Inferring the purpose of a prior query and responding accordingly

Abstract

The paper analyzes how recipients infer the purpose of a prior query. While such inferences are not directly observable, analyzing responses to queries sheds light on ways in which recipients likely understood them. The paper identifies three types of sequences in which recipients respond to the inferred purpose of the prior query. To infer a purpose of a query, recipients draw on the form of the query, the immediately prior interaction, and assumedly shared knowledge about the current situation. It concludes with a discussion of the relationship between inferring the purpose of a prior query and participants’ pervasively addressing the question ‘why that now’.

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