Expectation is known to have an impact on behavioral choices of human beings by intensifying the perception of something or distracting their attention away. However, little is known about how unexpected situations affect information processing. This study investigated the processing of possibility hedges. Specifically, it tested whether participants ignored possibility hedges when processing medical diagnoses and medical advice that contradicted their expectation. The results suggested that possibility hedges used in sentences did not affect the degree of participants' surprise when reading unexpected text continuations. However, it was found that although participants paid attention to possibility hedges when asked to rate credibility of the texts, they paid attention to the hedges to a varying degree depending on whether situations mentioned in the text turned out to be better or worse than expected. The study added to the body of literature in information processing that unexpected text continuations can affect readers' attention to language cues. Moreover, the study also shed some light on the doctor-patient communication topic.
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