The influence of affect on the production of referring expressions

Many studies have provided evidence for the influence of affect on cognitive processing. However, experimental investigations of the relationship between affect and speech production are scarce. This study explores whether a speaker’s affective state influences the production of referring expressions. In two experiments, affective states were elicited using film excerpts, after which speakers referred to target stimuli in a way that differentiated them from distractors. The affective states were opposites, either in terms of valence (happiness versus sadness) or approach-avoidance motivation (anger versus disgust). Affective conditions were then compared with respect to the frequency with which participants referred to a target’s affect, whether this affect was congruent with the speaker's affective state, the number of modifiers per expression, the ambiguity of referring expressions, and overspecification. Results revealed no differences between different affective states concerning these factors, suggesting that a speaker’s affective state does not influence the production of referring expressions.