The Role of Underspecification in RC Attachment: Speed-accuracy tradeoff evidence

A number of studies have found evidence for the so-called ambiguity advantage, i.e., a speed-up in processing ambiguous sentences compared to their unambiguous counterparts. While a number of proposals regarding the mechanism underlying this phenomenon have been made, the empirical evidence so far is far from unequivocal. It is compatible with several theories, including strategic underspecification (Swets et al., 2008), race models (Van Gompel et al., 2000; Logacev and Vasishth, 2016), and a more recentcoactivation-based account (Dillon et al., 2019). While all three classes of theories make matching predictions for the average time to complete RC attachment in ambiguous compared to unambiguous sentences, their predictions diverge with regard to theminimum completion times. I used the speed-accuracy tradeoff procedure to test the predictions of all three classesof theories. According to a hierarchical Bayesian model, the speed-accuracy tradeoff functions (SATFs) for different RC attachment conditions (high, low or ambiguous) show an earlier departure from chance performance in the ambiguous condition than in either of the unambiguous conditions. The results further indicate increased asymptotic accuracy but no increase in processing rate in the ambiguous condition. Taken together, this pattern of results is compatible with the strategic underspecification model, and to a lesser degree with coactivation based accounts.

Dissociation of Connectivity for Syntactic Irregularity and Perceptual Ambiguity in Musical Chord Stimuli

Musical syntax has been studied mainly in terms of “syntactic irregularity” in harmonic/melodic sequences. However, “perceptual ambiguity” referring to the uncertainty of judgment/classification of presented stimuli can in addition be involved in our musical stimuli using three different chord sequences. The present study addresses how “syntactic irregularity” and “perceptual ambiguity” on musical syntax are dissociated, in terms of effective connectivity between the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFGs) and superior temporal gyrus (STGs) by linearized time-delayed mutual information (LTDMI). Three conditions were of five-chord sequences with endings of dominant to tonic, dominant to submediant, and dominant to supertonic. The dominant to supertonic is most irregular, compared with the regular dominant to tonic. The dominant to submediant of the less irregular condition is the most ambiguous condition. In the LTDMI results, connectivity from the right to the left IFG (IFG-LTDMI) was enhanced for the most irregular condition, whereas that from the right to the left STG (STG-LTDMI) was enhanced for the most ambiguous condition (p = 0.024 in IFG-LTDMI, p < 0.001 in STG-LTDMI, false discovery rate (FDR) corrected). Correct rate was negatively correlated with STG-LTDMI, further reflecting perceptual ambiguity (p = 0.026). We found for the first time that syntactic irregularity and perceptual ambiguity coexist in chord stimulus testing musical syntax and that the two processes are dissociated in interhemispheric connectivities in the IFG and STG, respectively.

Dissociation of connectivity for syntactic irregularity and perceptual ambiguity in musical chord stimuli

Previously syntactic irregularity has been most studied with chord sequences. However, the same chord may be interpreted as having different harmonic functions, implying perceptual ambiguity. Hence, syntactic irregularity and perceptual ambiguity may be processed simultaneously. We devised 3 different 5-chord sequences in which the ending chord differed with the tonic (T), submediant (SM), and supertonic (ST). In terms of syntactic regularity, T is most regular, ST is most irregular. However, in terms of perceptual ambiguity, the most irregular ST had the salient highest voice. Therefore, the SM was the most ambiguous condition. We investigated how the human brain separates syntactic irregularity and perceptual ambiguity in terms of effective connectivity in bilateral inferior frontal gyri (IFGs) and superior temporal gyri (STGs) with magnetoencephalography in 19 subjects. Correct rate was lower for the most ambiguous chord (SM) (P = 0.020) as expected. Connectivity from the right to the left IFG was enhanced for the most irregular chord (ST) (P = 0.024, false discovery rate (FDR) corrected), whereas connectivity from the right to the left STG was enhanced for the most ambiguous chord (SM) (P < 0.001, FDR corrected). The correct rate was negatively correlated with connectivity in the STG, further reflecting perceptual ambiguity (P = 0.026). We found that syntactic irregularity and perceptual ambiguity in music are dissociated in connectivity between bilateral IFGs and STGs, respectively.Significance StatementWe provide the first neurophysiological evidence of the processing of perceptual ambiguity, other than syntactic irregularity, implied in musical chords. We found that the notion of “perceptually ambiguity” is applicable to musical chord stimuli different in syntactic irregularity, and that perceptual ambiguity is separate from syntactic irregularity. Our data demonstrate that the brain interprets the three conditions of musical chords as both “from regular to irregular” and “from ambiguous to unambiguous” conditions simultaneously. This study is the first to unveil dissociation of connectivity by syntactic irregularity and perceptual ambiguity involved in musical chord stimuli.

Managing difficult and violent adolescents (adolescents difficiles) in France: a genealogical approach

‘Difficult adolescent’ is a clinical category defined by psychiatrists’ expertise. Since the end of the 1990s, it has been extensively used to describe a population of disruptive, violent yet vulnerable adolescents, at the margins of public institutions that manage youth deviancy in France. For the present study, an interconnected network of 49 documents was analysed using a genealogical method in order to provide comprehensive elements in the results. This category found its ecological niche in the 1960s, revealing a moral tension in the use of constraint. It addressed new problems of intractable individuals, whose dangerousness and vulnerability require coordination between penal, social and psychiatric institutions. It defines an ambiguous condition, suspended between the trouble experienced by the caregivers and an adolescent’s individual disorder.

Fenomenologia de גּוֹי (gôy) na Bíblia Hebraica

Artigo acadêmico na forma de levantamento semântico-fenomenológico do termo גּוֹי (gôy) na Bíblia Hebraica. O artigo pretende demonstrar que se identificam na Bíblia Hebraica dois conjuntos de atualizações do vocábulo גּוֹי. No primeiro, não se verifica qualquer tipo de distinção de seu uso, sendo ora aplicado a Israel ou Judá, em qualquer fase histórica da tradição, ora aplicado às nações estrangeiras. Tal uso indistintivo de גּוֹי se acentua pelo fato de que, em qualquer dos casos mencionados, גּוֹי pode aparecer como sinônimo ao lado de עָם (`äm). No outro grupo, encontram-se passagens em que se poderia pressupor um incipiente processo de reserva de sentido para גּוֹי, sendo empregado apenas para a designação de nações estrangeiras. Todavia, quando confrontadas com passagens do primeiro conjunto, muitas vezes situadas no mesmo contexto narrativo, a condição ambígua das passagens do segundo grupo não permite que se conclua tratar-se, já, de reserva de sentido intencional. Pelo menos não como procedimento universal.Academic article in the form of a semantic-phenomenological survey of the term גּוֹי (gôy) in the Hebrew Bible. The article aims to demonstrate that in the Hebrew Bible there are two sets of occurrences of the word גּוֹי. In the first, there is no distinction of its use, either applied to Israel or Judah, at any stage of the tradition, now applied to foreign nations. This indistinctive use of גּוֹי is accentuated by the fact that, in any of the cases mentioned, גּוֹי can appear as a synonym of עָם (`äm). In the other group, there are passages in which an incipient process of reserve of sense of גּוֹי only for the foreign nations could be presupposed. However, when confronted with passages of the first set, often located in the same narrative context, the ambiguous condition of the passages of the second group does not allow it to be concluded that it is already an intentional reserve of sense. At least not as a universal procedure.

P300 and Decision Making under Risk and Ambiguity

Our study aims to contrast the neural temporal features of early stage of decision making in the context of risk and ambiguity. In monetary gambles under ambiguous or risky conditions, 12 participants were asked to make a decision to bet or not, with the event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded meantime. The proportion of choosing to bet in ambiguous condition was significantly lower than that in risky condition. An ERP component identified as P300 was found. The P300 amplitude elicited in risky condition was significantly larger than that in ambiguous condition. The lower bet rate in ambiguous condition and the smaller P300 amplitude elicited by ambiguous stimuli revealed that people showed much more aversion in the ambiguous condition than in the risky condition. The ERP results may suggest that decision making under ambiguity occupies higher working memory and recalls more past experience while decision making under risk mainly mobilizes attentional resources to calculate current information. These findings extended the current understanding of underlying mechanism for early assessment stage of decision making and explored the difference between the decision making under risk and ambiguity.