Predictors of lexical retrieval in Hindi–English bilingual speakers

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-273
Author(s):  
Keerthi Ramanujan ◽  
Brendan S. Weekes
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Access ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
First Time

AbstractWhen bilinguals name pictures while in ‘monolingual mode’, we expect that under conditions of language-constraint and no cognate facilitation, factors influencing lexical retrieval in monolinguals ought to exert similar effects on bilinguals. To this end, we carried out a L1-only naming task on early Hindi–English bilinguals. Results of linear mixed effects analysis reveal AoA, Familiarity, Image Agreement and Codability (availability of alternate names) to be the most significant predictors of lexical retrieval speed for early bilinguals, confirming our expectations. However, we report, for the first time, a by-subject variation in Codability for bilinguals. Implications of the results are discussed in the context of current theories of bilingual lexical access and competition. In preparation for this study, Hindi norms from bilinguals for items in the Snodgrass and Vanderwart set have been established, which will be of use for stimuli selection in experimental studies involving bilinguals.

scholarly journals Lack of Syllable Duration as a Post-Lexical Acoustic Cue in Spanish in Contact with Maya

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Nuria Martínez García ◽  
Melanie Uth
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Yucatec Maya ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Contrastive Focus ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Syllable Duration ◽  
Focus Marking

This paper focuses on the duration of stressed syllables in broad versus contrastive focus in Yucatecan Spanish and examines its connection with Spanish–Maya bilingualism. We examine the claim that phonemic vowel length in one language prevents the use of syllable duration as a post-lexical acoustic cue in another. We study the duration of stressed syllables of nouns in subject and object position in subject-verb-object (SVO) sentences (broad and contrastive focus) of a semi-spontaneous production task. One thousand one hundred and twenty-six target syllables of 34 mono- and bilingual speakers were measured and submitted to linear mixed-effects models. Although the target syllables were slightly longer in contrastive focus, duration was not significant, nor was the effect of bilingualism. The results point to duration not constituting a cue to focus marking in Yucatecan Spanish. Finally, it is discussed how this result relates to the strong influence of Yucatec Maya on Yucatecan Spanish prosody observed by both scholars and native speakers of Yucatecan Spanish and other Mexican varieties of Spanish.

Which cognitive functions subserve clustering and switching in category fluency? Generalisations from an extended set of semantic categories using linear mixed-effects modelling

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 2132-2147
Author(s):  
Manson Cheuk-Man Fong ◽  
Nga Yan Hui ◽  
Edith Sze-Wan Fung ◽  
Matthew King-Hang Ma ◽  
Tammy Sheung-Ting Law ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Functions ◽  
Temporal Structure ◽  
Semantic Distance ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Scoring Method ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Category Fluency ◽  
Matrix Reasoning

Clustering and switching are hypothesised to reflect the automatic and controlled components in category fluency, respectively, but how they are associated with cognitive functions has not been fully elucidated, due to several uncertainties. (1) The conventional scoring method that segregates responses by semantic categories could not optimally dissociate the automatic and controlled components. (2) The temporal structure of individual responses, as characterised by mean retrieval time (MRT) and mean switching time (MST), has seldom been analysed alongside the more well-studied variables, cluster size (CS) and number of switches (NS). (3) Most studies examined only one to a few semantic categories, raising concerns of generalisability. This study built upon a distance-based automatic clustering procedure, referred to as temporal–semantic distance procedure, to thoroughly characterise the category fluency performance. Linear mixed-effects (LME) modelling was applied to re-examine the differential associations of clustering and switching with cognitive functions with a sample of 80 university students. Our results revealed that although lexical retrieval speed (LRS) is clearly the determining factor for effective clustering and switching, matrix reasoning and processing speed also have significant roles to play, possibly in the processes of identifying and validating the semantic relationships. Interestingly, total fluency score was accurately predicted by the four clustering/switching indices alone; including the cognitive variables did not significantly improve the prediction. These findings underline the importance of the clustering and switching indices in explaining the category fluency performance and the cognitive demands in category fluency.

Tapeworm discovery in elasmobranch fishes: quantifying patterns and identifying their correlates

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haseeb S. Randhawa ◽  
Robert Poulin
Keyword(s):  
Host Species ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects Models ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Elasmobranch Species ◽  
Elasmobranch Fishes ◽  
Latitudinal Range

Most parasites from known host species are yet to be discovered and described, let alone those from host species not yet known to science. Here, we use tapeworms of elasmobranchs to identify factors influencing their discovery and explaining the time lag between the descriptions of elasmobranch hosts and their respective tapeworm parasites. The dataset included 918 tapeworm species from 290 elasmobranch species. Data were analysed using linear mixed-effects models. Our findings indicated that we are currently in the midst of the greatest rate of discovery for tapeworms exploiting elasmobranchs. We identified tapeworm size, year of discovery of the type host, host latitudinal range and type locality of the parasite influencing most on the probability of discovery of tapeworms from elasmobranchs and the average time lag between descriptions of elasmobranchs and their tapeworms. The time lag between descriptions is decreasing progressively, but, at current rates and number of taxonomic experts, it will take two centuries to clear the backlog of undescribed tapeworms from known elasmobranch species. Given that the number of new elasmobranch species described each year is on the rise, we need to re-assess funding strategies to save elasmobranchs (and, thus, their tapeworm parasites) before they go extinct.

scholarly journals Selection Effects on Dishonest Behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr Houdek ◽  
Štěpán Bahník ◽  
Marek Hudik ◽  
Marek Albert Vranka
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Opposite Effect ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Selection Effects ◽  
Random Assignment ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Social Proof ◽  
First Time ◽  
Selection Of

Many experimental studies use random assignment to identify factors influencing dishonesty. However, in real-life, people deliberately choose dishonesty-enabling environments. In two laboratory experiments, we let participants self-select in two tasks, one of which enabled them to cheat. We found that participants low in the honesty-humility were more likely to choose the cheating-enabling task. Furthermore, after choosing it, they cheated even more than when they were randomly assigned to it for the first time. When choosing the cheating-enabling task was costly, the interest in it decreased, but those who chose the task anyway cheated even more. An intervention based on social proof aimed to discourage self-selection into the cheating-enabling environment had the opposite effect. The results suggest that immoral individuals are likely to dominate cheating-enabling environments, where they cheat extensively. Interventions trying to limit the choice of these environments may backfire and lead to the selection of the worst fraudsters.

scholarly journals Chronic demyelination exacerbates neuroaxonal loss in patients with MS with unilateral optic neuritis

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. e700
Author(s):  
Yuyi You ◽  
Michael H. Barnett ◽  
Con Yiannikas ◽  
John Parratt ◽  
Jim Matthews ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Survival Analysis ◽  
Optic Nerve ◽  
Optic Neuritis ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Mixed Effects Model ◽  
Axonal Loss ◽  
Fiber Layer ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects Model ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects

ObjectiveTo examine the effect of chronic demyelination in the optic nerve of patients with MS on progressive loss of retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons.MethodsProgressive retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) loss, as measured by optical coherence tomography, was longitudinally examined in 51 patients with MS with a history of unilateral optic neuritis (ON) and 25 normal controls. Patients were examined annually with a median of 4-year follow-up. Pairwise intereye comparison was performed between ON and fellow non-ON (NON) eyes of patients with MS using the linear mixed-effects model and survival analysis. The latency asymmetry of multifocal visual evoked potential (mfVEP) was used to determine the level of demyelination in the optic nerve.ResultsAlthough both ON and NON eyes demonstrate significantly faster loss of RGC axons compared with normal subjects, ON eyes with severe chronic demyelination show accelerated thinning in the RNFL in the temporal sector of the optic disc (temporal RNFL [tRNFL]) compared with fellow eyes (evidenced by both the linear mixed-effects model and survival analysis). Furthermore, progressive tRNFL thinning is associated with the degree of optic nerve demyelination and reflects the topography of pathology in the optic nerve. More rapid axonal loss in ON eyes is also functionally evidenced by mfVEP amplitude reduction, which correlates with the level of optic nerve demyelination.ConclusionsAlthough the effect of demyelination on axonal survival has been demonstrated in experimental studies, our results provide first clinically meaningful evidence that chronic demyelination is associated with progressive axonal loss in human MS.

Do Perceived Context Pictures Automatically Activate Their Phonological Code?

2009 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg D. Jescheniak ◽  
Frank Oppermann ◽  
Ansgar Hantsch ◽  
Valentin Wagner ◽  
Andreas Mädebach ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Experimental Psychology ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Cascade Model ◽  
Phonological Code ◽  
Perceptual Processing ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Target Picture

Morsella and Miozzo (Morsella, E., & Miozzo, M. (2002). Evidence for a cascade model of lexical access in speech production. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 28, 555–563) have reported that the to-be-ignored context pictures become phonologically activated when participants name a target picture, and took this finding as support for cascaded models of lexical retrieval in speech production. In a replication and extension of their experiment in German, we failed to obtain priming effects from context pictures phonologically related to a to-be-named target picture. By contrast, corresponding context words (i.e., the names of the respective pictures) and the same context pictures, when used in an identity condition, did reliably facilitate the naming process. This pattern calls into question the generality of the claim advanced by Morsella and Miozzo that perceptual processing of pictures in the context of a naming task automatically leads to the activation of corresponding lexical-phonological codes.

Too Tasty to Be Ignored

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 338-345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Dummel ◽  
Ronald Hübner
Keyword(s):  
Response Times ◽  
Flanker Task ◽  
Food Preferences ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Reward Learning ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects Model ◽  
Linear Mixed Effects ◽  
Performance Response ◽  
Attentional Weight ◽  
First Time

Abstract. Recent research has shown that even non-salient stimuli (colored circles) can gain attentional weight, when they have been loaded with some value through previous reward learning. The present study examined such value-based attentional weighting with intrinsically rewarding food stimuli. Different snacks were assumed to have different values for people due to individual food preferences. Participants indicated their preferences toward various snacks and then performed a flanker task with these snacks: they had to categorize a target snack as either sweet or salty; irrelevant flanker snacks were either compatible or incompatible with the target category. Results of a linear mixed-effects model show that the effect of flanker compatibility on participants’ performance (response times) increased with the participants’ preference toward the flanking snacks. This shows, for the first time, that attentional weightings in a flanker task with naturalistic stimuli (snacks) are modulated by participants’ preferences toward the flankers.

scholarly journals Orthographic effects in speech production: A psycholinguistic study with adult Brazilian-Portuguese English bilinguals / Efeitos ortográficos na produção da fala: um estudo psicolinguístico com adultos bilíngues falantes de Português Brasileiro e Inglês

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1461
Author(s):  
Alison Roberto Goncalves ◽  
Rosane Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Picture Naming ◽  
Naming Task ◽  
Brazilian Portuguese ◽  
Frequency Effect ◽  
Phonological Acquisition ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
Do So

Abstract: The present study inquired whether orthography affects phonological processing of English as an L2. To do so, a lexicon that simulated opaque and transparent grapho-phonic English relations in nuclear position was developed (e.g., keet, deit, toud). Bilingual speakers of Brazilian Portuguese and English were compelled to learn this new lexicon through a repeated-exposure training paradigm in which they were introduced to the lexicon phonological forms associated with their visual forms, and then to the phonological forms associated with their visual and orthographic forms. After undergoing training, subjects were tested with a Timed Picture Naming task to investigate orthographic recruitment in spoken production. Results suggested that orthography influenced naming of the trained words, indicating that the process of converting a visual input into its phono-articulatory representations for production involves orthographic activation. Such a finding was interpreted as a frequency effect of the grapho-phonic combination, which resulted in lack of skill to compute this operation in the sublexical route. Overall, the presence of orthographic effects in this task can be interpreted as evidence for such a system to function as a strategic mechanism that aids lexical encoding and, consequently, influences lexical access in initial stages of instructed language acquisition.Keywords: phonological acquisition; orthography; psycholinguistics.Resumo: Este estudo investigou se a ortografia afeta o processamento fonológico do inglês como L2. Para tal, um léxico que simulava as relações grafo-fônicas opacas e transparentes do inglês em posição nuclear (e.g., keet, deit, toud) foi desenvolvido. Bilíngues falantes de português brasileiro e de inglês participaram de um treinamento para adquirir este novo léxico com o paradigma de exposição repetida, através do qual foram introduzidas as formas fonológicas deste léxico associadas às suas formas visuais e, depois, as formas fonológicas associadas às suas formas visuais e ortográficas. Após a fase de treinamento, os participantes foram testados com uma tarefa temporalizada de nomeação de figuras para investigar efeitos do recrutamento ortográfico na produção da fala. Os resultados sugeriram que a ortografia influenciou a nomeação das palavras aprendidas no treinamento, indicando que o processo de conversão de uma representação visual para suas representações fonoarticulatórias na produção da fala em L2 envolve a ativação ortográfica. Este resultado foi interpretado como um efeito de frequência da combinação grafo-fônica, que resultou em inabilidade para executar esta operação na rota sublexical. Assim, a presença de efeitos ortográficos nessa tarefa pode ser interpretada como evidência de que o sistema ortográfico pode funcionar como um mecanismo estratégico que auxilia na codificação lexical e, consequentemente, influencia o acesso lexical nos estágios iniciais da aquisição da linguagem em meios instrucionais.Palavras-chave: aquisição fonológica; ortografia; psicolinguística.

scholarly journals Moral Psychology of Sex Robots: an experimental study -- How Pathogen Disgust is associated with interhuman sex but not interandroid sex

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mika Koverola ◽  
Marianna Drosinou ◽  
Jussi Palomäki ◽  
Juho Halonen ◽  
Anton Kunnari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Fiction ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Sex Robots ◽  
Monogamous Relationship ◽  
First Time ◽  
And Robotics ◽  
Shed Light

The idea of sex with robots seems to fascinate the general public, raising both enthusiasm and revulsion. We ran two experimental studies (Ns = 172 and 260) where we compared people’s reactions to variants of stories about a person visiting a bordello. Our results show that paying for the services of a sex robot is condemned less harshly than paying for the services of a human sex worker, especially if the payer is married. We have for the first time experimentally confirmed that people are somewhat unsure about whether or not using a sex robot while in a committed monogamous relationship should be considered as infidelity. We also shed light on the psychological factors influencing attitudes towards sex robots, including disgust sensitivity and interest in science fiction. Our results indicate that sex with a robot is indeed genuinely considered as sex, and a sex robot is genuinely seen as a robot; thus, we show that standard research methods on sexuality and robotics are applicable also in research on sex robotics.

scholarly journals What can speech production errors tell us about cross-linguistic processing in bilingual aphasia? Evidence from four English/Afrikaans bilingual individuals with aphasia

2015 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Kendall ◽  
Lisa Edmonds ◽  
Anine Van Zyl ◽  
Inge Odendaal ◽  
Molly Stein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Error Type ◽  
Bilingual Speakers ◽  
English Bilingual ◽  
Confrontation Naming ◽  
Accuracy Difference ◽  
Bilingual Aphasia ◽  
Production Errors

Introduction: The aim of this study is contribute to clinical practice of bilinguals around the globe, as well as to add to our understanding of bilingual aphasia processing, by analysing confrontation naming data from four Afrikaans/English bilingual individuals with acquired aphasia due to a left hemisphere stroke.Methods: This is a case series analysis of four Afrikaans/English bilingual aphasic individuals following a left cerebrovascular accident. Error analysis of confrontation naming data in both languages was performed. Research questions were directed toward the between language differences in lexical retrieval abilities, types of errors produced and degree of cognate overlap.Results: Three of the four participants showed significantly higher naming accuracy in first acquired language (L1) relative to the second acquired language (L2) and the largest proportion of error type for those three participants in both L1 and L2 was omission. One of the four participants (linguistically balanced) showed no between language accuracy difference. Regarding cognate overlap, there was a trend for higher accuracy for higher cognate words (compared to low).Discussion: This study showed that naming performance in these four individuals was reflective of their relative language proficiency and use patterns prior to their stroke. These findings are consistent with the hierarchical model, in normal bilingual speakers and with persons with bilingual aphasia.

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