Learnability of Pregroup Grammars

This paper investigates the learnability by positive examples in the sense of Gold of Pregroup Grammars. In a first part, Pregroup Grammars are presented and a new parsing strategy is proposed. Then, theoretical learnability and non-learnability results for subclasses of Pregroup Grammars are proved. In the last two parts, we focus on learning Pregroup Grammars from a special kind of input called feature-tagged examples. A learning algorithm based on the parsing strategy presented in the first part is given. Its validity is proved and its properties are examplified.     

The interpretation of ambiguous trimorphemic words in sentence context

Many trimorphemic words are structurally and semantically ambiguous. For example, unlock-able can either be un-lockable (cannot be locked) or unlock-able (can be unlocked). Which interpretation is preferred and whether the preceding sentence context affects the initial interpretation is not clear from prior research. The present experiment embedded ambiguous trimorphemic words in sentence contexts, manipulated whether or not preceding context disambiguated the meaning, and examined the pattern of fixation durations on the ambiguous word and the remainder of the text. The results indicated that the unlock-able interpretation was preferred; moreover, preceding context did not exert a significant effect until the eyes had initially exited from the target word.     

Kin recognition loss following anesthesia in beetle larvae (Aleochara bilineata, Coleoptera, Staphylinidae)

Kin recognition is a complex cognitive process, where an individual should detect a phenotypic cue and compare it to an internal template, which might be genetically determined (i.e., innate or acquired). Kin recognition mechanisms will depend on whether previous encounters with kin are possible or not to form the individual internal template. When relatives have never met before, kin recognition is supposed to rely on recognition alleles (which allows the innate recognition of relatives bearing them), or on self-referent phenotype matching (the individual has formed a template using its own phenotype and recognizes as kin individuals which match it closely enough). Although self-referent phenotype matching is in theory the more likely explanation, it has not been possible so far to exclude experimentally the recognition alleles’ hypothesis. Here, we report that kin recognition in the solitary parasitoid larvae of Aleochara bilineata (Coleoptera; Staphylinidae) is suppressed following carbon dioxide anesthesia or chill-coma, both treatments known to cause a temporary amnesia. Treated larvae superparasitize indifferently hosts parasitized either by siblings or by non-kin larvae, while untreated larvae avoid hosts occupied by siblings. The two types of anesthesia thus suppress kin recognition, but their global effect on larvae is different. Chill-coma suppresses the ability to distinguish parasitized from unparasitized hosts and reduces parasitism rate, suggesting an aspecific impairment of sensory receptors or cognition. However, carbon dioxide narcosis only impairs kin recognition, strongly suggesting that an intact memory is necessary for kin recognition to take place. Although this study does not address the recognition alleles’ hypothesis per se, our results strongly support a self-referent phenotype matching mechanism. On the whole, kin recognition in A. bilineata larvae is effective through short-term memory, because it is affected by amnesic treatments.     

Working Alliance as a Moderator of the Impact of Mentoring Relationships Among Academically At‐Risk Students

This study examined the role of the working alliance between teacher mentors and student protégés on protégés' academic functioning. High‐risk students (n = 25) participated in an educational program involving a major mentoring component (experimental group) and were matched on academic records, gender, and study program with 25 students who did not participate (control group). Students in the experimental group who agreed with their mentors that their working alliance was productive (i.e., agreement on goals, positive bonding) were more likely than were other mentored students and students in the control group to improve their academic competence, participation in class, tendency to seek help from teachers, and academic perseverance. Results are discussed in line with relationship‐based processes operating in mentoring relationships.     

The Place and Role of Psychology in Cognitive Science: An International Survey

This paper reports the results of an international survey on the place and role of psychology in cognitive science (CS). The respondents were psychological societies from 31 countries illustrating a variety of situations, from countries where psychology has been established as a science for a long time to countries where it has been established more recently and is still developing. The paper reviews topics covered by the CS approach, as well as research operations and initiatives taken in this domain. The analysis of responses reflects the belief that psychology, in general, has a central role in CS. This is based on epistemological considerations, as well as on the recognition of the methodological expertise of psychology for collecting and analyzing empirical data. Psychology is reported to have a unique integrative capacity and to take care to maintain the place of the human being at the centre of CS. Limitations and obstacles to the development of pluridisciplinary research on cognition are also reported, and information is provided on the training programmes in CS and the institutions that support research in this domain.