The Explanatory Effect of a Label: Its Influence on a Category Persists Even If We Forget the Label

In this study we replicated the explanatory effect of a label which had been found by Giffin et al. (2017). In their experiments, they used vignettes describing an odd behavior of a person based on culturally specific disorders that were unfamiliar to respondents. It turned out that explanations which explain an odd behavior through a person’s tendency to behave that way (circulus vitiosus) seemed more persuasive if the disorder was given a label that was used in the explanation. We replicated these results in Experiment 1, and in a follow-up Experiment 2 we examined the familiarity with category information and the evaluation of that category over time (the delay lasted one week). We realized that the label effect persists even when people make judgments based on their recollections about a category. Furthermore, according to a content analysis of the recollections, participants in the label condition remembered more information from the vignettes but tended to forget an artificial label; however, they used other words from the disorder domain instead (like “disease” or “kleptomania”). This allowed us to suggest a new interpretation of this effect: we suppose that in the Giffin et al. (2017) experiments the label did not bring any new features to a category itself, but pointed to a relevant domain instead, so the effect appeared from the activation of areas of knowledge in semantic memory and the application of relevant schema for learning a new phenomenon.

Internet Use, Users, and Cognition: Determination of the Cognitive Relationships Between Internet-Based Technology and Internet Users

This study aims to investigate growing Internet use in relation to cognition. Existing literature suggests human capability to utilize the Internet as an external (transactive) memory source. Formational mechanisms of such transactive memory systems and comparative effects of Internet use on transactive memory and semantic memory are both relatively unknown points of research explored in this study.This study comprises two experimental memory task surveys, confirming and yielding findings in memory research. Semantic memory is negatively affected by notions of information saved online. An adaptive dynamic is also revealed—1) as users often have a vague idea of desired information before searching for it on the Internet, first accessing semantic memory serves as an aid for subsequent transactive memory use and 2) successful initial transactive memory access eliminates the need for subsequently accessing semantic memory for desired information. Internet users form and reinforce transactive memory systems with the Internet by repeatedly defaulting to first accessing semantic memory then transactive memory or to accessing transactive memory only, and decrease reliance on transactive memory systems by repeatedly defaulting to only semantic memory. Users have some degree of control over transactive memory systems they engage in, a phenomenon to be potentially explored in future research directions.

Fiber Optic Network Technology of Communication of Specialists via Mental Neurointerfaces

Resonance communication of specialists can be carried out at a distance in real time in dialogue mode through a mental neurointerface with two-way communication. Mental neurointerface on the principles of magnetic resonance tomography captures a hologram of brain activity of the internal speech of the inductor specialist and transmits it to the mental neurointerface of the recipient's interlocutor through ultra-sensitive multi section nano resonators waveguides. The mental neurointerface of the recipient's interlocutor perceives the transmitted hologram of the brain activity of internal speech and resonates its internal speech to it. An interlocutor of the recipient with equivalent semantic memory in a resonant way makes sense of the internal speech of the inductor specialist. He forms the response with internal speech and transmits it to the interlocutor with his mental neurointerface through nano resonators in the form of holograms of the brain activity of internal speech. Interlocutors, as specialists in one subject area, have a similar semantic memory. Semantic memories are considered similar if they correspond to the principle of gold section according to a professional thesaurus. Specialists and interlocutors must learn a professional thesaurus before starting a dialogue through mental neurointerfaces. Thus, the problem of transmitting and reading thoughts at a distance using high technology is solved, taking into account the psychological aspects of the interlocutors. The development of mental neurointerfaces and ultra-sensitive multi section nano waveguide resonators for transmitting holograms of internal speech brain activity is just beginning. The use of resonant communication by mental neurointerfaces through nano waveguides resonators waveguides is currently very relevant in many areas of life activity.

Out-of-vocabulary but not meaningless: Evidence for semantic-priming effects in pseudoword processing

Non-arbitrary phenomena in language, such as systematic association in the form-meaning interface, have been widely reported in the literature. Exploiting such systematic associations previous studies have demonstrated that pseudowords can be indicative of meaning. However, whether semantic activation from words and pseudowords is supported by the very same processes, activating a common semantic memory system, is currently not known. Here, we take advantage of recent progresses from computational linguistics models allowing to induce meaning representations for out-of-vocabulary strings of letters via domain-general associative-learning mechanisms applied to natural language. We combined these models with data from priming tasks, in which participants are showed two strings of letters presented sequentially one after the other and are then asked to indicate if the latter is a word or a pseudoword. In Experiment 1 we re-analyzed the data of the largest behavioral database on semantic priming, while in Experiment 2 we ran an independent replication on a new language, Italian, controlling for a series of possible confounds. Results were consistent across the two experiments and showed that the prime-word meaning interferes with the semantic pattern elicited by the target pseudoword (i.e., at increasing estimated semantic relatedness between prime word and target pseudoword, participants’ reaction times increased and accuracy decreased). These findings indicate that the same associative mechanisms governing word meaning also subserve the processing of pseudowords, suggesting in turn that human semantic memory can be conceived as a distributional system that builds upon a general-purpose capacity of extracting knowledge from complex statistical patterns.

DASentimental: Detecting Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Texts via Emotional Recall, Cognitive Networks, and Machine Learning

Most current affect scales and sentiment analysis on written text focus on quantifying valence/sentiment, the primary dimension of emotion. Distinguishing broader, more complex negative emotions of similar valence is key to evaluating mental health. We propose a semi-supervised machine learning model, DASentimental, to extract depression, anxiety, and stress from written text. We trained DASentimental to identify how N = 200 sequences of recalled emotional words correlate with recallers’ depression, anxiety, and stress from the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). Using cognitive network science, we modeled every recall list as a bag-of-words (BOW) vector and as a walk over a network representation of semantic memory—in this case, free associations. This weights BOW entries according to their centrality (degree) in semantic memory and informs recalls using semantic network distances, thus embedding recalls in a cognitive representation. This embedding translated into state-of-the-art, cross-validated predictions for depression (R = 0.7), anxiety (R = 0.44), and stress (R = 0.52), equivalent to previous results employing additional human data. Powered by a multilayer perceptron neural network, DASentimental opens the door to probing the semantic organizations of emotional distress. We found that semantic distances between recalls (i.e., walk coverage), was key for estimating depression levels but redundant for anxiety and stress levels. Semantic distances from “fear” boosted anxiety predictions but were redundant when the “sad–happy” dyad was considered. We applied DASentimental to a clinical dataset of 142 suicide notes and found that the predicted depression and anxiety levels (high/low) corresponded to differences in valence and arousal as expected from a circumplex model of affect. We discuss key directions for future research enabled by artificial intelligence detecting stress, anxiety, and depression in texts.

Memory in Terms of Logic and Semiotics

The phenomenon of memory is considered as a component implicitly present in the process of information communication. A short typology of memory kinds that form a referential field around so-called semantic memory is given. Through the approaches of Yu. Lotman and R. Jacobson, the classical notion of time is considered through the relationship "Past-Present-Future", which is closely related to the problems of memory. The focus is on how could the memory be considered within logic and by means of logic? As one of the ways of solving the point, to apply the tools of tense logic to the problem through the analysis of the works of Anatoly Ishmuratov (1946–2017), a prominent Ukrainian logician, is proposed. The classifications of the tenses by O. Jespersen, H. Reichenbach, W. Bull are considered. The subjective and objective axes of orientation, which form the basis of calendars, charts and scales, as fragments of time, are analyzed. According to Ishmuratov, these instruments – schemes, diagrams, etc. can be considered languages. The possibility of language objectification of meaning determines the relationship of logical inference, and thus the structuring of semantic areas, which are memories, by means the language of logic and in accordance with its structures. Through the study of logical and cognitive conditions of action, A. Ishmuratov continued to develop ideas of tense logic and their application to explain the psychological perception of objective time. He construed a scheme of semantic connections of memory as a mental act that reproduces the life path of the individual; he distinguished between memories and "pseudo-memories", which together influence the reassessment of past events, shape the individual`s experience and his ability to construe alternatives to the future and reasoning about it. A special place in A. Ishmuratov's research is occupied by his explication of temporal three-valued logic and application of temporal modalities to the analysis of so-called transient states. Further study of such approaches could help to make sense of rational explication of memory, testimonies, reminiscences of past events and give interesting results.

Dynamic changes in semantic memory structure support successful problem-solving

While problem-solving is central in our daily life, its underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. Restructuration (i.e., reinterpretation and reorganization of problem-related representations) is theoretically considered as one such mechanism, yet empirical evidence supporting it is scarce. We investigated restructuration as a mechanism underlying problem-solving, using network science methodology. We estimated the structure of participant’s individual semantic memory network before and after they attempted to solve a riddle. These networks represent the organization of solution-relevant and irrelevant terms as nodes, with edges representing the strength of relationship between them based on participants’ relatedness judgments. The difference in semantic network metrics between pre- and post-solving phases was used to quantify restructuration and predict successful problem-solving. Problem-solving was predicted by local restructuration of semantic network, only in edges and nodes that had been assessed as helpful to solve the problem. These results shed new light on the mental restructuring associated with problem-solving and provide a new method to quantify this restructuring.

Education shapes the structure of semantic memory and impacts creative thinking

Education is central to the acquisition of knowledge, such as when children learn new concepts. It is unknown, however, whether educational differences impact not only what concepts children learn, but how those concepts come to be represented in semantic memory—a system that supports higher cognitive functions, such as creative thinking. Here we leverage computational network science tools to study hidden knowledge structures of 67 Swiss schoolchildren from two distinct educational backgrounds—Montessori and traditional, matched on socioeconomic factors and nonverbal intelligence—to examine how educational experience shape semantic memory and creative thinking. We find that children experiencing Montessori education show a more flexible semantic network structure (high connectivity/short paths between concepts, less modularity) alongside higher scores on creative thinking tests. The findings indicate that education impacts how children represent concepts in semantic memory and suggest that different educational experiences can affect higher cognitive functions, including creative thinking.

Birth Cohorts and Cognitive Reserve Influence Cognitive Performances in Older Adults

Background: Evidence suggests birth cohort differences in cognitive performance of older adults. Proxies of cognitive reserve (CR), such as educational attainment and occupational complexity, could also partly account for these differences as they are influenced by the sociocultural environment of the birth cohorts. Objective: To predict cognitive performance using birth cohorts and CR and examine the moderating influence of CR on cognitive performance and structural brain health association. Methods: Using ADNI data (n = 1628), four birth cohorts were defined (1915–1928; 1929–1938; 1939–1945; 1946–1964). CR proxies were education, occupational complexity, and verbal IQ. We predicted baseline cognitive performances (verbal episodic memory; language and semantic memory; attention capacities; executive functions) using multiple linear regressions with CR, birth cohorts, age, structural brain health (total brain volume; total white matter hyperintensities volume) and vascular risk factors burden as predictors. Sex and CR interactions were also explored. Results: Recent birth cohorts, higher CR, and healthier brain structures predicted better performance in verbal episodic memory, language and semantic memory, and attention capacities, with large effect sizes. Better performance in executive functions was predicted by a higher CR and a larger total brain volume, with a small effect size. With equal score of CR, women outperformed men in verbal episodic memory and language and semantic memory in all cohorts. Higher level of CR predicted better performance in verbal episodic memory, only when total brain volume was lower. Conclusion: Cohort differences in cognitive performance favor more recent birth cohorts and suggests that this association may be partly explained by proxies of CR.