scholarly journals Representation of Different Types of Adjectival Polysemy in the Mental Lexicon

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Apresjan ◽  
Anastasiya Lopukhina ◽  
Maria Zarifyan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representations ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Online Experiment ◽  
Semantic Clustering ◽  
Literal Sense ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Polysemous Words

We studied mental representations of literal, metonymically different, and metaphorical senses in Russian adjectives. Previous studies suggested that in polysemous words, metonymic senses, being more sense-related, were stored together with literal senses, whereas more distant metaphorical senses had separate representations. We hypothesized that metonymy may be heterogeneous with respect to its mental storage. “Whole-part” metonymy (“sad person” – “sad eyes”), which is cognitively closer to the literal sense and more regular, should be stored differently from temporal, causal or resultative metonymy (“sad person” – “sad time;” “sad person” – “sad news;” “lead.ADJ ball” – “lead.ADJ poisoning”), which is irregular and semantically distant from the literal sense. We conducted an online experiment with semantic clustering task in which the participants were asked to classify sentences with a literal, proximal metonymic, distal metonymic, or metaphorical sense of an adjective into virtual baskets so that sentences with the same perceived sense were put in the same basket. Our results showed that proximal metonymies were grouped together with the literal sense and with each other more often than with distal metonymies and metaphors. Distal metonymies, in turn, were grouped with literal senses more often than with metaphors. Overall, we concluded that literal senses and proximal metonymies were stored in single representations, distal metonymies formed hybrid representations with literal senses, and metaphors were stored separately from literal senses. Additionally, we discovered that perception of semantic differences is affected by the surrounding senses: distal metonymies were more discernible from literal senses when presented with proximal metonymies, and less so when presented with metaphors.

scholarly journals Variation is information: Analyses of variation across items, participants, time, and methods in metalinguistic judgment data

Linguistics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-81
Author(s):  
Véronique Verhagen ◽  
Maria Mos ◽  
Joost Schilperoord ◽  
Ad Backus
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representation ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Judgment Task ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Prepositional Phrases ◽  
Linguistic Representations ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Judgment Data

AbstractIn a usage-based framework, variation is part and parcel of our linguistic experiences, and therefore also of our mental representations of language. In this article, we bring attention to variation as a source of information. Instead of discarding variation as mere noise, we examine what it can reveal about the representation and use of linguistic knowledge. By means of metalinguistic judgment data, we demonstrate how to quantify and interpret four types of variation: variation across items, participants, time, and methods. The data concern familiarity ratings assigned by 91 native speakers of Dutch to 79 Dutch prepositional phrases such as in de tuin ‘in the garden’ and rond de ingang ‘around the entrance’. Participants performed the judgment task twice within a period of one to two weeks, using either a 7-point Likert scale or a Magnitude Estimation scale. We explicate the principles according to which the different types of variation can be considered information about mental representation, and we show how they can be used to test hypotheses regarding linguistic representations.

The referential-attributive distinction

2001 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Powell
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representation ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Relevance Theory ◽  
Definite Descriptions ◽  
Cognitive Perspective ◽  
Procedural Semantics ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types

In this paper my aim is to approach the referential–attributive distinction in the interpretation of definite descriptions, originally discussed by Donnellan (1966), from a cognitive perspective grounded in Sperber and Wilson’s Relevance Theory (Sperber and Wilson 1986/95). In particular, I argue that definite descriptions encode a procedural semantics, in the sense of Blakemore (1987), which is neutral as between referential and attributive readings (among others). On this account, the distinction between referential and attributive readings arises as a result of the differing links that exist between different types of mental representation and the world, rather than as a result of the differing links between language and mental representations.

scholarly journals PRESCHOOL CHILDREN’S MENTAL REPRESENTATIONS OF CLOUDS

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-274
Author(s):  
Glykeria Fragkiadaki ◽  
Konstantinos Ravanis
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Natural Phenomenon ◽  
Scientific Model ◽  
Early Childhood Science Education ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Physical Phenomena ◽  
Education Science ◽  
Of Greece

Children construct representations of concepts and physical phenomena and these representations are critical to education. The natural phenomenon of clouds is perceivable and also observable by young children in everyday life. Moreover, it is a subject approached by the early childhood science education curriculums. However, in several studies it is noticed that the related children’s representations are often incompatible with the scientific model, mainly because of its character, which is macroscopic and not immediately observable. In this research, clouds representations framed by children aged 4.5-6 years old are studied. The sample consisted of sixteen (16) children (7 boys and 9 girls) from one public kindergarten in an urban area of Greece. Data were collected through expanded, open type conversations between children pairs and one of the researchers. The results of the qualitative analysis of the conversations show that these children use different types of representations, the majority dominated by the nature of the substance under study. The outcome of the research results indicates the potentials of preschool children to perceive clouds as autonomous natural entities. Key words: pupils’ representations, clouds, preschool education, science education.

scholarly journals Paradigmatic Relations Interact During the Production of Complex Words: Evidence From Variable Plurals in Dutch

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Zee ◽  
Louis ten Bosch ◽  
Ingo Plag ◽  
Mirjam Ernestus
Keyword(s):  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Corpus Studies ◽  
Alternative Variant ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Strong Representation ◽  
Complex Words ◽  
Potential Interactions

A growing body of work in psycholinguistics suggests that morphological relations between word forms affect the processing of complex words. Previous studies have usually focused on a particular type of paradigmatic relation, for example the relation between paradigm members, or the relation between alternative forms filling a particular paradigm cell. However, potential interactions between different types of paradigmatic relations have remained relatively unexplored. This paper presents two corpus studies of variable plurals in Dutch to test hypotheses about potentially interacting paradigmatic effects. The first study shows that generalization across noun paradigms predicts the distribution of plural variants, and that this effect is diminished for paradigms in which the plural variants are more likely to have a strong representation in the mental lexicon. The second study demonstrates that the pronunciation of a target plural variant is affected by coactivation of the alternative variant, resulting in shorter segmental durations. This effect is dependent on the representational strength of the alternative plural variant. In sum, by exploring interactions between different types of paradigmatic relations, this paper provides evidence that storage of morphologically complex words may affect the role of generalization and coactivation during production.

scholarly journals The inflectional morphology representation of individual words in the mental lexicon

Psihologija ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 11-11
Author(s):  
Bojan Lalic
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Priming ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Masked Priming ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Connectionist Models ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Priming Condition ◽  
Morphological Priming ◽  
Morphological Representation

Models of complex word recognition can be separated into two wide groups: symbolic and connectionist. Symbolic models presume the existence of an explicit morphological representation of individual words; connectionist models do not and consider morphological effects to be a by-product of interaction between phonological, orthographic and semantic information. This study aimed to test whether there are explicit mental representations of inflected lexical units in the mental lexicon. Accordingly, the method of inflected suffix morphological and semantic priming of nouns in the Serbian language was used. In the morphological priming condition, the prime and the target shared the same inflectional suffix. In Experiment 1 overt priming was used, while in Experiment 2, masked priming. The results showed no significant effects of inflected suffix morphological priming, while significant semantic priming effects were recorded. The results obtained in this research are in line with predictions of the connectionist models.

Quantifying the Goodness of Mental Representations of Spatial Relationships

1992 ◽  
Vol 36 (18) ◽  
pp. 1363-1367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Venturino ◽  
Eric Geiselman
Keyword(s):  
Mental Representation ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Spatial Relationship ◽  
Spatial Relationships ◽  
Display Format ◽  
Know How ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Spatial Display

A fundamental purpose of a display format is to allow the human operator to construct and maintain an accurate representation of reality. In order for display designers to know how to portray spatial information, one must understand how humans represent and use spatial relationships. The purpose of this study was to determine the effective use of four different types of spatial display formats in the performance of a spatial discrimination task. Forty subjects initially viewed a display portraying simulated radar returns representing the relative position of two other aircraft (in formation), and then chose which of two spatial alternatives portrayed the true spatial relationship viewed previously. Results showed that subjects” ability to discriminate between the spatial alternatives was adversely affected by the type of display format used, and the degree of distortion of the true spatial relationships. The results are interpreted in terms of the resolution of one's mental representation of spatial relationships.

Root and Pattern Effects in the Processing of Spoken Non-Words in Arabic

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 292
Author(s):  
Faisal Aljasser
Keyword(s):  
Mental Lexicon ◽  
Rating Task ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Native Arabic Speakers ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Type Frequency ◽  
Word Pattern

Words in Arabic are formed by mapping roots into patterns. Conducting a series of priming experiments, Boudelaa and Marslen-Wilson (2015, p. 955) have concluded that “root and word pattern morphemes function as abstract cognitive entities, operating independently of semantic factors and dissociable from possible phonological confounds” In the present study, plausibility of this conclusion is tested by investigating native Arabic speakers’ sensitivity to the presence of roots and patterns when processing spoken non-words in Arabic. 50 native Arabic speakers were given a 7-point word-likeness rating task. In this task, participants were asked to rate the word-likeness of 132 auditorily presented non-words in Arabic. 88 of these non-words were created by using real Arabic roots (e.g. /mlk/) that varied in their type and token frequencies and were mapped into two different types of pseudo patterns. Results have shown that native Arabic speakers are sensitive to the presence of roots in the non-words. Specifically, root type frequency had the strongest effect on subjects’ ratings of the non-words in both types of patterns. Implications of these findings to theories of the Arabic mental lexicon will be discussed.

scholarly journals Thinking in pictures in everyday life situations among autistic adults

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. e0255039
Author(s):  
Clara Bled ◽  
Quentin Guillon ◽  
Isabelle Soulières ◽  
Lucie Bouvet
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Inner Experiences ◽  
Frequent Use ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Autistic Adults ◽  
Way Of Thinking ◽  
The Impact

Autistic individuals are often described as thinking in pictures. The aim of this study was to investigate the phenomenological characteristics of mental representations and inner experiences of autistic individuals. A total of 39 autistic adults and 80 control adults answered an online questionnaire. Autistic participants reported a more frequent use of visual mental representations than controls for different types of everyday situations. Moreover, autistic individuals defined their visual mental representations as more detailed than control participants. Furthermore, when describing their inner experiences, autistic participants used perceptive visual themes whereas control participants relied more on the description of events and memories. Our results support the hypothesis that some autistic individuals indeed “think in pictures”. We discuss the impact of such a visual way of thinking in daily life.

scholarly journals Vocab SIG: Re-examining semantic clustering: Insight from memory models

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Tomoko Ishii
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Memory Models ◽  
The Other ◽  
Visual Features ◽  
Semantic Clustering ◽  
Visual Component ◽  
The Past ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Different Types

It has been repeatedly argued that semantically related words should not be learned together because the learning is impeded. However, the results of past research are not all in agreement, with some providing favorable results for semantic clustering, and some seeming to suggest different types of similarity affect memory in different ways. The types of connections that truly cause the problem therefore need to be discussed more carefully. Focusing on a visual component, which is commonly observed across different models of working memory, a study was conducted to examine if learners have difficulty memorizing a group of words that describe items with a common physical feature. The study compared the learning of three types of word sets: unrelated, semantically related, and physically related. While no statistically significant difference was observed between semantically related and unrelated sets, the scores for physically related sets were significantly lower than those for the other two types. This suggests the possibility that the impeding effect of semantic clustering reported in the past could be partly due to the nature of semantically similar words, which sometimes share visual features. 「意味的に関連のある語を同時に学習すると記憶の妨げになる」という考え方が（語彙習得研究者の間に）繰り返し論じられている。しかし、先行研究の中には逆の結果を示すものや、意味上の関連性が異なると学習効果が異なることを示すものもあり、記憶の妨げになる要因が何であるのかは、慎重な検証が求められる。本論は、心理学におけるワーキングメモリーの研究において視覚イメージが重要視されていることに着目し、「関連のない語群」「意味的に関連のある語群」「形状の似ている物を指す語群」の記憶の効率性を検証したものである。その結果、「意味的に関連のある語群」と「関連のない語群」は統計的に有意差が見られなかったが、「形状の似ている物を指す語群」が他の語群よりも記憶しにくいことが示された。「意味的に関連する語は記憶しにくい」と言われているのは実は、意味的に関連する語は形状の似ているものを指すことがしばしばあるからではないか、という可能性が示された。

scholarly journals A Probe Into Chinese University Students’ English Lexical Ambiguity

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Xiaochun Zhang
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Semantic Priming ◽  
English Learners ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Chinese University ◽  
Ambiguous Words ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Meaning Frequency ◽  
Polysemous Words ◽  
Chinese English Learners

Disagreements arise on the differences of semantic processing of different ambiguous words in the perspective of psycholinguistics. This paper compares the differences of the semantic processing of different types of ambiguous words of Chinese English learners by using a multiple semantic priming experiment with short. The results demonstrate the advantage in semantic processing of words of homonymy of Chinese English Learners in the multiple semantic priming experiment, but the advantage in semantic processing of words of polysemy does not always take place, as it is relevant to learners’ English levels and words’ meaning frequency. The effect of semantic processing of polysemous words is greater than that of synonymous words.

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