词边界信息在中文阅读眼跳目标选择中的作用：来自中文二语学习者的证据

采用EyeLink 1000眼动仪, 选取韩、美、日、泰四国留学生各20名, 在正常无空格和词间空格两种呈现方式下阅读中文语句, 以此来探讨二语学习者在阅读中文时词边界信息在眼跳目标选择中的作用。结果发现, 二语学习者在中文阅读中存在着一致的眼动模式, 即在单次注视事件中, 倾向于注视词的中间部分, 在多次注视事件中, 倾向于注视其开端部分, 然后再计划一次词内再注视。词边界信息能够有效地引导中文二语学习者的眼动行为和眼跳计划, 更多地将首次注视位置落在词的中间部分。最后, 词边界信息在眼跳目标选择中的促进作用没有受到母语文本呈现方式熟悉性的调节。我们认为, 中文二语学习者在阅读中的眼跳目标选择可能采用的是战略-战术策略。     

汉语为二语学习者言语产生中的跨语言干扰

采用跨语言长时竞争启动范式探讨汉语为二语学习者言语产生中的跨语言干扰。实验1的被试选择18名俄语为母语者, 实验2选择18名日语为母语者。自变量是命名语言(一语和二语)和学习条件(学过一致、学过不一致和未学过), 因变量是测验阶段被试图片命名的反应时和正确率。实验分为学习阶段和测验阶段, 被试分别用一语和二语命名图片, 观察被试在测验阶段学过一致与学过不一致两种条件下是否都能产生促进效应。实验结果发现, 无论俄语为母语者还是日语为母语者, 被试只有在学过一致条件下的反应时显著快于未学过条件, 而学过不一致条件下的反应时跟未学过没有显著差异。本研究结果表明, 汉语为二语学习者言语产生中存在跨语言干扰, 且语言间书写特征的差异对跨语言干扰没有影响。     

晚期二语者句法加工过程的调节因素及其效应

针对晚期二语者句法加工能力的发展普遍存在困难这一现象, 近年来采用以ERP为核心技术的脑认知研究发现, 二语者的二语熟练度、一语和二语间具体的句法结构的相似程度、以及以工作记忆为核心的个体认知能力等因素起着各自独立而又相互影响的调节作用, 并且形成了浅层结构理论所主张的晚期二语者的句法加工与母语者有着本质差别的“定性说”与统一竞争模型所主张的晚期二语者和母语者在句法加工上没有本质差别的“量变说”两种理论分野, 二者的分歧集中表现为晚期二语者能否最终形成类母语水平的二语句法加工模式。为此, 需要开展以三个因素如何交互作用为主体的跨语言(二语与一语性质的多样性)研究。     

“Bodyheartminding” (Xin 心): Reconceiving the Inner Self and the Outer World in the Language of Holographic Focus and Field

In this essay, inspired by the somatic turn in philosophy initiated by Richard Shusterman, I want to invoke the language of classical Confucian philosophy to think through the best efforts of William James and John Dewey to escape the mind-body and nature-nurture dualisms—that is, to offer an alternative vocabulary that might lend further clarity to the revolutionary insights of James and Dewey by appealing to the processual categories of Chinese cosmology. What I will try to do first is to refocus the pragmatist’s explanation of the relationship between mind and body through the lens of a process Confucian cosmology. And then, to make the case for James and Dewey, I will return to the radical, imagistic language they invoke to try and make the argument that this processual, holistic understanding of “vital bodyminding” is in fact what they were trying to say all along.     

主动性控制在语言转换线索加工阶段的作用

利用ERP技术,考察个体的主动性控制在语言转换线索加工阶段的作用。实验采用线索化的语言转换范式,要求汉–英双语者根据线索使用汉语或英语对图片进行命名,记录线索加工阶段的脑电成分。采用AX连续执行测验（AX-Continuous Performance Test）中AY试次的错误率作为主动性控制参与程度的指标。结果发现,在线索呈现后的200-350 ms和350-500 ms两个时间窗口,转换试次比重复试次诱发了更负的N2波幅和晚期负波,而且AY试次的错误率可以显著地预测转换试次的N2和晚期负波的波幅。结果表明,语言转换的线索加工可区分为由主动性控制调节的两个阶段,即“与非目标语言任务图式的分离”和“转入目标语言任务图式”的阶段。本研究为主动性控制参与语言转换过程提供了直接的实验证据。     

Predictors of maternal language to infants during a picture book task in the home: Family SES, child characteristics and the parenting environment

This study investigated the contribution of child characteristics and parenting environment to the relationship between family SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language to infants. 1157 children were drawn from a representative sample of 1292 infants born to mothers in rural Appalachian counties and rural counties in southern minority U.S. communities. Mothers and their 6–8 month old babies were videotaped at home while talking about a wordless picture book. Mothers' language output and complexity were analyzed. Child temperament, age, and parenting environment (knowledge of child development and observed mother–child engagement) were predictors of maternal language. Furthermore, their inclusion reduced the magnitude of the association between demographic characteristics and maternal language. Tests of mediation suggested that the parenting environment partially mediates the relationship between SES/demographic characteristics and maternal language. Findings are discussed with respect to identifying proximal processes that explain how SES may exert its influence on the language of young children.     

Proverb interpretation changes in aging

Recent investigations have emphasized the involvement of fronto-subcortical networks to proverb comprehension. Although the prefrontal cortex is thought to be affected by normal aging, relatively little work has been carried out to investigate potential effects of aging on proverb comprehension. In the present investigation participants in three age groups were assessed on a proverb comprehension task and a range of executive function tasks. The older group showed impairment in selecting correct interpretations from alternatives. They also showed executive function deficits, as reflected by reduced working memory and deficient set shifting and inhibition abilities. The findings of the present investigation showed proverb comprehension deficits in normal aging which appeared to be related to reduced executive skills.     

Definitions of Idioms in Preadolescents, Adolescents, and Adults

The purpose of this study was to expand the current literature on word definitions by focusing on definitions of idioms provided by several age groups. Preadolescents, young adolescents, older adolescents, and adults wrote definitions for 10 frequently used idioms and also rated their familiarity with the idiomatic expressions. Participants’ definitions were scored based on the degree to which their definitions reflected use of critical elements (determined by a standard dictionary of idioms), use of examples or related/associated concepts, and errors. Significant age differences were found in both idiom familiarity and idiom definition tasks: both idiom familiarity and definitional skill improved with age. In addition, we found a positive correlation between idiom familiarity and idiom definition. Results are discussed with respect to age-related changes in definitional response types and understanding of figurative language.     

The tonal function of a task-irrelevant chord modulates speed of visual processing

Harmonic priming studies have provided evidence that musical expectations influence sung phoneme monitoring, with facilitated processing for phonemes sung on tonally related (expected) chords in comparison to less-related (less-expected) chords [Bigand, Tillmann, Poulin, D’Adamo, and Madurell (2001). The effect of harmonic context on phoneme monitoring in vocal music. Cognition, 81, B11–B20]. This tonal relatedness effect has suggested two interpretations: (a) processing of music and language interact at some level of processing; and (b) tonal functions of chords influence task performance via listeners’ attention. Our study investigated these hypotheses by exploring whether the effect of tonal relatedness extends to the processing of visually presented syllables (Experiments 1 and 2) and geometric forms (Experiments 3 and 4). For Experiments 1–4, visual target identification was faster when the musical background fulfilled listeners’ expectations (i.e., a related chord was played simultaneously). In Experiment 4, the addition of a baseline condition (i.e., without an established tonal center) further showed that the observed difference was due to a facilitation linked to the related chord and not to an inhibition or disruption caused by the less-related chord. This outcome suggests the influence of musical structures on attentional mechanisms and that these mechanisms are shared between auditory and visual modalities. The implications for research investigating neural correlates shared by music and language processing are discussed.     

Effects of language experience on the perception of American Sign Language

Perception of American Sign Language (ASL) handshape and place of articulation parameters was investigated in three groups of signers: deaf native signers, deaf non-native signers who acquired ASL between the ages of 10 and 18, and hearing non-native signers who acquired ASL as a second language between the ages of 10 and 26. Participants were asked to identify and discriminate dynamic synthetic signs on forced choice identification and similarity judgement tasks. No differences were found in identification performance, but there were effects of language experience on discrimination of the handshape stimuli. Participants were significantly less likely to discriminate handshape stimuli drawn from the region of the category prototype than stimuli that were peripheral to the category or that straddled a category boundary. This pattern was significant for both groups of deaf signers, but was more pronounced for the native signers. The hearing L2 signers exhibited a similar pattern of discrimination, but results did not reach significance. An effect of category structure on the discrimination of place of articulation stimuli was also found, but it did not interact with language background. We conclude that early experience with a signed language magnifies the influence of category prototypes on the perceptual processing of handshape primes, leading to differences in the distribution of attentional resources between native and non-native signers during language comprehension.