Are Words Easier to Learn From Infant‐ Than Adult‐Directed Speech? A Quantitative Corpus‐Based Investigation

We investigate whether infant‐directed speech (IDS) could facilitate word form learning when compared to adult‐directed speech (ADS). To study this, we examine the distribution of word forms at two levels, acoustic and phonological, using a large database of spontaneous speech in Japanese. At the acoustic level we show that, as has been documented before for phonemes, the realizations of words are more variable and less discriminable in IDS than in ADS. At the phonological level, we find an effect in the opposite direction: The IDS lexicon contains more distinctive words (such as onomatopoeias) than the ADS counterpart. Combining the acoustic and phonological metrics together in a global discriminability score reveals that the bigger separation of lexical categories in the phonological space does not compensate for the opposite effect observed at the acoustic level. As a result, IDS word forms are still globally less discriminable than ADS word forms, even though the effect is numerically small. We discuss the implication of these findings for the view that the functional role of IDS is to improve language learnability.     

Specificity in rehabilitation of word production: a meta-analysis and a case study

Speech production impairment is a frequent deficit observed in aphasic patients and rehabilitation programs have been extensively developed. Nevertheless, there is still no agreement on the type of rehabilitation that yields the most successful outcomes. Here, we ran a detailed meta-analysis of 39 studies of word production rehabilitation involving 124 patients. We used a model-driven approach for analyzing each rehabilitation task by identifying which levels of our model each task tapped into. We found that (1) all rehabilitation tasks are not equally efficient and the most efficient ones involved the activation of the two levels of the word production system: the phonological output lexicon and the phonological output, and (2) the activation of the speech perception system as it occurs in many tasks used in rehabilitation is not successful in rehabilitating word production. In this meta-analysis, the effect of the activation of the phonological output lexicon and the phonological output cannot be assessed separately. We further conducted a rehabilitation study with DPI, a patient who suffers from a damage of the phonological output lexicon. Our results confirm that rehabilitation is more efficient, in terms of time and performance, when specifically addressing the impaired level of word production.     

Flying without navigational aids – The case of commercial motorcyclists in Minna,Nigeria

The study investigated motorcycle operators in Minna city with a view to observing the riders’ signaling behavior and the presence or absence of navigational aids and their usage. The study was carried out in three stages. First, a 15 min rapid survey of 3135 motorcyclists was carried at both ends of three pre-selected busy roads with emphasis on observing the possession of navigational aids by the motorcyclists. Secondly, another set of study on signaling behavior was carried out in another three junctions within a 15 min period and finally an interview was conducted among 120 commercial and private motorcyclists from commercials and office parks for a more detailed study. The mean age and mean year of riding experience of the commercial motorcyclists were 28 (SD = 5.9) and 4 years (SD = 2.1) respectively compared to 32 (SD = 7.4) and 7 (SD = 7.4) years for private motorcyclists. The findings show that 18.1% of the motorcyclists had no trafficators and as high as 85.3% had no side mirrors. Of the 626 motorcyclists studied for signaling behavior, 574 (91.7%) failed to trafficate while turning at junctions. It was also found that 65 (54.2%) of the 120 motorcyclists interviewed had accidents with their motorcycles. Chi Squared test shows that effect of possession of side mirror on accident experience is not statistically significant (χ² = 2.11, p = .349) while possession of trafficators (χ² = 5.99, p = .050) and driving license (χ² = 12.603, p = .000) are statistically significant. The study revealed that 61.5% of motorcyclists that have trafficators had experienced accidents which points out the fact that riding behavior is more critical in road safety than having a perfect vehicle. The study recommends, among others, that the Federal Road Safety Corps and Vehicle Inspection Officers should be as strict with the motorcyclists as they are with the motorists in enforcing road safety.     

Understanding “silver” consumers through cognitive age,health condition,financial status,and personal values: Empirical evidence from the world's most mature market Japan

Older consumers remain under‐researched, especially in Japan, the country most severely affected by demographic change with a rapidly aging and shrinking population. This paper aims at a better understanding of Japanese older consumers through cognitive age, health condition, financial status, and personal values. This study is the first one using these variables together on a sample of 316 older Japanese consumers. The age perception of the respondents was found on average 8 years younger than their actual chronological age, in line with the assumption of cognitive age being universal. Four groups were identified revealing a decrease in the difference between chronological and cognitive age with lower levels of health and wealth. The difference was found higher for people feeling healthy and poor than for people feeling in poor health and wealthy, thus indicating that feeling in good health was having somewhat more impact on the difference between actual and cognitive age than feeling wealthy. Respondents gave top ranking to “warm relationships with others”, second importance to “security”, and third importance to “fun and enjoyment in life”. The rankings of “excitement”, “fun and enjoyment in life”, and “sense of accomplishment” were showing a significant decrease of importance with higher cognitive age groups. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sounds exaggerate visual shape

While perceiving speech, people see mouth shapes that are systematically associated with sounds. In particular, a vertically stretched mouth produces a /woo/ sound, whereas a horizontally stretched mouth produces a /wee/ sound. We demonstrate that hearing these speech sounds alters how we see aspect ratio, a basic visual feature that contributes to perception of 3D space, objects and faces. Hearing a /woo/ sound increases the apparent vertical elongation of a shape, whereas hearing a /wee/ sound increases the apparent horizontal elongation. We further demonstrate that these sounds influence aspect ratio coding. Viewing and adapting to a tall (or flat) shape makes a subsequently presented symmetric shape appear flat (or tall). These aspect ratio aftereffects are enhanced when associated speech sounds are presented during the adaptation period, suggesting that the sounds influence visual population coding of aspect ratio. Taken together, these results extend previous demonstrations that visual information constrains auditory perception by showing the converse - speech sounds influence visual perception of a basic geometric feature.     

In the Eye of the Beholder: Alcohol Use and Perceptions Among Student-Patrons of ‘Joints’ in Three Nigerian University Communities

Alcohol use and its associated problems among university students have attracted empirical investigation by researchers and scholars. While many of these studies have reported a very high level of alcohol consumption and highlighted the various problems this portends, alcohol-related perceptions of this vulnerable population, which could be germane to intervention aimed at curtailing the problem, have remained largely under-researched. This cross-sectional survey examined the use and perceptions of alcohol by student-patrons (n = 1,705) of beer parlours or ‘joints’ in three university communities in Southwest Nigeria. Respondents were interviewed using AUDIT, a socio-demographic prototype and an open-ended section on alcohol-related perceptions of the students. Findings indicated that overall, 72% of the respondents perceived that alcohol is good for socializing, 68% perceived that alcohol is good in the aspect of stress reduction, 58% believed that alcohol consumption is indicative of maturity, 36% perceived that alcohol enhances their sexual performance while 39% perceived that alcohol serves to enhance alertness/concentration. Results also showed that gender (β = −. 23; p < .05), paternal alcohol use (β = .36; p < .01), parental socio-economic status (β = .33; p < .01), and residential status of university of respondents (β = .21; p < .05) significantly predicted alcohol use. The study concluded that perceptions about alcohol are very germane to understanding students’ alcohol use and should be reckoned with in designing intervention programmes. The need to adopt a ‘client-centered’ approach to the problem of student drinking behaviour was emphasized.     

A quantum theoretical explanation for probability judgment errors

A quantum probability model is introduced and used to explain human probability judgment errors including the conjunction and disjunction fallacies, averaging effects, unpacking effects, and order effects on inference. On the one hand, quantum theory is similar to other categorization and memory models of cognition in that it relies on vector spaces defined by features and similarities between vectors to determine probability judgments. On the other hand, quantum probability theory is a generalization of Bayesian probability theory because it is based on a set of (von Neumann) axioms that relax some of the classic (Kolmogorov) axioms. The quantum model is compared and contrasted with other competing explanations for these judgment errors, including the anchoring and adjustment model for probability judgments. In the quantum model, a new fundamental concept in cognition is advanced--the compatibility versus incompatibility of questions and the effect this can have on the sequential order of judgments. We conclude that quantum information-processing principles provide a viable and promising new way to understand human judgment and reasoning.     

A unique role of endogenous visual-spatial attention in rapid processing of multiple targets

Visual spatial attention can be exogenously captured by a salient stimulus or can be endogenously allocated by voluntary effort. Whether these two attention modes serve distinctive functions is debated, but for processing of single targets the literature suggests superiority of exogenous attention (it is faster acting and serves more functions). We report that endogenous attention uniquely contributes to processing of multiple targets. For speeded visual discrimination, response times are faster for multiple redundant targets than for single targets because of probability summation and/or signal integration. This redundancy gain was unaffected when attention was exogenously diverted from the targets but was completely eliminated when attention was endogenously diverted. This was not a result of weaker manipulation of exogenous attention because our exogenous and endogenous cues similarly affected overall response times. Thus, whereas exogenous attention is superior for processing single targets, endogenous attention plays a unique role in allocating resources crucial for rapid concurrent processing of multiple targets.     

Neural correlates of infant accent discrimination: an fNIRS study

The present study investigated the neural correlates of infant discrimination of very similar linguistic varieties (Quebecois and Parisian French) using functional Near InfraRed Spectroscopy. In line with previous behavioral and electrophysiological data, there was no evidence that 3‐month‐olds discriminated the two regional accents, whereas 5‐month‐olds did, with the locus of discrimination in left anterior perisylvian regions. These neuroimaging results suggest that a developing language network relying crucially on left perisylvian cortices sustains infants’ discrimination of similar linguistic varieties within this early period of infancy.     

Sometimes it does hurt to ask: The constructive role of articulating impressions

Decisions can sometimes have a constructive role, so that the act of, for example, choosing one option over another creates a preference for that option (e.g., , ,  and ). In this work we explore the constructive role of just articulating an impression, for a presented visual stimulus, as opposed to making a choice (specifically, the judgments we employ are affective evaluations). Using quantum probability theory, we outline a cognitive model formalizing such a constructive process. We predict a simple interaction, in relation to how a second image is evaluated, following the presentation of a first image, depending on whether there is a rating for the first image or not. The interaction predicted by the quantum model was confirmed across three experiments and a variety of control manipulations. The advantages of using quantum probability theory to model the present results, compared with existing models of sequence order effects in judgment (e.g., Hogarth & Einhorn, 1992) or other theories of constructive processes when a choice is made (e.g.,  and ) are discussed.