Word learning does not end at fast-mapping: evolution of verb meanings through reorganization of an entire semantic domain

This paper explores the process through which children sort out the relations among verbs belonging to the same semantic domain. Using a set of Chinese verbs denoting a range of action events that are labeled by carrying or holding in English as a test case, we looked at how Chinese-speaking 3-, 5-, and 7-year-olds and adults apply 13 different verbs to a range of carrying/holding events. We asked how children learning Chinese originally divide and label the semantic space in this domain, how they discover the boundaries between different words, and how the meanings of verbs in the domain as a whole evolve toward the representations of adults. We also addressed the question of what factors make verb meaning acquisition easy or hard. Results showed that the pattern of children’s verb use is largely different from that of adults and that it takes a long time for children to be able to use all verbs in this domain in the way adults do. We also found that children start to use broad-covering and frequent verbs the earliest, but use of these verbs tends to converge on adult use more slowly because children could not use these verbs as adults did until they had identified boundaries between these verbs and other near-synonyms with more specific meanings. This research highlights the importance of systematic investigation of words that belong to the same domain as a whole, examining how word meanings in a domain develop as parts of a connected system, instead of examining each word on its own: learning the meaning of a verb invites restructuring of the meanings of related, neighboring verbs.     

心理模拟在语言理解中的作用

心理模拟在语言理解中的作用逐渐受到人们重视。相关理论包括知觉符号系统理论、语言的神经理论和语言与情境模拟理论。行为研究发现感知觉运动信息与语言理解存在交互作用,而脑机制研究显示感知觉运动脑区参与语言理解。目前的研究对于心理模拟参与语言理解的机制仍缺乏细致探讨,导致结果存在矛盾之处。对隐喻语言里心理模拟作用的探讨也需加强。此外,心理模拟系统如何与语言学信息交互作用的相关假设也需要完善。     

How linguistic and cultural forces shape conceptions of time: English and Mandarin time in 3D

In this paper we examine how English and Mandarin speakers think about time, and we test how the patterns of thinking in the two groups relate to patterns in linguistic and cultural experience. In Mandarin, vertical spatial metaphors are used more frequently to talk about time than they are in English; English relies primarily on horizontal terms. We present results from two tasks comparing English and Mandarin speakers' temporal reasoning. The tasks measure how people spatialize time in three-dimensional space, including the sagittal (front/back), transverse (left/right), and vertical (up/down) axes. Results of Experiment 1 show that people automatically create spatial representations in the course of temporal reasoning, and these implicit spatializations differ in accordance with patterns in language, even in a non-linguistic task. Both groups showed evidence of a left-to-right representation of time, in accordance with writing direction, but only Mandarin speakers showed a vertical top-to-bottom pattern for time (congruent with vertical spatiotemporal metaphors in Mandarin). Results of Experiment 2 confirm and extend these findings, showing that bilinguals' representations of time depend on both long-term and proximal aspects of language experience. Participants who were more proficient in Mandarin were more likely to arrange time vertically (an effect of previous language experience). Further, bilinguals were more likely to arrange time vertically when they were tested in Mandarin than when they were tested in English (an effect of immediate linguistic context).     

Let's Talk: Getting Out of the Counseling Center to Serve Hard‐to‐Reach Students

This article describes Let's Talk, a counseling center outreach program. Counselors hold walk‐in hours across campus to engage students who might not otherwise seek counseling. Locations are chosen to reach underserved communities. Counselors offer informal consultation, a less formal alternative to traditional counseling. Este artículo describe Let's Talk (Hablemos), un programa de acercamiento a los centros de consejería. Los consejeros mantienen horas de puertas abiertas sin cita previa en distintos lugares del campus para atraer a estudiantes que de otra forma no buscarían acceso a la consejería. Las ubicaciones se eligen para alcanzar comunidades con servicios insuficientes. Los consejeros ofrecen consultas informales, una alternativa menos formal a la consejería tradicional.     

Children's memory for the times of events from the past years

This study tested 8–12‐year‐olds' ability to localize in time parent‐reported events from four time intervals ranging from 6 months to 4 years ago. Memory for content was very accurate, and children's time estimates showed substantial agreement with the times provided by their parents. Accuracy of year judgments declined with retention interval, with the greatest change occurring between the 1–2‐year and 2–3‐year intervals. Season, month and time of day accuracy were much more stable over time. There were significant improvements with age in performance on measures of conventional time knowledge, and this performance was correlated with the accuracy of time estimates on the long time scales, controlling for age and general cognitive ability. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

HO-DINA模型的MCMC参数估计及模型性能研究

认知诊断目前在国内外越来越受到重视,而要真正实现认知诊断,需借助一定的计量学模型即认知诊断模型。国际上,目前已开发近60种认知诊断模型,不同模型又各具特点。本研究重点分析国外研究较成熟的模型--HO-DINA/DINA模型,具体探讨该模型参数估计的实现及模型性能,采用Monte Carlo模拟方法进行,研究发现：(1)本研究对项目参数、属性参数和被试参数估计返真性较好、稳健性较强、HO-DINA模型具有较高的判断率,MCMC算法可行;（2）诊断的属性个数越多,诊断的模式正确率越低,建议实际使用该模型时,诊断的属性个数不宜超过7个;（3）用于诊断的项目数越多,诊断的模式正确率越高,在实际工作中,若要保证有80%以上的模式判准率,则4个属性的至少需20题,5个、6个和7个属性的至少需要40题,8个属性至少需60题。实际运用者应根据实际情况考虑适当的项目数及属性数。     

Font size modulates saccade-target selection in Chinese reading

In alphabetic writing systems, saccade amplitude (a close correlate of reading speed) is independent of font size, presumably because an increase in the angular size of letters is compensated for by a decrease of visual acuity with eccentricity. We propose that this invariance may (also) be due to the presence of spaces between words, guiding the eyes across a large range of font sizes. Here, we test whether saccade amplitude is also invariant against manipulations of font size during reading Chinese, a character-based writing system without spaces as explicit word boundaries for saccade-target selection. In contrast to word-spaced alphabetic writing systems, saccade amplitude decreased significantly with increased font size, leading to an increase in the number of fixations at the beginning of words and in the number of refixations. These results are consistent with a model which assumes that word beginning (rather than word center) is the default saccade target if the length of the parafoveal word is not available.     

Going my way? The benefits of travelling in the same direction

Couples' marital satisfaction can depend on whether they commute to work in the same or different directions. Two surveys, conducted in the United States and Hong Kong, showed that partners' satisfaction with their relationship was greater when they traveled to work in the same direction than when they traveled in different directions. This was true regardless of whether the partners left for work at the same or different times. A controlled laboratory study eliminated alternative interpretations of the survey findings, showing that even randomly paired participants reported greater attraction to one another when they walked to an experimental task in the same direction rather than in different directions.     

Graph‐Framing Effects in Decision Making

This study manipulated the graphical representation of options by framing the physical characters in figures and found that preferences could be affected even when the words and numbers of the problem were constant. Based on attribute substitution theory and an equate‐to‐differentiate approach, we proposed a two‐process model of graph‐framing effects. In the first mental process, the graph‐editing process, the physical features (e.g., distance, size) represented in the graph are visually edited, and the perceived numerical difference between the options is judged based on its physical features. The second mental process, the preferential choice process, occurs by an equate‐to‐differentiate approach in which people seek to equate the difference between options on the dimension on which the difference is smaller, thus leaving the greater other‐dimensional difference to be the determinant of the final choice. Four experiments were tested for graph‐framing effects. Experiment 1 found a graph‐framing effect in coordinate graphs resting on the (de)compression of the scales employed in the figures. Experiment 2 revealed additional graph‐framing effects in other question scenarios and showed that preference changes were mediated by perceived numerical distances. Experiment 3 further confirmed the presence of graph‐framing effects in sector graphs similar to those found in coordinate ones. Experiment 4 suggested that such graph‐framing effects could be eliminated when logical processing (e.g., introducing a mathematical operation before a choice task) was encouraged. This paper discusses related research and a possible substrate basis for graph‐framing effects. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

不同类型音乐对悲伤情绪舒缓作用的EEG研究

该研究采用EEG法探究音乐对悲伤情绪舒缓作用。选取中国古典、流行、摇滚及班得瑞音乐及悲伤影片。播放影片诱发悲伤情绪后,用音乐进行舒缓,同步采集脑电,分析得脑电功率谱(PS)及重心频率(GF)。结果表明,影片显著降低了GF及α频段PS;古典音乐GF最高,且诱发的α段PS最高,摇滚乐最低;脑对音乐加工的性别差异显著,半球差异不显著;主观体验悲伤度与α波PS显著负相关。所选音乐均具情绪舒缓作用,中国古典音乐最佳;α波PS,可作为反映悲伤-快乐情绪体验变化的脑电指标。