Developmental course of the temporal relationship between gaze direction and vocal production in typical and Down's syndrome infants

This study was aimed at examining the temporal relationship between gaze and vocal production behaviour among typically developing infants, infants with Down's syndrome, and their mothers. If gaze–voice timing behaviour is an organizing principle of communicative interaction in typical population, then studying it should provide insight into how children with Down's syndrome and their mothers use this temporal relationship to structure their exchanges. Forty-four mother–infant dyads (22 dyads with a Down's syndrome child and 22 with a typical child) were observed. The developmental course of timing pattern was not different between DS and typically developing infants from 4 to 19 months (DA). Insofar as the timing patterns differed between DS and typical infants at 20 months, this could be explained by their differing level of language acquisition. With the use of language, the timing patterns will reappear equal in the both populations. Results suggest that (i) the children's behaviours could be partially explained by the behaviours of their mothers. The mother–child dyad would be the mould that shapes the child's future sociolinguistic skills, and (ii) for the two populations, the timing-pattern changes could be explained by the emergence of language.     

Structure in language. Creating form in talk

In psycholinguistics, the systematic study of language production has begun to take a place beside the study of language comprehension as a means to the end of understanding human language use. Because a major and very visible component of speaking a language is knowing how to create forms to carry messages, efforts to explain language production must confront long-standing questions about the relationship between structure and function in psychological explanation. One traditionally appealing view of that relationship in the realm of language is that sentence structures are associated with or reducible to the general forces of cognition that drive interpretation and communication. This article surveys some of the challenges to this view that emerge from the study of speech errors, and sketches the progress that has been made in developing an alternative view, renewing the argument that syntactic structures are necessary elements in an explanation of language use.     

Does the need for linguistic expression constitute a problem to be solved?

This paper has two objectives. The first is to formulate a critique of present-day cognitive linguistics (CL) concerning the inner workings of the cognitive system during language use, and the second is to put forward an alternative account that is inspired by the phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty. Due to its third-person methodology, CL views language use essentially as a problem-solving activity, as coping with two subproblems: the problem of minimum and maximum, which consists in selecting the appropriate expression out of an unlimited multitude of possibilities, and the problem of the underdetermination of signification. This approach presupposes a notion of an isolated subject and a representationalist view of perception. We defend an alternative view of man's relation to the world in which intersubjectivity is constitutive of embodied subjectivity and which exchanges the representationalist view of perception for a direct nonrepresentationalism. We describe the ensuing view of linguistic action as intra- and interpersonal “all-at-onceness.” This approach dismisses the two subproblems CL implicitly identifies as constitutive of language use. The first is countered by rethinking what it means to be a situated speaking subject and results in the concept of “style.” The second is tackled by opposing the concept of “overdetermination” to CL's notion of underdetermination.     

RELIGIOUS LANGUAGE AS POETRY: HEIDEGGER's CHALLENGE

This paper examines how Heidegger's view that language is poetry might provide a helpful way of understanding the nature of religious language. Poetry, according to Heidegger, is language in its purest form, in that it both reveals Being, whilst also showing the difference between word and thing. In poetry, Heidegger suggests, we come closest to the essence of language itself and encounter its strangeness and impermeability, and its revelatory character. What would be the implications for viewing religious language in this way? Through examining Heidegger's view that poetry is the purest form of language, I suggest that it would also be possible to view religious language as poetry in this way, in that it also shows the transcendence of what cannot be brought to presence in language, except as concealed. Such a view of religious language does not regard it as a problematic type of language, deserving special treatment, but rather suggests that in religious language the inarticulable relationship between word and world is revealed.     

Psychosoma in crisis: an autoethnographic study of medically unexplained symptoms and their diverse contexts

In this study, we examine autoethnographic data from three critical incidents as experienced by the first author demonstrating the importance of context in understanding medically unexplained symptoms, their incidence and underlying patterns. We make the case for ethnographies as a crucial research strand in discerning the finer aspects of the patient or client experience; aspects that might be missed where people are directed along protocolised pathways of care. The article describes care as fragmented and depersonalising, leading to disembodied exchanges, as reflected in other autoethnographic studies, particularly those that highlight the complex relationship and controversies surrounding diagnostic uncertainty. We observe that psychological therapists, given the quality of the therapeutic relationship and sustained attention to the person’s experience, are well placed to assist in the necessary processes of re-contextualisation and re-embodiment.     

The intersensory origins of word‐comprehension: an ecological–dynamic systems view

How do infants begin to understand spoken words? Recent research suggests that word comprehension develops from the early detection of intersensory relations between conventionally paired auditory speech patterns (words) and visible objects or actions. More importantly, in keeping with dynamic systems principles, the findings suggest that word comprehension develops from a dynamic and complementary relationship between the organism (the infant) and the environment (language addressed to the infant). In addition, parallel findings from speech and non‐speech studies of intersensory perception provide evidence for domain general processes in the development of word comprehension. These research findings contrast with the view that a lexical acquisition device with specific lexical principles and innate constraints is required for early word comprehension. Furthermore, they suggest that learning of word–object relations is not merely an associative process. The data support an alternative view of the developmental process that emphasizes the dynamic and reciprocal interactions between general intersensory perception, selective attention and learning in infants, and the specific characteristics of maternal communication.     

Continuation of exchange with neighbors in later life: The importance of the neighborhood context

Relationships with neighbors are considered exchange relationships, in which the continuation of exchanges depends on balance in previous exchanges. Our study tested whether this is the case. An exchange relationship implies that neighbor relationships are isolated units. We expected, however, that neighborhood integration also affects the continuation of exchange among neighbors. Data were from a longitudinal study among 1,692 independently living Dutch adults of ages 55 to 85 years at baseline and their 7,415 relationships with proximate network members. At a four–year follow–up, both perceived balance and neighborhood integration at baseline increased the chance of instrumental support exchange occurring. We concluded that it is too limited to view relationships between neighbors as exchange relationships, as these relationships are embedded in larger communities, where such communities exist.     

Exploring Differential Subgroup Functioning on SAT Writing Items: What Happens When English Is Not a Test Taker's Best Language?

The purpose of this study is to explore patterns in model-data fit related to subgroups of test takers from a large-scale writing assessment. Using data from the SAT, a calibration group was randomly selected to represent test takers who reported that English was their best language from the total population of test takers (N = 322,011). A reference scale for the items was constructed based on EBL responses. Response behaviors of test takers who reported that English was not their best language (ENBL) were examined in relationship to this reference scale. This study illustrates the use of differential subgroup analyses to identify patterns related to person misfit within subgroups, as well as subsets of items, that may affect the validity of writing scores for ENBL test takers. The methodology described here offers an approach that can be used to explore, understand, and improve the validity of scores obtained from ENBL test takers in large-scale writing assessments.     

Principles of polemic in Russell

Three polemical exchanges between Bertrand Russell and F. H. Bradley, F. C. S. Schiller, and the prosecutor in Russell's trial for violating the Defence of the Realm Act in 1916 are examined in order to bring to light some paradigms of informal reasoning, with a view to encouraging research into the logic of natural language. Ten such paradigms are expressed, e.g., Agree with the contention but not for the reasons given; Agree that the criticism is valid and report that one has modified the criticized doctrine but not in the manner suggested.     

The language-specific nature of grammatical development: evidence from bilingual language learners

The fact that early lexical and grammatical acquisition are strongly correlated has been cited as evidence against the view that the language faculty is composed of dissociable and autonomous modules (Bates & Goodman, 1997). However, previous studies have not yet eliminated the possibility that lexical-grammar associations may be attributable to language-general individual differences (e.g. children who are good at learning words are good at learning grammar). Parent report assessments of toddlers who are simultaneously learning English and Spanish (n = 113) allow an examination of the specificity of lexical-grammar relationships while holding child factors constant. Within-language vocabulary-grammar associations were stronger than cross-language relationships, even after controlling for age, proportion of language exposure, general language skill and reporter bias. Similar patterns were found based on naturalistic language samples (n = 22), ruling out a methodological artifact. These results are consistent with the view that grammar learning is specifically tied to lexical progress in a given language and provide further support for strong lexical-grammatical continuity early in acquisition.     

Bandura's theory of self-efficacy: A set of common sense theorems

Bandura's (1977) theory of self-efficacy is translated into non-technical language and is shown to consist of logically necessary rather than empirically testable statements. As an alternative to the dominant empiricist view, it is argued that valid theories in psychology are explications of conceptual relationship imbedded in ordinary language (common sense). This conceptual network is anterior to both observation and theorizing. The analogy between the tasks of pre-Euclidean geometry and contemporary psychology is explored. The tasks are seen as involving explication of our implicit concepts of respectively space and people. One consequence of the stated view is that much psychological research is pointless since it attempts to verify logically necessary statements by empirical methods.     

The sandwich model: The ‘music and dance’ of therapeutic action

My premise is that a ‘layered’ approach is necessary to understand the process of exchanges that result in therapeutic change. I imagine these processes occurring in three layers – although the number of domains in which change is taking place is actually infinite – such as in a sandwich. The top layer, or top slice of bread of the sandwich, represents a broad view of the change process; it is non‐linear and includes the feature of uncertainty, a general principle of dynamic systems theory. The middle layer, or the meat of the sandwich, is explained by theories that are immediately and clinically useful to a therapist, such as psychoanalytic theories. These are primarily linear theories and use language and symbols to ‘tell a story of what happened’. The bottom layer, or bottom slice of bread of the sandwich, is the micro‐process; this layer includes the moment‐to‐moment patterns of coordinated rhythms that both communicate meaning and provide the essential scaffold for all higher‐level change processes. The micro‐process also requires a non‐linear theory to make sense of its variability and emergent properties. Taking a bite out of the sandwich will include a ‘polysemic bundle of communicative behaviors’ (Harrison and Tronick, 2011). I will illustrate the ‘sandwich model’ with the clinical case of the analytic treatment of a 5 year‐old boy.     

The Logicality of Language: A new take on Triviality, “Ungrammaticality”, and Logical Form*

Recent work in formal semantics suggests that the language system includes not only a structure building device, as standardly assumed, but also a natural deductive system which can determine when expressions have trivial truth‐conditions (e.g., are logically true/false) and mark them as unacceptable. This hypothesis, called the ‘logicality of language’, accounts for many acceptability patterns, including systematic restrictions on the distribution of quantifiers. To deal with apparent counter‐examples consisting of acceptable tautologies and contradictions, the logicality of language is often paired with an additional assumption according to which logical forms are radically underspecified: i.e., the language system can see functional terms but is ‘blind’ to open class terms to the extent that different tokens of the same term are treated as if independent. This conception of logical form has profound implications: it suggests an extreme version of the modularity of language, and can only be paired with non‐classical—indeed quite exotic—kinds of deductive systems. The aim of this paper is to show that we can pair the logicality of language with a different and ultimately more traditional account of logical form. This framework accounts for the basic acceptability patterns which motivated the logicality of language, can explain why some tautologies and contradictions are acceptable, and makes better predictions in key cases. As a result, we can pursue versions of the logicality of language in frameworks compatible with the view that the language system is not radically modular vis‐á‐vis its open class terms and employs a deductive system that is basically classical.     

Narrative discourse after closed head injury in children and adolescents.

This study examined narrative discourse in 20 children and adolescents at least 1 year after sustaining a head injury. Narratives were analyzed along the dimensions of language structure, information structure, and flow of information. Severity of impaired consciousness was associated with a significant reduction in the amount of language and information. The most important finding which emerged was the disruption in information structure. This pattern confirms the impression of disorganized discourse in severely injured children. Explanations for the disruption in information structure are explored in terms of the role of vocabulary, memory, and localization of lesion according to magnetic resonance imaging. In view of recent evidence that frontal lobe damage is associated with discourse formulation deficits in adults and is the most common site of focal lesion in closed head injury, we examined discourse patterns in individual patients with frontal lobe lesions. Preliminary data from our single-case studies suggest discourse patterns similar to those reported for adults with frontal lobe injuries.     

语言耗损研究述评

本文概述语言耗损研究的历史与现状,包括语言耗损研究的主要内容和意义,以及目前存在的若干问题和难点。作者强调指出,语言耗损乃语言习得的伴生产物,关系极其密切．研究习得决不能忽视研究耗损。此外,由于环境因素对语言耗损有重要影响以及非同源语言对语言习得具有负面作用,研究汉语语言环境下外语耗损对中国的外语教学具有特殊的重要意义。     

Neurophysiological markers of early language acquisition: from syllables to sentences

Recently, there have been several reports of the neurophysiological correlates of language acquisition. These indicate that the infant's brain is able to discriminate different phonemes within the first 2 months of life, that knowledge about stress patterns and phonotactic rules is established between 5-12 months, and that phonotactic knowledge begins to interact with lexical-semantic processes between 12-14 months. Electrophysiological markers for lexical-semantic processes indicate that semantic processing of words in picture contexts is present at 14 months and for words in sentential contexts around 30 months. At 32 months, children demonstrate an adult-like electrophysiological response pattern to syntactic violations. The similarities between the brain response patterns observed in children and adults support the view that language develops in a continuous manner.     

Reading Rates and Digit Span in Bilinguals: The Superiority of Mother Tongue

Several studies have shown a negative linear relationship between speech rate and memory span. This relationship has implications for bilingual studies, as span could be larger in a bilingual's secondary language provided that pronunciation rate is faster than in the mother language. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of digit word length on digit span in bilinguals. Experiment 1 tested the effects of digit syllable length on speech rate in five different bilingual groups. Results revealed that digit-reading rates were significantly faster in all mother languages. Experiment 2 examined more closely the correspondence between speech rate and digit span with Portuguese-English bilinguals. Results showed that digit-reading rates were faster and digit span larger in the mother language even if the mean number of syllables per digit was higher. The superiority of mother tongue was discussed according to the view that digits are subject to massive practice in one's native language with a strong tendency to be abbreviated, thus reducing its spoken duration.     

Revisiting the limits of language: The odor lexicon of Maniq

It is widely believed that human languages cannot encode odors. While this is true for English, and other related languages, data from some non-Western languages challenge this view. Maniq, a language spoken by a small population of nomadic hunter–gatherers in southern Thailand, is such a language. It has a lexicon of over a dozen terms dedicated to smell. We examined the semantics of these smell terms in 3 experiments (exemplar listing, similarity judgment and off-line rating). The exemplar listing task confirmed that Maniq smell terms have complex meanings encoding smell qualities. Analyses of the similarity data revealed that the odor lexicon is coherently structured by two dimensions. The underlying dimensions are pleasantness and dangerousness, as verified by the off-line rating study. Ethnographic data illustrate that smell terms have detailed semantics tapping into broader cultural constructs. Contrary to the widespread view that languages cannot encode odors, the Maniq data show odor can be a coherent semantic domain, thus shedding new light on the limits of language.     

Modeling longitudinal change in the language abilities of children with autism: parent behaviors and child characteristics as predictors of change

The objective of the current study was to evaluate the patterns of longitudinal change in the language abilities of 28 children with autism during early and middle childhood. Results from fitting a series of multilevel models showed that children's rate of language growth was independently predicted by (a) children's responsiveness to others' bids for joint attention and (b) parents' responsiveness to their children's attention and activity during play. Both predictive relations could not be explained by initial variation in global developmental characteristics, such as IQ, mental age, or language abilities. These findings support a social?pragmatic view on language acquisition, which emphasizes the collaborative process through which children and their parents negotiate shared meaning.