Semantic boost on episodic associations: an empirically-based computational model

Words become associated following repeated co-occurrence episodes. This process might be further determined by the semantic characteristics of the words. The present study focused on how semantic and episodic factors interact in incidental formation of word associations. First, we found that human participants associate semantically related words more easily than unrelated words; this advantage increased linearly with repeated co-occurrence. Second, we developed a computational model, SEMANT, suggesting a possible mechanism for this semantic-episodic interaction. In SEMANT, episodic associations are implemented through lateral connections between nodes in a pre-existent self-organized map of word semantics. These connections are strengthened at each instance of concomitant activation, proportionally with the amount of the overlapping activity waves of activated nodes. In computer simulations SEMANT replicated the dynamics of associative learning in humans and led to testable predictions concerning normal associative learning as well as impaired learning in a diffuse semantic system like that characteristic of schizophrenia.     

Participant and symbolic modelling training programmes: Changes in self-efficacy of youth counsellors

A training programme for youth counsellors, aimed to improve counsellors' self-efficacy and their ability to cope effectively with stressful situations, was developed and implemented. Two versions of the training programme were evaluated: one based on Participant Modelling; the other on Symbolic Modelling. As predicted, the self-efficacy of subjects of the Participant Modelling group increased significantly compared to the self-efficacy of subjects of the Symbolic Modelling or the contrast groups. Both training methods positively affected self-efficacy when compared to the contrast group.     

Traditionality and the Discriminating Effect of Expectations of Occupational Success and Occupational Values for Women within Math-Oriented Fields

Success expectations and vocational values have been identified as important features of women's career pursuits. Also, examination of differences among women pursuing traditionally and nontraditionally open fields has proven illuminating. Nonetheless, the women compared in such studies often pursued fields requiring vastly different competencies, interests, and training. This study investigated possible differences between women majoring in math-oriented fields in a traditionally closed area, engineering, and those in a traditionally open area, math education, with respect to success expectations in such fields and to the importance of various vocational outcomes. Success expectations for traditional and nontraditional occupations distinguished between the two groups, as did values for a number of vocational outcomes. In understanding women's career choices, the findings support the role of success expectations, the little studied role of outcome desirability, and the value of examining within-group occupational orientations within fields differing in traditionality but requiring similar skills, training, and interests.     

Dichotic sequence discrimination: The effect of stimulus intensity and background noise level

Dichotic temporal discrimination of clicks over the range of separation of 2 ≤ Δt ≤ 96 msec is nonmonotonic, being V- or U-shaped with two maxima, one at very short separations (?t≤4 msec) and one at long separations (Δt ≥ 64 msec). Decreasing the level of the stimuli or increasing the level of background noise results in an overall decrement in discrimination level and a widening of the base of the function to make it more U-shaped. These effects are expressed in shorter Δt thresholds for the left limb of the function and longer Δt thresholds for the right limb of the function     

The automaticity of emotional face-context integration

Recent studies have demonstrated that context can dramatically influence the recognition of basic facial expressions, yet the nature of this phenomenon is largely unknown. In the present paper we begin to characterize the underlying process of face-context integration. Specifically, we examine whether it is a relatively controlled or automatic process. In Experiment 1 participants were motivated and instructed to avoid using the context while categorizing contextualized facial expression, or they were led to believe that the context was irrelevant. Nevertheless, they were unable to disregard the context, which exerted a strong effect on their emotion recognition. In Experiment 2, participants categorized contextualized facial expressions while engaged in a concurrent working memory task. Despite the load, the context exerted a strong influence on their recognition of facial expressions. These results suggest that facial expressions and their body contexts are integrated in an unintentional, uncontrollable, and relatively effortless manner.     

Associating unseen events: semantically mediated formation of episodic associations

In prior work, we developed a computational model of how episodic associations between words are formed. Simulating associative learning, the model indicated that strongly associated semantically unrelated words facilitate the episodic association of other exemplars included in their semantic neighborhoods. This prediction was supported empirically by the present study. First, the incidental formation of strong associations between unrelated words, such as dog and table, improved cued recall of weak associations formed incidentally between semantic neighbors, like cat and chair. Second, deciding that two words were semantically unrelated was facilitated by forming strong associations between other words in their respective semantic neighborhoods, even if the tested pair was not presented at study. Together with the computational model, the present results demonstrate that forming episodic associations between words can implicitly mediate the association of other exemplars from the same semantic categories and reveal a mechanism by which the semantic system contributes to the formation of new episodic associations.     

Incidental formation of episodic associations: The importance of sentential context

The influence of relevant semantic context on the incidental formation of episodic associations between words was probed in two experiments. In Experiment 1, we examined the influence of associations formed incidentally between unrelated words presented either in isolation or embedded in a sentential context on subsequent explicit paired-associate leaning tested by cued recall. The results of Experiment 1 showed that the cued-recall rate of words studied in sentential context was higher than that of words co-occurring in isolated pairs. A subsequent single-items recognition test showed equal item memory for words studied in sentences than for words studied in isolated pairs, suggesting that the sentential context effect in cued recall indeed reflected stronger associations between paired words rather than better memory for single words. In Experiment 2, we ruled out memory for the entire sentence as an alternative explanation for the results of Experiment 1. We suggest two possible mechanisms to account for this advantage: First, pairs embedded in a sentence undergo semantic elaboration that might lead to the incidental formation of an association between them. Second, words embedded in a sentence enjoy the conjoint activation of compatible semantic features, a fact that may also facilitate the formation of an episodic association between them. The implications of these results for computational models using word representations based on co-occurrence data are discussed.     

The role of cardiovascular risk factors in Alzheimer's disease

The distinction between Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia, the two most common types of dementia, has been undermined by recent advances in epidemiologic, clinical, imaging, and neuropathological studies. Cardiovascular risk factors, traditionally regarded as distinguishing criteria between the two entities, have been shown to be associated with both AD and vascular dementia. In this article, we propose mechanisms of action of cardiovascular risk factors in AD, suggest possible explanations for the overlap with vascular dementia and discuss the implications this might have on future differential diagnosis, research, and treatment strategies.     

Semantic Influence on Processing Gender Agreement: Evidence from Hebrew

In the present study we examined the influence of manipulating the animacy of the sentential subject on the size of the syntactic priming effect induced by violation of subject–predicate gender agreement in Hebrew. The agreement violation delayed naming incongruent compared with congruent predicates. This priming effect was stronger when the sentential subject was an animate than an inanimate noun. Additional experiments revealed that: (1) the interaction between the priming effect and animacy of the subject could not be explained on the basis of differences in the phonological transparency of the gender inflection in the two groups of nouns, and (2) it was sensitive to the ratio of animate/inanimate conditions in a block. We suggest that the interaction between the processing of agreement and the effect of animacy is influenced by a controlled process of verifying the coherence of a currently identified word within a built-up context.