certainty module

features.certainty.get_certainty(chat)

Calculates a score of how “certain” a given expression is, using the Certainty Lexicon.

Source: Rocklage et al. (2023): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/00222437221134802?casa_token=teghxGBQDHgAAAAA:iby1S-4piT4bQZ6-1lPNGOKUJsx-Ep8DaURu1OGvjuRWDbOf5h6AyfbSLVUgHjyIv31D_aS6PPbT

Certainty is an individual’s subjective sense of confidence or conviction (Petrocelli, Tormala, and Rucker 2007).

The score is computed by using a regular expression match from the lexicon published in Rocklage et al. (2023); the method was developed in consultation with the original author.

The score ranges from 0 (“very uncertain”) to 9 (“very certain”).

If a match is not found, the default value is 4.5 (which we take to be neutral). The default value is the only deviation that we make from the main paper, as the original paper simply returns NA.

Parameters:

chat (str) – The message (utterance) for which we are seeking to evaluate certainty.

Returns:

The certainty score of the utterance.

Return type:

float