---
title: "Focusing in Dialog — paper by Grosz (1978)"
description: "Grosz argues that conversation partners attend to only a small, shifting part of what they jointly know. 10 references, cited by 9 papers here."
authors: ["Barbara J. Grosz"]
year: 1978
venue: "Computational Linguistics"
source: "https://aclanthology.org/J78-3020/"
licence: "CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (ACL Anthology, before 2016)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/grosz-1978-focusing-dialog/"
---
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# Focusing in Dialog

**Authors:** [Barbara J. Grosz](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/barbara-j-grosz/) · **Year:** 1978 · **Venue:** [Computational Linguistics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/cl/) ([Computational Linguistics 1978](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/cl/1978/)) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (ACL Anthology, before 2016)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/J78-3020/) · [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/J78-3020.pdf) · [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W2137276350)

**Citations:** 31 citations (OpenAlex, 2026-10-14) · [9](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/grosz-1978-focusing-dialog/cited-by/) in our library, of the 149,439 papers whose bibliographies we read

## Summary
Grosz argues that conversation partners attend to only a small, shifting part of what they jointly know. She calls this active, participant-driven process *focusing*. It covers which entities are highlighted and the perspective from which each one is viewed. The paper examines how focusing shapes the production and interpretation of definite descriptions, and what this means for computer systems that understand dialog.

The analysis draws on a corpus of task-oriented dialogs from Grosz (1977) and Deutsch (1974). In these sessions an expert guides an apprentice through disassembling an air compressor, under conditions that simulate person–computer interaction. One fragment shows that a phrase like "the screw" does not pick out the most recently mentioned matching object. It picks out an object relevant to the part of the task currently in focus.

Grosz identifies two kinds of cues for focus shifts:
- **Task and domain structure:** the dialog's structure mirrors the structure of the task.
- **Linguistic signals:** for example, a contrastive "but".

She then outlines focusing mechanisms in an SRI dialog-understanding system and lists open problems. The work matters because it laid early foundations for computational models of discourse focus and reference resolution.

## Key points
- Focusing is defined as participants actively highlighting a subset of their shared reality. It always involves an implicit actor and also includes the perspective on each entity, such as viewing one event as a selling, a buying, or a trading.
- The data are task-oriented expert–apprentice dialogs about air compressor disassembly (Grosz 1977; Deutsch 1974), often collected with limited visual contact between the participants.
- In the flywheel/wheelpuller example, the earlier setscrews are the most recently mentioned screws. They are still excluded as referents for "the screw" because the task focus has moved on.
- Recency alone is insufficient for resolving definite descriptions. Domain/task structure and linguistic cues such as "but" guide focus shifts.
- The work was carried out at the SRI International AI Center, with support from NSF Grant MCS 76-22004 and ARPA contract N00039-78-C-0060.

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

## Institutions

- [SRI International](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/labs/sri-international/) — Research institute, Menlo Park, United States · 24 works · 12,175 citations

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🧭 Topics (1): [🗨️ Dialogue systems](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/topics/dialogue-systems/) · 654 works

## Cite

Cite as: Barbara J. Grosz. 1978. Focusing in Dialog. Computational Linguistics.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@article{grosz1978focusing,
  title = {{Focusing in Dialog}},
  author = {Barbara J. Grosz},
  journal = {Computational Linguistics},
  year = {1978},
  doi = {10.3115/980262.980278},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.3115/980262.980278}
}
```

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## References

10 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. and Definite Donnellan, Keith. Description. The Phildsophical Review, v o l . 75, 1966. Reprinted in: Seman t i c g , Danny P. S t e i n b e r g and Leon A. J a k o b o v i t s , Eds. pp. 100-1 14. T e U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , Cambridge, 1971. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=and+Definite+Donnellan%2C+Keith%2E+Description%2E+The+Phildsophical+Review%2C+v+o+l+%2E+75%2C+1966%2E+Reprinted+in%3A+Seman+t+i+c+g+%2C+Danny+P%2E+S+t+e+i+n+b+e+r+g+and+Leon+A%2E+J+a+k+o+b+o+v+i+t+s+%2C+Eds%2E+pp%2E+100%2D1+14%2E+T+)
2. Downing Pamela A. On B a s i c Levelsw and t h e C a t e g o r i z a t i o n o f Objects i n E n g l i s h Discourse. JxQ!x?-g4;he 32lizSLAnnualwpru Ber_kelev Wuisticg i3m&&Y, Berkeley, C a l i f o r n i a , February 1977. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Downing+Pamela+A%2E+On+B+a+s+i+c+Levelsw+and+t+h+e+C+a+t+e+g+o+r+i+z+a+t+i+o+n+o+f+Objects+i+n+E+n+g+l+i+s+h+Discourse%2E+JxQ%21x%3F%2Dg4%3Bhe+32lizSLAnnualwpru+Ber%5Fkelev+Wuisticg+i3m%26%26Y%2C+Berkeley%2C+C+a+l+i+f+o+r+)
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6. C r i a e , H, Logic and Conversation. In : sYntar M. I.T. A r t i f i c i e l Intelligence ta$oratory, m, P, Cole and J. Morgan, Eds. Vol. 3, 1970. pp. 41-58. Academia P r e s s , New York, 1975. Xhraar_d pf Disco-. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=C+r+i+a+e+%2C+H%2C+Logic+and+Conversation%2E+In+%3A+sYntar+M%2E+I%2ET%2E+A+r+t+i+f+i+c+i+e+l+Intelligence+ta%24oratory%2C+m%2C+P%2C+Cole+and+J%2E+Morgan%2C+Eds%2E+Vol%2E+3%2C+1970%2E+pp%2E+41%2D58%2E+Academia+P+r+e+s+s+%2C+New+York%2C+1975%2E+Xhr)
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8. Crosz, Barbara J. 'l'M Representation and Use o f Focus i n Dialogue Understanding. Ph. D. t h e s i s , U n i v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a , Berkeley, C a l i q o r n i a ; a l s o Technical Note No. 151, SRI I n t e r n a t i o n a l , Menlo Park, C a l i f o r n i a , 1977. Halliday. Mioh… [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Crosz%2C+Barbara+J%2E+%27l%27M+Representation+and+Use+o+f+Focus+i+n+Dialogue+Understanding%2E+Ph%2E+D%2E+t+h+e+s+i+s+%2C+U+n+i+v+e+r+s+i+t+y+of+C+a+l+i+f+o+r+n+i+a+%2C+Berkeley%2C+C+a+l+i+q+o+r+n+i+a+%3B+a+l+s+o+Technical+)
9. London, Langman , 1976. Hobbs J e r r y R. A Computational Approach t o Discourse Analysis. Research Report 76-2, Department o f Computer 'Sciences, C i t y College, CUNY, December 1976. Levy, David M. Communicative Goals and S t r a t e g i e s ; Between Discourse and Syntax. In Proceedings o f t h… [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=London%2C+Langman+%2C+1976%2E+Hobbs+J+e+r+r+y+R%2E+A+Computational+Approach+t+o+Discourse+Analysis%2E+Research+Report+76%2D2%2C+Department+o+f+Computer+%27Sciences%2C+C+i+t+y+College%2C+CUNY%2C+December+1976%2E+Levy%2C+David+M)
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*Updated 30 October 2026*