Functional Unexpectedness: Reframing the Role of Predictability in Language Comprehension.

Unexpectedness is an inherent and unavoidable aspect of communication, with sharing of new information between interlocutors one of its primary goals. Individuals also often do not avoid surprising inputs and instead seek out stimuli which are novel. Despite this, language comprehension research often concludes that predictability is essential for efficient communication. This is supported by a myriad of research showing a negative relationship between predictability and purported processing effort, as indexed, for example, by fixation times, event-related potentials or neuroimaging data. This highlights an interesting discrepancy between how communication and language comprehension research view the role of unexpectedness. Utilising evidence from the cognitive neuroscience of memory and learning, we propose a framework referred to as “functional unexpectedness”, which delineates the conditions under which unexpectedness may support language comprehension outcomes. This account posits a U-shaped relationship between unexpectedness and depth of comprehension / downstream memory outcomes, but only under circumstances where the comprehender can integrate the current input with existing knowledge schemas. We suggest that functional unexpectedness provides a framework for understanding how language processing is utilised to foster downstream learning outcomes. Reframing the role of unexpectedness in longer-term language processing will allow for a better understanding of how predictive conditions can be utilised to support effective communication outside of an experimental context.