Homophonic context effects when naming Japanese kanji: evidence for processing costs?

The current study investigated the effects of phonologically related context pictures on the naming latencies of target words in Japanese and Chinese. Reading bare words in alphabetic languages has been shown to be rather immune to effects of context stimuli, even when these stimuli are presented in advance of the target word (e.g., Glaser & Düngelhoff, 1984 Glaser, W. R. and Düngelhoff, F. J. 1984. The time course of picture–word interference. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 10: 640–654. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Roelofs, 2003 Roelofs, A. 2003. Goal-referenced selection of verbal action: Modeling attentional control in the Stroop task. Psychological Review, 110: 88–125. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). However, recently, semantic context effects of distractor pictures on the naming latencies of Japanese kanji (but not Chinese hànzì) words have been observed (Verdonschot, La Heij, & Schiller, 2010 Verdonschot, R. G., La Heij, W. and Schiller, N. O. 2010. Semantic context effects when naming Japanese kanji, but not Chinese hànzì. Cognition, 115: 512–518. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). In the present study, we further investigated this issue using phonologically related (i.e., homophonic) context pictures when naming target words in either Chinese or Japanese. We found that pronouncing bare nouns in Japanese is sensitive to phonologically related context pictures, whereas this is not the case in Chinese. The difference between these two languages is attributed to processing costs caused by multiple pronunciations for Japanese kanji.     

Stimulus type and the list strength paradigm

In recognition memory, increasing the strength of studied items does not reduce performance on other items, an effect dubbed the null list strength effect (LSE). While this finding has been replicated many times, it has rarely been tested using stimuli other than single words. Kinnell and Dennis (2012 Kinnell, A., & Dennis, S. (2012). The role of stimulus type in list length effects in recognition memory. Memory & Cognition, 40, 311–325. doi: 10.3758/s13421-011-0164-2[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) recently tested for the presence of list length effects using non-word stimulus classes while controlling for the confounds that are present in list length designs. Small list length effects were found for fractal and face images. We adopted the same paradigm and stimuli used by Kinnell and Dennis to test whether these stimuli would be susceptible to list strength effects as well. We found significant LSEs for fractal images, but null LSEs for face images and natural scene photographs. Stimuli other than words do appear to be susceptible to list strength effects, but these effects are small and restricted to particular stimulus classes, as is the case in list length designs. Models of memory may be able to address differences between these stimulus classes by attributing differences in representational overlap between the stimulus classes.     

Working memory affects older adults’ use of context in spoken-word recognition

Many older listeners report difficulties in understanding speech in noisy situations. Working memory and other cognitive skills may modulate older listeners’ ability to use context information to alleviate the effects of noise on spoken-word recognition. In the present study, we investigated whether verbal working memory predicts older adults’ ability to immediately use context information in the recognition of words embedded in sentences, presented in different listening conditions. In a phoneme-monitoring task, older adults were asked to detect as fast and as accurately as possible target phonemes in sentences spoken by a target speaker. Target speech was presented without noise, with fluctuating speech-shaped noise, or with competing speech from a single distractor speaker. The gradient measure of contextual probability (derived from a separate offline rating study) affected the speed of recognition. Contextual facilitation was modulated by older listeners’ verbal working memory (measured with a backward digit span task) and age across listening conditions. Working memory and age, as well as hearing loss, were also the most consistent predictors of overall listening performance. Older listeners’ immediate benefit from context in spoken-word recognition thus relates to their ability to keep and update a semantic representation of the sentence content in working memory.     

Visual context does not promote concurrent sequence learning

Concurrent sequence learning (CSL) of two or more sequences refers to the concurrent maintenance, in memory, of the two or more sequence representations. Research using the serial reaction time task has established that CSL is possible when the different sequences involve different dimensions (e.g., visuospatial locations versus manual keypresses). Recently some studies have suggested that visual context can promote CSL if the different sequences are embedded in different visual contexts. The results of these studies have been difficult to interpret because of various limitations. Addressing the limitations, the current study suggests that visual context does not promote CSL and that CSL may not be possible when the different sequences involve the same elements (i.e., the same target locations, response keys and effectors).     

阅读中自然学习生词的实验研究

本研究对儿童阅读时从语境中自然学习生词的过程及其多个影响因素进行了探讨。301名三、五年级小学生参加了实验。首先要求他们阅读文章,然后测验他们对文章中生词的知识。本研究在不同年级和能力的儿童中都发现了显著的自然学习效应。结果还表明,词的概念难度、词结构的语义透明度、语境线索强度和儿童课外阅读量对儿童的自然学习有重要影响。     

No Time of Day Modulation or Time Stamp on Multiple Memory Tasks in Rats

Various demonstrations of “time stamp” effects in the animal learning literature have reinforced the idea that circadian information is encoded as part of a combined internal/external representation of context and that this contextual information is utilized for complex retrieval processes supporting memory. The goal of the present series of experiments is to assess this idea by manipulating training/testing circadian times on a battery of learning and memory tasks commonly used in the rodent. The data obtained from five experiments using four different learning and memory paradigms provide no evidence for “time stamp” effects on place memory, context memory (aversive or appetitive), or S-R habit learning.     

A Latent Variable Framework for Power Estimation Within Intervention Contexts

This paper presents a latent growth SEM approach for the estimation of treatment effects, and power to detect such effects, within a true experimental design setting in which subjects are randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions. Power estimation is a critical component of intervention experiment design and the testing of their results. Although researchers have become increasingly sophisticated in applying tests for statistical significance in intervention contexts, few are aware of the power of these tests. The issues raised in this paper are not new; however, reminding researchers to consider these points is important. Exactly how the researcher handles these issues will depend on the questions asked and the resources available, as well as other considerations. Discussion underscores the relationship between the reliability of a study's measures and concomitant increases in power obtained within the SEM framework.     

Spiritual Development Across the Adult Life Course: Findings from a Longitudinal Study

Longitudinal data spanning early (30s) and older (late 60s/mid-70s) adulthood were used to study spiritual development across the adult life course in a sample of men and women belonging to a younger (born 1928/29) and an older (born 1920/21) age cohort. All participants, irrespective of gender and cohort, increased significantly in spirituality between late middle (mid-50s/early 60s) and older adulthood. Members of the younger cohort increased in spirituality throughout the adult life cycle. In the second half of adulthood, women increased more rapidly in spirituality than men. Spiritual involvement in older age was predicted by religious involvement and personality characteristics in early adulthood and subsequent experiences of negative life events.     

学习支持对儿童在多媒体语境中学习英语词汇的影响

该研究旨在考察中文翻译与主题提示两种学习支持对儿童在多媒体语境中学习英语词汇的作用,为此设计了三种学习条件：无支持条件、中文翻译条件和中文翻译 主题提示条件。对学龄初期儿童在上述三种学习条件下学习英语词汇的过程和结果进行的考察和分析表明：儿童在无支持条件下的学习效果较差;中文翻译可以明显促进儿童对语句的理解,但无法提高儿童对目标词的掌握;中文翻译 主题提示条件下儿童对单词语义的掌握最好,他们表现出了较多的跟读行为,并更倾向于认为学习任务较为容易。     

Is “Latin American Thought” Philosophy?

Abstract: A durable question in Latin American thought is whether it could amount to a characteristically Latin American philosophy. I argue that if, as is now widely conceded, there is a role for philosophical analysis in thinking about problems that arise in applied subjects, such as bioethics, environmental ethics, and feminism, then why not also in Latin American thought? After all, the focus of Hispanic thinkers has often been upon the issues that arise in their own experiences of the world, and they make up a diverse group of peoples related by very idiosyncratic ethnic and historical connections. I believe that, given some appropriate criteria, the existing corpus of works by Latin American thinkers is a part of a distinctive philosophy.