scholarly journals Language input and semantic categories: a relation between cognition and early word learning

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-790 ◽  
Author(s):  
ARIELLE BOROVSKY ◽  
JEFF ELMAN
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Semantic Category ◽  
Category Structure ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Computational Simulations ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Language Input ◽  
Over Time

Variations in the amount and nature of early language to which children are exposed have been linked to their subsequent ability (e.g. Huttenlocher, Haight, Bryk, Seltzer & Lyons, 1991; Hart & Risley, 1995). In three computational simulations, we explore how differences in linguistic experience can explain differences in word learning ability due to changes in the development of semantic category structure. More specifically, we manipulate the amount of language input, sentential complexity, and the frequency distribution of words within categories. In each of these simulations, improvements in category structure, are tightly correlated with subsequent improvements in word learning ability even when the nature of the input remains the same over time. These simulations suggest that variation in early language environments may result in differences in lexical proficiency by altering underlying cognitive abilities like categorization.

Measuring Word Learning Ability in Sequential Bilingual Children

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pui Fong Kan
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Word Knowledge ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Learning Skills ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Novel Word Learning ◽  
L1 And L2

Abstract The purpose of this article is to look at the word learning skills in sequential bilingual children—children who learn two languages (L1 and L2) at different times in their childhood. Learning a new word is a process of learning a word form and relating this form to a concept. For bilingual children, each concept might need to map onto two word forms (in L1 and in L2). In case studies, I present 3 typically developing Hmong-English bilingual preschoolers' word learning skills in Hmong (L1) and in English (L2) during an 8-week period (4 weeks for each language). The results showed gains in novel-word knowledge in L1 and in L2 when the amount of input is equal for both languages. The individual differences in novel word learning are discussed.

scholarly journals Effects of Time-Varying Parent Input on Children’s Language Outcomes Differ for Vocabulary and Syntax

2021 ◽  
pp. 095679762097055
Author(s):  
Catriona Silvey ◽  
Özlem Ece Demir-Lira ◽  
Susan Goldin-Meadow ◽  
Stephen W. Raudenbush
Keyword(s):  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Child Outcomes ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Syntactic Complexity ◽  
Language Outcomes ◽  
Optimal Sequence ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Language Input ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Over Time

Early linguistic input is a powerful predictor of children’s language outcomes. We investigated two novel questions about this relationship: Does the impact of language input vary over time, and does the impact of time-varying language input on child outcomes differ for vocabulary and for syntax? Using methods from epidemiology to account for baseline and time-varying confounding, we predicted 64 children’s outcomes on standardized tests of vocabulary and syntax in kindergarten from their parents’ vocabulary and syntax input when the children were 14 and 30 months old. For vocabulary, children whose parents provided diverse input earlier as well as later in development were predicted to have the highest outcomes. For syntax, children whose parents’ input substantially increased in syntactic complexity over time were predicted to have the highest outcomes. The optimal sequence of parents’ linguistic input for supporting children’s language acquisition thus varies for vocabulary and for syntax.

Sanskritization in Pāli

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan G. Levman
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Evolutionary Process ◽  
Early Language ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Dialect Variation ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
The Buddha ◽  
Over Time

Abstract This article continues the discussion on the nature of the early language of Buddhism and the language that the Buddha spoke, arguing that the received Pāli transmission evolved out of an earlier Middle Indic idiom, which is identified as a koine. Evidence for this koine can be found by examining correspondence sets within Pāli and its various varieties and by examining parallel, cognate correspondence sets between Pāli and other Prakrits which have survived. This article compares 30 correspondence sets transmitted in the Dhammapada recensions: the Gāndhārī Prakrit verses, the partially Sanskritized Pāli and Patna Dhammapada Prakrit verses, and the fully Sanskritized verses of the Udānavarga. By comparing cognate words, it demonstrates the existence of an underlying inter-language which in many cases can be shown to be the source of the phonological differences in the transmission. The paper includes a discussion on the two major factors of dialect change, evolution with variation over time, and the diffusionary, synchronic influence of dialect variation; it concludes that both are important, with dialect variation – and the phonological constraints of indigenous speakers who adopted MI as a second language – providing the pathways on which the natural evolutionary process was channeled.

Morphological Knowledge as an Aid to Word Learning: A Cross-Situational Word Learning Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Finley
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Word Meaning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Initial Training ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Morphological Knowledge ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Morphological Cues

The present study explores morphological bootstrapping in cross-situational word learning. Adult, English-speaking participants were exposed to novel words from an artificial language from three different semantic categories: fruit, animals, and vehicles. In the Experimental conditions, the final CV syllable was consistent across categories (e.g., /-ke/ for fruits), while in the Control condition, the endings were the same, but were assigned to words randomly. After initial training on the morphology under various degrees of referential uncertainty, participants were given a cross-situational word learning task with high referential uncertainty. With poor statistical cues to learn the words across trials, participants were forced to rely on the morphological cues to word meaning. In Experiments 1-3, participants in the Experimental conditions repeatedly outperformed participants in the Control conditions. In Experiment 4, when referential uncertainty was high in both parts of the experiment, there was no evidence of learning or making use of the morphological cues. These results suggest that learners apply morphological cues to word meaning only once they are reliably available.

scholarly journals MemCat: A new category-based image set quantified on memorability

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lore Goetschalckx ◽  
Johan Wagemans
Keyword(s):  
Neural Networks ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Semantic Category ◽  
Source Image ◽  
Behavioral Correlates ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Visual Hierarchy ◽  
Image Set ◽  
High Level ◽  
Repeat Detection

This is a preprint. Please find the published, peer reviewed version of the paper here: https://peerj.com/articles/8169/. Images differ in their memorability in consistent ways across observers. What makes an image memorable is not fully understood to date. Most of the current insight is in terms of high-level semantic aspects, related to the content. However, research still shows consistent differences within semantic categories, suggesting a role for factors at other levels of processing in the visual hierarchy. To aid investigations into this role as well as contributions to the understanding of image memorability more generally, we present MemCat. MemCat is a category-based image set, consisting of 10K images representing five broader, memorability-relevant categories (animal, food, landscape, sports, and vehicle) and further divided into subcategories (e.g., bear). They were sampled from existing source image sets that offer bounding box annotations or more detailed segmentation masks. We collected memorability scores for all 10K images, each score based on the responses of on average 99 participants in a repeat-detection memory task. Replicating previous research, the collected memorability scores show high levels of consistency across observers. Currently, MemCat is the second largest memorability image set and the largest offering a category-based structure. MemCat can be used to study the factors underlying the variability in image memorability, including the variability within semantic categories. In addition, it offers a new benchmark dataset for the automatic prediction of memorability scores (e.g., with convolutional neural networks). Finally, MemCat allows to study neural and behavioral correlates of memorability while controlling for semantic category.

Community participation in activities and places among older adults with and without dementia

Dementia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147130122092723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Habib Chaudhury ◽  
Tanveer Mahal ◽  
Kishore Seetharaman ◽  
Haakon B. Nygaard
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Healthy Aging ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Survey Tool ◽  
Targeted Interventions ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Cognitively Intact ◽  
Over Time

Availability of community-based destinations and amenities can facilitate healthy aging by supporting older adults’ functional abilities and enabling their participation in society, especially for those experiencing declining cognitive abilities. This study used a survey tool called participation in ACTivities and places OUTside the Home for older adults, specifically designed to examine the out-of-home participation of older adults living with or without dementia, to collect data on specific places and activities that individuals participate in over time. Thirty cognitively intact participants and 29 participants living with dementia were recruited. The past/present net participation figures indicate that all destinations are likely to be abandoned by persons with dementia over time. The findings indicate that both groups of participants were most likely to abandon recreation and physical activity places, although a higher number of persons with dementia reported that they would likely abandon these places in the future than the cognitively intact participants. Participants with dementia indicated multiple en route and at destination challenges, as well as their coping strategies. This study adds to our understanding of the out-of-home places visited by persons living with and without dementia and the patterns of changes in those visits over time. The findings are useful for health and social care professionals, including occupational therapists, social workers, as well as family caregivers, in recognizing the relative importance of certain out-of-home places and activities over others and the challenges faced by persons with dementia in getting to those places. This knowledge can inform programme and service providers to develop targeted interventions to support continued engagement by older adults with dementia and cognitively intact older adults.

scholarly journals Sonority-Related Novel Word Learning Ability of Children With Cochlear Implants With Optimal Oral Language Exposure

Ear & Hearing ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1715-1731
Author(s):  
Yasmeen Hamza ◽  
Areti Okalidou ◽  
Ann Dierckx ◽  
Astrid van Wieringen
Keyword(s):  
Cochlear Implants ◽  
Word Learning ◽  
Oral Language ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Language Exposure ◽  
Novel Word Learning

scholarly journals Neurocognitive Development in Perinatally Human Immunodeficiency Virus–infected Adolescents on Long-term Treatment, Compared to Healthy Matched Controls: A Longitudinal Study

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malon Van den Hof ◽  
Anne Marleen ter Haar ◽  
Henriette J Scherpbier ◽  
Johanna H van der Lee ◽  
Peter Reiss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Human Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Executive Functioning ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Z Score ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Group Time ◽  
Visual Motor ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Background A cross-sectional analysis of the Neurological, cOgnitive and VIsual performance in hiv-infected Children cohort showed significant cognitive impairment in combination antiretroviral therapy (cART)-treated, perinatally human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adolescents (PHIV+) compared to age-, sex-, ethnicity- and socioeconomic status (SES)-matched HIV-negative controls (HIV−). In this longitudinal study, we compared cognitive development in the same adolescents over time. Methods We repeated the standardized cognitive test battery after a mean of 4.6 years (standard deviation 0.3). In participants who completed both assessments, we compared cognitive trajectories between groups in the domains of intelligence quotient (IQ), processing speed, working memory, executive functioning, learning ability, and visual-motor function, using linear mixed models. We explored associations with disease- and treatment-related factors and used multivariate normative comparison (MNC) to determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment. Results There were 21 PHIV+ and 23 HIV− participants that completed 2 assessments and were similar concerning age, sex, ethnicity, and SES. Compared to HIV− participants, in PHIV+ participants the IQ score increased significantly more over time (group*time 6.01, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5–10.50; P = .012), whereas executive functioning decreased significantly more (group*time −1.43 z score, 95% CI −2.12 to −0.75; P < .001), resulting in the disappearance and appearance of significant differences. Processing speed, working memory, learning ability, and visual-motor function trajectories were not statistically different between groups. Univariately, those who had started cART at an older age deviated more in executive functioning (−0.13 z score, 95% CI −0.24 to −0.02; P = .043). The prevalence of cognitive impairments by MNC was similar in both groups, at both time points. Conclusions The cART-treated PHIV+ adolescents appeared to have similar global cognitive development, compared to their healthy peers. Executive functioning trajectory appears to deviate, potentially explained by earlier brain damage.

scholarly journals Visual Event-Related Potentials to Novel Objects Predict Rapid Word Learning Ability in 20-Month-Olds

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (5-8) ◽  
pp. 308-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristina Borgström ◽  
Janne von Koss Torkildsen ◽  
Magnus Lindgren
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
Novel Objects ◽  
Related Potentials

Quick Incidental Learning (QUIL) of Words by School-Age Children With and Without SLI

1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 434-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna B. Oetting ◽  
Mabel L. Rice ◽  
Linda K. Swank
Keyword(s):  
Word Learning ◽  
Language Impairment ◽  
Specific Language Impairment ◽  
Incidental Learning ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Affective State ◽  
Learning Ability ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Age ◽  
Semantic Classes

This study examined Quick Incidental Learning (QUIL) of novel vocabulary by two groups of school-age children, those who were developing language normally and those who demonstrated a specific language impairment (SLI). The experimental items consisted of 20 words that referred to one of four semantic classes: object, attribute, action, and affective state. Videotaped stories were used to introduce the novel words, and word learning was measured by a picture-pointing task. For the normally developing children, the results documented a robust ability to learn words in the early school years. Comprehension gains were observed for all four word types, with the greatest gain made on the object labels. The children with SLI also demonstrated some word-learning ability, but their gain was significantly less than that of their normally developing peers. Although the general pattern of word effects was similar across the two groups, the children with SLI demonstrated a particularly low gain on words from the action class.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document