Task-Specific Iconic Gesturing During Spoken Discourse in Aphasia

Purpose In persons living with aphasia, we will explore the relationship between iconic gesture production during spontaneous speech and discourse task, spoken language, and demographic information. Method Employing the AphasiaBank database, we coded iconic gestures in 75 speakers with aphasia during two spoken discourse tasks: a procedural narrative, which involved participants telling the experimenter how to make a sandwich (“Sandwich”), and a picture sequence narrative, which had participants describe the picture sequence to the experimenter (“Window”). Forty-three produced a gesture during both tasks, and we further evaluate data from this subgroup as a more direct comparison between tasks. Results More iconic gestures, at a higher rate, were produced during the procedural narrative. For both tasks, there was a relationship between iconic gesture rate, modeled as iconic gestures per word, and metrics of language dysfluency extracted from the discourse task as well as a metric of fluency extracted from a standardized battery. Iconic gesture production was correlated with aphasia duration, which was driven by performance during only a single task (Window), but not with other demographic metrics, such as aphasia severity or age. We also provide preliminary evidence for task differences shown through the lens of two types of iconic gestures. Conclusions While speech-language pathologists have utilized gesture in therapy for poststroke aphasia, due to its possible facilitatory role in spoken language, there has been considerably less work in understanding how gesture differs across naturalistic tasks and how we can best utilize this information to better assess gesture in aphasia and improve multimodal treatment for aphasia. Furthermore, our results contribute to gesture theory, particularly, about the role of gesture across naturalistic tasks and its relationship with spoken language. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14614941

Distributed cognition in teams is influenced by type of task and nature of member interactions

In contemporary organizations, many—if not most—teams work on cognitive or information processing tasks (Hinsz, Tindale, & Vollrath, 1997). The past 50 years of research have taught us much about how information is accessed, created, attended to, and processed as teams attempt to complete various tasks. However, many of the information processing effects that have been observed are task specific, yet little research has focused specifically on tasks and how their information processing requirements differ. In this chapter, we discuss how task differences can impact how teams use and process information and how different information distribution patterns across members might impact performance. In addition, we address how constraints on the amount and type of interactions among the team members influences performance in different task domains. We hope our discussion demonstrates the importance of task differences for understanding team information processing and highlights where greater research focus will be fruitful.

Temporal hierarchy of intrinsic neural timescales converges with spatial core-periphery organization

The human cortex exhibits intrinsic neural timescales that shape a temporal hierarchy. Whether this temporal hierarchy follows the spatial hierarchy of its topography, namely the core-periphery organization, remains an open issue. Using magnetoencephalography data, we investigate intrinsic neural timescales during rest and task states; we measure the autocorrelation window in short (ACW-50) and, introducing a novel variant, long (ACW-0) windows. We demonstrate longer ACW-50 and ACW-0 in networks located at the core compared to those at the periphery with rest and task states showing a high ACW correlation. Calculating rest-task differences, i.e., subtracting the shared core-periphery organization, reveals task-specific ACW changes in distinct networks. Finally, employing kernel density estimation, machine learning, and simulation, we demonstrate that ACW-0 exhibits better prediction in classifying a region’s time window as core or periphery. Overall, our findings provide fundamental insight into how the human cortex’s temporal hierarchy converges with its spatial core-periphery hierarchy.

Eye size effects in the dot-probe task: Differences in sclera exposure predict delayed disengagement from fearful faces

Fearful facial expressions are biologically salient signals of potential threat that automatically capture and hold observers’ attention. They are characterized by enlarged eye whites and dilated pupils, and fearful eyes alone are sufficient to capture attention. The morphological properties of the eye region are thought to play an important role in nonverbal communication. Yet, the extent to which variability in sclera exposure impacts the capture and hold of attention by fearful faces is untested. To address this, a sample of 249 adults completed a dot-probe task of selective attention with fearful and neutral faces. The results suggest that (1) fearful faces are prioritized over neutral faces and capture attention, (2) greater sclera exposure across faces captures attention, and (3) attention is held by greater sclera exposure of fearful faces at task irrelevant locations resulting in impaired task performance. Collectively, the results indicate that fearful facial expressions and sclera exposure capture attention through independent and interactive mechanisms.

Swipe kinematic differences in young children with autism spectrum disorders are task- and age-dependent: A smart tablet game approach

The motor system is becoming increasingly recognized as an important site of disruptions in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, the precise nature of this motor disruption remains unclear with some conflicted reports between papers. A bottleneck in kinematic studies of children with ASD has been the use of laboratory-based motion tracking systems and experimental paradigms that require didactic instructions. Thus, we employed an attractive smart tablet gameplay methodology to engage children’s interest without complicated verbal instruction. Children’s movements on the touch screen were recorded as they engaged in gameplay of their own volition, enabling improved ecological validity in data capture. Swipe kinematics were computed from two games that afforded goal-directed and free-style scribbling, respectively. 82 children aged 2-6 years were tested, including 37 children with ASD and 45 typically developing (TD) children. Kinematic analyses revealed significant age, group, and task differences. In comparison to aged-matched TD children, children with ASD under 5 years old performed faster goal-directed movements, whereas those over 5 years old performed slower goal-directed movements. In contrast, children with ASD moved faster than TD children irrespective of age during creative scribbling. Interestingly, movement speed increased with age in TD children in both game contexts, likely due to motor skill and confidence development, but this was not true for children with ASD, who moved slower in the case of goal-directed swipes or with no difference in the case of creative scribbling. These findings support emerging evidence for differences in maturation of visuomotor integration in preschool children with ASD.

L2-L1 noncognate masked translation priming as a task-specific phenomenon

The masked translation priming effect was examined in Chinese–English bilinguals using lexical decision and semantic categorization tasks in an effort to understand why the two tasks seem to produce different patterns of results. A machine-learning approach was used to assess the participant-based factors that contribute to the sizes of translation priming effects in these tasks. As expected, the participant-based factors that predicted translation priming effects did vary across tasks. Priming effects in lexical decision were associated with higher self-rated listening, reading, and writing abilities in English. Priming effects in semantic categorization were associated with more frequent use of English in daily life, spoken English proficiency, and self-rated listening proficiency in English. These results are discussed within the framework of Multilink, the logic of which is then expanded in an attempt to account for these task differences.

It matters how to recall – task differences in retrieval practice

The type of a recall task may substantially influence the effects of learning by retrieval practice. In a within-subject design, 54 university students studied two expository texts, followed by retrieval practice with either short-answer tasks (targeted retrieval) or a free-recall task (holistic retrieval). Concerning the direct effects of retrieval practice, short-answer tasks led to increased retention of directly retrieved targeted information from the learning contents, whereas free-recall tasks led to better retention of further information from the learning contents. Concerning indirect effects, short-answer tasks improved metacognitive calibration; free-recall tasks increased self-efficacy and situational interest. These findings confirm the assumption that the effects of retrieval practice depend on the type of recall task: short-answer tasks help us remember targeted information units and foster metacognitive calibration. Free-recall tasks help us remember a broader spectrum of information, and they foster motivational factors.

The early presence and developmental trend of interpreter advantages incognitive flexibility

Findings about interpreter advantages in cognitive flexibility have been discrepant. To examine whether task differences and interpreters’ L2 proficiency contributed to the discrepancy, we tested two groups of university students (interpreting trainees vs. control participants) with two color-shape switching tasks differing in stimulus valence (univalent vs. bivalent). The results showed that: (1) only the univalent task detected a switch cost advantage for the interpreter group, indicating the task condition for observing interpreting trainees’ early advantage in local switching ability (as indexed by switch cost); (2) only the interpreter group with an advanced L2 proficiency showed a marginally significant mixing cost advantage over the control group, indicating a tendency toward an advantage in more global and sustained control. These findings suggest tentative explanations for the discrepant results in the literature and conditions for the presence and development of interpreter advantages in cognitive flexibility.

Assessing children’s incremental word knowledge in the upper primary grades

Word knowledge acquisition is an incremental process that relies on exposure. As a result, word knowledge can broadly range from recognizing the word’s lexical status, to knowing its meaning in context, and to knowing its meaning independent of context. The present study aimed to model incremental word knowledge in 1454 upper primary school children from grades 3 to 5 by investigating their abilities on three word knowledge tasks originating from the same set of 300 words: lexical decision, context decision, and definitional decision. A mixed-effects model showed significant differences in performance between tasks and between grades, and a significant interaction indicating that task differences were different for children in grade 5 compared to children in grades 3 and 4. In order to examine further the different task relation patterns at the word level, a cluster analysis was performed using the observed item means, which were corrected for the guessing chance. The analysis showed that for most words, recognition of its lexical status was easier than knowing its meaning in context, which in turn was easier than knowing its meaning independent of context. It is concluded that task relation patterns differ based on mean log frequency as a proxy of word exposure.