Hermann and Deutsch ( 1976 ; also reported in Levelt 1989 ) show that greater differences are most likely to be chosen , presumably because they are more striking .
speaking from intention to articulation
William J M Levelt
Suppose , for example , that the KB contains information about height as well as width , then we have inequalities of the forms ( a ) height > x , ( b ) height < x , ( c ) width > x , and ( d ) width < x. Which of these should come first ? Hermann and Deutsch ( 1976 ; also reported in Levelt 1989 ) show that greater differences are most likely to be chosen , presumably because they are more striking . In experiments involving candles of different heights and widths , if the referent is both the tallest and the fattest candle , subjects tended to say ` the tall candle ' when the tallest candle is much taller than all others whereas the same candle is only slightly wider than the others ; if the reverse is the case , the preference switches to ` the fat candle . '
Hermann and Deutsch ( 1976 ; also reported in @@CITATION ) show that greater differences are most likely to be chosen , presumably because they are more striking .