scholarly journals The Associative Structure of the Mental Lexicon: Hierarchical Semantic Relations in the Minds of Blind and Sighted Language Users

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nawoja Mikołajczak-Matyja
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Free Association ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Class Inclusion ◽  
Associative Structure ◽  
Association Task ◽  
Inclusion Relations

Abstract This paper concerns the role of hierarchical semantic relations: class inclusion and partwhole relations as factors organising the mental lexicon, and the dependence of their importance on visual perception and visual memories, as demonstrated by the results of a free association task. 58 blind and 58 sighted language users were instructed to give associations for a list of 75 Polish nouns. Semantic analysis showed that more than 40% of the whole corpus of answers was related to stimuli through the part-whole or class inclusion relations. The results of the analysis indicated many similarities, concerning both types of relations, in the feedback obtained from the blind and sighted respondents. However, the blind participants showed a significantly stronger tendency to respond with inclusive terms (hyperonyms of the stimuli) than the sighted respondents. Th e results were interpreted in terms of the specificity of the compensation processes.

scholarly journals The superordination relation and the symmetry of verbal associations in selected parts of the mental lexicon

2010 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 15-35
Author(s):  
Nawoja Mikołajczak-Matyja
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Free Association ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
School Students ◽  
Semantic Organization ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
Made In

The superordination relation and the symmetry of verbal associations in selected parts of the mental lexicon The paper discusses the role of the superordination relation in the semantic organization of the mental lexicon. The method of three consecutive free association tests (reactions from the previous test are stimuli in the next one, so lists of stimuli are prepared for each respondent separately) was used to determine the role of different kinds of semantic relations in building some fragments of the lexicon. A detailed semantic analysis made in 1200 recurrent (symmetrical) and non-recurrent "chains" built with associations given by 50 secondary school students (Polish language users) revealed the relative importance of the superordination relation as a factor connecting elements of the mental lexicon: the hyponymy/hyperonymy relation occurs more regularly in various lexicon parts than other paradigmatic relations.

scholarly journals Semantic relations and compound transparency: A regression study in CARIN theory

Psihologija ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hien Pham ◽  
Harald Baayen
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Decision ◽  
Latent Semantic Analysis ◽  
Semantic Analysis ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Decision Task ◽  
Semantic Transparency ◽  
Response Latencies ◽  
Conceptual Relations ◽  
Careful Assessment

According to the CARIN theory of Gagn? and Shoben (1997), conceptual relations play an important role in compound interpretation. This study develops three measures gauging the role of conceptual relations, and pits these measures against measures based on latent semantic analysis (Landauer & Dumais, 1997). The CARIN measures successfully predict response latencies in a familiarity categorization task, in a semantic transparency task, and in visual lexical decision. Of the measures based on latent semantic analysis, only a measure orthogonal to the conceptual relations, which instead gauges the extent to which the concepts for the compound?s head and the compound itself are discriminated, also reached significance. Results further indicate that in tasks requiring careful assessment of the meaning of the compound, general knowledge of conceptual relations plays a central role, whereas in the lexical decision task, attention shifts to co-activated meanings and the specifics of the conceptual relations realized in the compound?s modifier family.

Effect of Introducing the Universal Quantifier ‘All’ into the Class Inclusion Question

1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (3_part_2) ◽  
pp. 1255-1258
Author(s):  
Ron Gold
Keyword(s):  
Universal Quantifier ◽  
Class Inclusion ◽  
Standard Version ◽  
The Third

The effect of introducing the universal quantifier ‘all’ into the class inclusion question was investigated using 104 children aged 59 to 90 mo. One group of children was asked the standard version of the question, another an ‘all-subset’ version in which ‘all’ preceded the subclass, the third an ‘all-superset’ version with ‘all’ before the superordinate class, and the fourth a ‘double-all’ version with ‘all’ in both locations. When the superordinate class was mentioned last in the question, performance was better on the all-superset and double-all versions than on the standard version. When the subclass was mentioned last, performance was better on the all-superset version only. Performance on the all-subset version did not differ from that on the standard version. The results were explained in terms of the attention-directing role of ‘all’, together with the proposal that performance improves if attention is drawn towards the superordinate class and/or away from the contrast between the subclasses.

The Psychologist-Educator Views the Relationship of Vision to Reading and Related Learning Disabilities

1981 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 565-567 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jules C. Abrams
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Visual Field ◽  
Visual Perception ◽  
Learning Disability ◽  
Visual Defects ◽  
Considerable Controversy ◽  
Visual Problems ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The role of visual problems in learning disability has been a source of considerable controversy for many years. One major issue in the continuing argument is the frequent confusion of labels and concepts in the visual field. It is important to view vision as a psychophysiologic mechanism and to differentiate it from a mechanistic orientation emphasizing the eyes. Most visual problems related to learning disability represent a breakdown in the ability of the eyes to function in an harmonious fashion, that is, some interference in binocular function. While visual defects should not be confused with defects in visual perception, the identification and treatment of visual problems is an important element in the diagnosis and remediation of learning disabilities.

scholarly journals A Role of Amygdala in Visual Perception and Cognition in Macaque Monkeys (Macaca fuscata and Macaca mulatta)

1990 ◽  
Vol 161 (Supplement) ◽  
pp. 95-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
EIICHI IWAI ◽  
MASAO YUKIE ◽  
JOJI WATANABE ◽  
KAZUO HIKOSAKA ◽  
HIDEO SUYAMA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Perception ◽  
Macaca Mulatta ◽  
Macaca Fuscata ◽  
Macaque Monkeys

scholarly journals Networks in the mind – what communities reveal about the structure of the lexicon

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-199
Author(s):  
László Kovács ◽  
András Bóta ◽  
László Hajdu ◽  
Miklós Krész
Keyword(s):  
Word Association ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Association Network ◽  
Community Structures ◽  
Associative Structure ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Agglutinative Language

Abstract The mental lexicon stores words and information about words. The lexicon is seen by many researchers as a network, where lexical units are nodes and the different links between the units are connections. Based on the analysis of a word association network, in this article we show that different kinds of associative connections exist in the mental lexicon. Our analysis is based on a word association database from the agglutinative language Hungarian. We use communities – closely knit groups – of the lexicon to provide evidence for the existence and coexistence of different connections. We search for communities in the database using two different algorithms, enabling us to see the overlapping (a word belongs to multiple communities) and non-overlapping (a word belongs to only one community) community structures. Our results show that the network of the lexicon is organized by semantic, phonetic, syntactic and grammatical connections, but encyclopedic knowledge and individual experiences are also shaping the associative structure. We also show that words may be connected not just by one, but more types of connections at the same time.

scholarly journals Second Report to the Niue Assembly on the Constitutional Development of Niue

1999 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 577
Author(s):  
R Q Quentin-Baxter
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Free Association ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Constitutional Development ◽  
Service Commission ◽  
Niue Island ◽  
Administrative Assistance ◽  
Public Service Commission

Professor Quentin-Baxter provides suggestions to the Niue Island Assembly regarding the directions of Niue's constitutional development. The first part of the report provides the background to this report, including the need for Niue to have its own constitution while maintaining Niue's free association with New Zealand. The second part of the report discusses the contents of the proposed constitution, including requirements for public consultation, guarantees of New Zealand citizenship and economic and administrative assistance, the constitution's role as a public safeguard of certain legislative areas, and the future role of the Niue Island Assembly. The final part of the report is an addendum which includes a speech from Professor Quentin-Baxter regarding additional topics that the author did not include in the main body of the report, including calling for the establishment of a Niue Public Service Commission.  

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