The Semantics of Natural Objects and Tools in the Brain: A Combined Behavioral and MEG Study

Current literature supports the notion that the recognition of objects, when visually presented, is sub-served by neural structures different from those responsible for the semantic processing of their nouns. However, embodiment foresees that processing observed objects and their verbal labels should share similar neural mechanisms. In a combined behavioral and MEG study, we compared the modulation of motor responses and cortical rhythms during the processing of graspable natural objects and tools, either verbally or pictorially presented. Our findings demonstrate that conveying meaning to an observed object or processing its noun similarly modulates both motor responses and cortical rhythms; being natural graspable objects and tools differently represented in the brain, they affect in a different manner both behavioral and MEG findings, independent of presentation modality. These results provide experimental evidence that neural substrates responsible for conveying meaning to objects overlap with those where the object is represented, thus supporting an embodied view of semantic processing.

Imprecision and Preferences in Interpretation of Verbal Probabilities in Health: a Systematic Review

Introduction Many health providers and communicators who are concerned that patients will not understand numbers instead use verbal probabilities (e.g., terms such as “rare” or “common”) to convey the gist of a health message. Objective To assess patient interpretation of and preferences for verbal probability information in health contexts. Methods We conducted a systematic review of literature published through September 2020. Original studies conducted in English with samples representative of lay populations were included if they assessed health-related information and elicited either (a) numerical estimates of verbal probability terms or (b) preferences for verbal vs. quantitative risk information. Results We identified 33 original studies that referenced 145 verbal probability terms, 45 of which were included in at least two studies and 19 in three or more. Numerical interpretations of each verbal term were extremely variable. For example, average interpretations of the term “rare” ranged from 7 to 21%, and for “common,” the range was 34 to 71%. In a subset of 9 studies, lay estimates of verbal probability terms were far higher than the standard interpretations established by the European Commission for drug labels. In 10 of 12 samples where preferences were elicited, most participants preferred numerical information, alone or in combination with verbal labels. Conclusion Numerical interpretation of verbal probabilities is extremely variable and does not correspond well to the numerical probabilities established by expert panels. Most patients appear to prefer quantitative risk information, alone or in combination with verbal labels. Health professionals should be aware that avoiding numeric information to describe risks may not match patient preferences, and that patients interpret verbal risk terms in a highly variable way.

The role of redundant verbal labels in 8- and 10-month-olds’ working memory

Verbal labels have been shown to help preverbal infants’ performance on various cognitive tasks, such as categorization. Redundant labels also aid adults’ visual working memory (WM), but it is not known if this linguistic benefit extends to preverbal infants’ WM. In two eye-tracking studies, we tested whether 8- and 10-month-old infants’ WM performance would improve with the presence of redundant labels in a Delayed Match Retrieval (DMR) paradigm that tested infants’ WM for object-location bindings. Findings demonstrated that infants at both ages were unable to remember two object-location bindings when co-presented with labels at encoding. Moreover, infants who encoded the object-location bindings with labels were not significantly better than those who did so in silence. These findings are discussed in the context of label advantages in cognition and auditory dominance.

The Semantics of Natural Objects and Tools in the Brain: A Combined Behavioural and MEG Study

Current literature supports the notion that the recognition of objects, when visually presented, is sub-served by neural structures different from those responsible for the semantic processing of their nouns. However, embodiment foresees that processing observed objects and their verbal labels should share similar neural mechanisms. In a combined behavioural and MEG study, we compared the modulation of motor responses and cortical rhythms during the processing of graspable natural objects and tools, either verbally or pictorially presented. Our findings demonstrate that conveying meaning to an observed object or processing its noun similarly modulates both motor responses and cortical rhythms; moreover, natural graspable objects and tools affect in a different manner both behavioural and MEG results, independent of presentation modality. These findings provide experimental evidence that neural substrates responsible for conveying meaning to object overlap with those where the object is represented, thus supporting an embodied view of semantic processing.

Receptive and expressive language ability differentially scaffold symbolic understanding over time: picture comprehension in late talking and typically developing children

Symbols are a hallmark of human communication, and a key question is how children’s emerging language skills relate to their ability to comprehend symbols. In particular, receptive and expressive vocabulary may have related, but distinct roles across early development. In a longitudinal study of late talking (LT) and typically developing (TD) children, we differentiated the extent to which expressive and receptive language skills predicted symbolic understanding as reflected in picture comprehension, and how language skills inter-related with social skills. LT and TD children were tested on a picture comprehension task that manipulated the availability of verbal labels at 2.0 – 2.4 years and 3.5 – 3.9 years. While all children improved in accuracy over time as expected, TD children exhibited an advantage over LT children, despite both groups utilising verbal labels to inform their mapping of picture-object relationships. Receptive and expressive vocabulary also differed in their contribution at different ages: receptive vocabulary predicted performance at ~2-years-old, and expressive vocabulary predicted performance at ~3.5-years-old. Task performance at 3.5-years-old was predicted by earlier receptive vocabulary, but this effect was largely mediated by concurrent expressive vocabulary. Social ability across the whole sample at ~2-years-old also predicted and mediated the effect of receptive vocabulary on concurrent task performance. These findings suggest that LT children may have delays in developing picture comprehension over time, and also that social ability and language skills may differentially relate to symbolic understanding at key moments across development.

Verbal Labels Facilitate Tactile Texture Discrimination in a Perceptual Learning Task

The influence of language on perceptual processes, referred to as the Whorfian hypothesis, has been a contentious issue. Cross-linguistic research and lab-based experiments have shown that verbal labels can facilitate perceptual and discriminatory processes, mostly in visual and auditory modalities. Here, we investigated whether verbal labels improve performance in a tactile texture discrimination task using natural textures. We also explored whether the grammatical category of these verbal labels plays a role in discrimination ability. In our experiments, we asked the participants to discriminate between pairs of textures presented to the fingertip after a five-day training phase. During the training phase, the tactile textures and English pseudowords were co-presented consistently in the congruent (experimental) condition and inconsistently in the incongruent (control) condition, allowing them to form implicit associations only in the former condition. The pseudoword verbal labels belonged to two grammatical categories, verb-like and noun-like. We found an improvement in the texture discrimination ability only for the congruent condition, irrespective of the grammatical category.

Verbal Labels Facilitate Tactile Texture Discrimination in a Perceptual Learning Task

ABSTRACTThe influence of language on perceptual processes, referred to as the Whorfian hypothesis, has been a contentious issue. Cross-linguistic research and lab-based experiments have shown that verbal labels can facilitate perceptual and discriminatory processes, mostly in visual and auditory modalities. Here, we investigated whether verbal labels improve performance in a tactile texture discrimination task using natural textures. We also explored whether the grammatical category of these verbal labels plays a role in discrimination ability. In our experiments, we asked the participants to discriminate between pairs of textures presented to the fingertip after a five-day training phase. During the training phase, the tactile textures and English pseudowords were co-presented consistently in the congruent (experimental) condition and inconsistently in the incongruent (control) condition, allowing them to form implicit associations only in the former condition. The pseudoword verbal labels belonged to two grammatical categories, verb-like and noun-like. We found an improvement in the texture discrimination ability only for the congruent condition, irrespective of the grammatical category.