Literal comprehension?

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06 Sep 2011, 6:45 am

I noticed that I seem to trip up on comprehending certain questions at student.com that others don't seem to have any troubles comprehending, and this seems quite funny because my comprehension as measured by various scholastic tests is somewhere around the 93rd percentile. Is there something about "NT language comprehension" that's different from "reading comprehension"?

For example, one question was...

"would yu rather get candy from your man or money"

I read that to mean "Would you rather have "your man"(bf) get you candy or would you buy it yourself?" (It wasn't as comfortable of an interpretation as I would've liked, but that's what I could muster). However, everybody else clearly read it as "Would you rather get candy from your man or would you rather get money from your man?", including many who very likely had far lower reading comprehension.

So, is this literal comprehension at play? Do I need more examples to show where my interpretations go awry? Or is this more... "crazy" interpretation, or whatever?

Mdyar
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06 Sep 2011, 7:15 am

swbluto wrote:

Maybe at play. It certainly is with autism. There is a strong delineating effort to understand language and intent. I'll say I do the above as you, and mix it up, and hit the literal. It's as if my comprehension is in a more narrow' band' mode (with conditions), and I can't comprehend the likely meaning. More so when I was younger due to inexperience. But it is hit and miss depending on my symptoms in a given period. I've recently done one and continue to do them, but with less frequency, now.

I've read a few posts that this happens with ADHD.

swbluto
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06 Sep 2011, 7:25 am

Mdyar wrote:

swbluto wrote:

I've read a few posts that this happens with ADHD.

Ohhhhh....?

Do you know if it seems more common among the ADHD camp or the Aspie Camp?

piroflip
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06 Sep 2011, 7:29 am

A sign on an English motorway read "No hard shoulder; obstruction risk".

It meant of course that there was an obstruction risk BECAUSE there was no hard shoulder.

I thought for many years though that it meant that there was no hard shoulder because having one there would CAUSE an obstruction risk.

I feel pretty stupid about it now. Lol

Also when I was a very young boy my granddad asked me how old I was.
I instantly replied (very seriously) that I wasn't old; I was young; much to the amusement of all around.

Mdyar
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06 Sep 2011, 7:43 am

swbluto wrote:

Mdyar wrote:

swbluto wrote:

I've read a few posts that this happens with ADHD.

Ohhhhh....?

Do you know if it seems more common among the ADHD camp or the Aspie Camp?

Oh, probably Aspie. But I know I fall into it. I've read a few posts that ADHD people do it. Interestingly, I came across a post of one of the high IQ that fall into the literal . It's simply a ToM issue here-- face in book, and inexperience with the local jargon.

Heck, there was a thread of an ADHDer here at WP, that posted this literalness, and attributed this to not using one's head on occasion, but I can't find her post now.

nemorosa
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06 Sep 2011, 8:14 am

swbluto wrote:

"would yu rather get candy from your man or money"

I don't think this is literal thinking at all. The way I read anything is to break it down into it's constituent parts.

would you rather get candy [from your man] or money?

The "from your man" is rather redundant and it's omission doesn't really change the logic of the sentence. You are left with being the recipient of candy or money.

There is nothing in there to suggest purchasing anything; the money is a noun whilst buying would be a verb.

swbluto
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06 Sep 2011, 10:01 am

nemorosa wrote:

swbluto wrote:

"would yu rather get candy from your man or money"

That sentence could also be broken down as ...

Would you rather get candy from [your man] or [money]?

To get candy from "money" is basically suggesting you'd buy it, or so I think. Maybe I'm just not used to the local jargon for his dialect; he did seem to be an average ghetto-rat and many who answered seemed to be in a similar social bracket. Although, making "wrong interpretations" of NT sentences seems to happen more frequently than average for me.

nemorosa
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06 Sep 2011, 10:39 am

swbluto wrote:

I don't see how you could break it down in that way. "From your man" is a construct to give meaning to your "get". You seem to be implying that "your man" and "money" are equivalent propositions by your emphasis.

Regardless, being the recipient of money does not in any way demand that it must be spent on candy. You seem to be reading more into the question than the data that you have warrants.

There is a difference between reading something literally and with a statement or question being ambiguous and I guess that depends on the context.

The_Walrus
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06 Sep 2011, 10:47 am

I think it is just a case of the question being ambigous or badly worded. It should be "would you rather be given candy or money?" or some such.

swbluto
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06 Sep 2011, 10:53 am

nemorosa wrote:

swbluto wrote:

This is true, but even if it was "ambiguous", clearly everybody who answered the question didn't find it ambiguous at all as judging by the consistency of the responses. Of course, I think the average person looks at the answers before answering, so even if they initially wrongly interpreted the question, they'd correct it and answer appropriately. I guess I don't truly know how many NTs incorrectly interpreted it initially, which may mean it's not necessarily an autistic "thing to do".

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06 Sep 2011, 12:40 pm

I'm confused, I interpreted it the way it was written. I thought it was asking would you get candy from your man or money meaning would I rather have him give me candy or money. That be literal interpretation.

T-Bone
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06 Sep 2011, 1:21 pm

To me, I find 3 different interpretations:

Would you rather get candy from
A) your man
or B) money?

Would you rather get
A) candy from your man
or B) money

Would you rather get from your man
A) candy
or B) money

I don't understand how the third interpretation would be the correct one. Why would "from your man" apply to "get" and not to "candy"?

I'm a computer programmer, not an English major, and that's how I see it.

T-Bone
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06 Sep 2011, 1:28 pm

Another way to phrase it:

Would you rather get candy or money from your man?

I can interpret that as:

Would you rather get
A) candy
or B) money
from your man?

I wouldn't interpret it as:

Would you rather get
A) candy
or B) money from your man?

The "from your man" isn't in the middle of the two options confusing everything.

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06 Sep 2011, 1:38 pm

when i was a kid my grandmother who visited us told us about someone she knew who had a dog. she said, "the dog's name was bony and it was run over by a car." i thought it was very funny that a NAME can get run over by a car and laughed my head off. it took me a few minutes to realize that a poor dog got killed and that killed the laughter right away and i felt sad.
at work i do surveyes over the phone and it said on the computer to ask the age of kids three and up. i thought they meant to ask the age only if the person had three kids or more, untill someone explained you were supposed to ask the age of kids who are over three years of age. i didn't understand the explanation the first time...
we have a problem with communication.

SammichEater
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06 Sep 2011, 2:46 pm

This is just a misplaced modifier. This is not the reader's fault, as it is in fact incorrect grammar.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/mi ... fiers.aspx

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swbluto
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06 Sep 2011, 2:57 pm

SammichEater wrote:

This is just a misplaced modifier. This is not the reader's fault, as it is in fact incorrect grammar.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/mi ... fiers.aspx

Lol, the majority of "NT speak" is incorrect grammar. XD

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