JOhanna, could you give some examples of different cognitive
responses to "action" verbs and "state" verbs.
 
Are you aware of Joseph Williams's and Lee O'Dell's research showing
that English teachers and people in bureaucracies prefer essays
(in the Williams study) and memos (in the O'Dell study) written in the
passive voice, regardless of their avowed preferences? What's going
on there, from a cognitivist's perspective?
 
        --Bill Murdick