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Stenka25 Posted 11 years ago
Vocabulary
What is the underlined that clause doing?
What is the underlined that clause doing?
The passage below is from ‘the Blank Slate’ by Steven Pinker.
http://evolbiol.ru/blankslate/blankslate.htm
The answer is that the robot has to be equipped with an ability to see into the mind of the person being imitated, so that it can infer the person's goals and pick out the aspects of behavior that the person intended to achieve the goal. Cognitive scientists call this ability intuitive psychology, folk psychology, or a theory of mind. (The “theory” here refers to the tacit beliefs held by a person, animal, or robot, not to the explicit beliefs of scientists.) No existing robot comes close to having this ability.
In this passage I cannot figure out what the underlined that clause is doing?
I want to ask two questions about this word.
First, is the underlined ‘that’ a conjunction not a relative pronoun?
(I think it is a pronoun, am I right?)
Last, then, what is the meaning or role of the underlined ‘that’?
Is the underlined ‘that’ used like the following?
No one can deny the fact that you are guilty.
If that’s right, if the ‘that’ of the example sentence describes ‘the fact,’ what does the ‘that’ in question describe?
Regards.
The passage below is from ‘the Blank Slate’ by Steven Pinker.
http://evolbiol.ru/blankslate/blankslate.htm
The answer is that the robot has to be equipped with an ability to see into the mind of the person being imitated, so that it can infer the person's goals and pick out the aspects of behavior that the person intended to achieve the goal. Cognitive scientists call this ability intuitive psychology, folk psychology, or a theory of mind. (The “theory” here refers to the tacit beliefs held by a person, animal, or robot, not to the explicit beliefs of scientists.) No existing robot comes close to having this ability.
In this passage I cannot figure out what the underlined that clause is doing?
I want to ask two questions about this word.
First, is the underlined ‘that’ a conjunction not a relative pronoun?
(I think it is a pronoun, am I right?)
Last, then, what is the meaning or role of the underlined ‘that’?
Is the underlined ‘that’ used like the following?
No one can deny the fact that you are guilty.
If that’s right, if the ‘that’ of the example sentence describes ‘the fact,’ what does the ‘that’ in question describe?
Regards.
Top answer
Stenka25 What is the underlined that clause doing? Modifying 'aspects' probably; otherwise 'behaviour'. Stenka25 First, is the underlined ‘that’ a conjunction not a relative pronoun?
- Stenka25 What is the underlined that clause doing?
- Modifying 'aspects' probably; otherwise 'behaviour'.
- Stenka25 First, is the underlined ‘that’ a conjunction not a relative pronoun?
- The clause is adjectival.
- pick out the aspects of behavior that the person intended [to use in order] to achieve the goal.
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5 Answers
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Stenka25What is the underlined that clause doing?Modifying 'aspects' probably; otherwise 'behaviour'.
Stenka25First, is the underlined ‘that’ a conjunction not a relative pronoun?The clause is adjectival.
This interpolation may help you:
...pick out the aspects of behavior that the person intended [
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(I think it is a pronoun, am I right?)
I think I got out of my mind when I wrote the sentence above.
'A pronoun' should be corrected to 'a conjunction.'
I think I got out of my mind when I wrote the sentence above.
'A pronoun' should be corrected to 'a conjunction.'
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Thanks a lot as always, Mister Micawber.
Your sentence of interpolation makes me figure out what this sentence means.
But I’m still in the dark about the grammatical sense of the sentence in question.
You tell me ‘that’ is adjectival.
I interpret your remark as ‘that’ being relative pronoun.
(Am I right?)
...infer the person's goals and pick out the aspects o
Your sentence of interpolation makes me figure out what this sentence means.
But I’m still in the dark about the grammatical sense of the sentence in question.
You tell me ‘that’ is adjectival.
I interpret your remark as ‘that’ being relative pronoun.
(Am I right?)
...infer the person's goals and pick out the aspects o
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Stenka25(Am I right?)Yes, you are.
Stenka25(Are you agreeing with my train of thought?)Yes, I am.
Stenka25Can I regard this sentence as a bit slack?No, I think a bit terse is all.
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