Episodic organization in discourse and valid measurement in the sciences*

Abstract

The argument here concerns the episodic organization of discourse and measurement in the sciences. It is developed in two parts. First, empirical effects of episodic organization in discourse processing are demonstrated. The impact on first and second language users is shown by demonstrating loss in comprehension when episodic organization is disrupted. Empirical evidence is also summarized showing that the depth of comprehension of episodic organization is sensitive to relatively minute elements of surface form such as the names of persons and places in the discourse. It can be inferred that the ecological validity of language tests and measures of discourse processing in general is enhanced by respecting episodic organization and reduced by disrupting it. The second part of the argument concerns the deeper question of why episodic organization enhances the ecological validity of language tests and discourse processing measurements in general. Looking into this question from the point of view of Peircean logic, we are led to a surprisingly general inference: that valid measurements of any kind depend on the episodic organization of ordinary experience.

Acknowledgements

This paper was presented at the Quantitative Linguistics Conference 2003 (QUALICO) in Athens, Georgia at the University of Georgia, Continuing Education Conference Center on May 28, 2003. The authors are grateful to all of the participants who commented on the presentation and especially to Patrick Juola and Harald Baayen. Any errors that remain and the ideas expressed, however, are our own.