Context in Natural Language Processing Research: Advancing an Understanding of Affordances and Constraints on Verbal Behavior

This paper examines the critical, yet undertheorized role of context in verbal communication when computers are used to analyze language data. Drawing on multiple disciplines and prior work from communication and social psychology, an interactionist perspective is reviewed and applied to computational settings to demonstrate how individual, interpersonal, social, and situational factors afford or constrain verbal behavior. Using examples of language complexity and processing fluency research, this paper demonstrates how contextual factors like instrumental goal activation can reverse seemingly established relationships between simple language features and behavioral outcomes. The paper concludes by advocating for methodological approaches that systematically integrate contextual variables into natural language processing research, enabling scholars to resolve contradictory findings, enhance replicability, and develop a more nuanced understanding of how language reveals psychological processes.