processing implied meaning was separable from core language skills, and that the Implicature Comprehension Test was sensitive to cognitive differences between autistic and non-autistic individuals, especially in adults. The situation became more complex when looking at implied meaning in the context of other socio-cognitive-linguistic skills measured through a cognitive test battery, as domain-level differences between autistic and non-autistic people on the battery were subtle at most, even though autistic people were observed and reported themselves as having considerable day-to-day communication difficulties. It is suggested that these subtle differences reflected domain-level information processing differences in judging the meaning of novel communicative stimuli in the context of uncertainty and a preference for explicit information. However, the subtle scale of observed differences supports the view that communication difficulties in autism vary according to the context, with an important contextual factor being the level of structure and uncertainty inherent in the situation. In exploratory analysis, this thesis questions whether difficulties with “theory of mind” account for communication differences in autism. Suggestive evidence is also provided for gender differences in the communication profile in autism and for a selective link between self-reported, but not observed, communication difficulties and mental health challenges.

Authors: Wilson, AC

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-komk0pwev
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: autism; language; pragmatics; communication
• Subjects: Psychology