Lists Of Common Words Research Articles

Strategy use and its evolvement in word list learning: a replication study.

Spontaneous strategy employment is important for memory performance, but systematic research on strategy use and within-task evolvement is limited. This online study aimed to replicate three main findings by Waris and colleagues in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2021): in word-list learning, spontaneous strategy use (1) predicts better task performance, (2) stabilizes along the task, and (3) increases during the first two task blocks. We administered a shortened version of their original real-word list-learning task to 209 neurotypical adults. Their first finding was partly replicated: manipulation strategies (grouping, visualization, association, narrative, other strategy) but not maintenance strategies (rehearsal/repetition, selective focus) were associated with superior word recall. The second finding on the decrease in strategy changers over task blocks was replicated. The third finding turned out to be misguided: neither our nor the original study showed task-initial increase in strategy use in the real-word learning condition. Our results confirm the important role of spontaneous strategies in understanding memory performance and the existence of task-initial dynamics in strategy employment. They support the general conclusions by Waris and colleagues: task demands can trigger strategy use even in a familiar task like learning a list of common words, and evolution of strategy use during a memory task reflects cognitive skill learning.

Is there a ‘universal’ core? Using semantic primes to select vocabulary across languages in AAC

Core vocabulary lists and vocabulary inventories vary according to language. Lists from one language cannot and should not be assumed to be translatable, as words represent language-specific concepts and grammar. In this manuscript, we (a) present the results of a vocabulary overlap analysis between different published core vocabulary lists in English, Korean, Spanish, and Sepedi; (b) discuss the concept of universal semantic primes as a set of universal concepts that are posited to be language-independent; and (c) provide a list of common words shared across all four languages as exemplars of their semantic primes. The resulting common core words and their corresponding semantic primes can assist families and professionals in thinking about the initial steps in the development of AAC systems for their bilingual/multilingual clients.

A comparative study of children’s Chinese character textbooks in Korea and China, with a focus on Yu Hap

This study examines why and how Chinese characters spread into Korea. It subsequently conducts a comparative analysis of Korean and Chinese children’s textbooks with a focus on Yu Hap from the perspective of the acceptance and acculturation of Chinese characters. It also explores how commonly used the characters in Yu Hap are, and the text’s learning value as one of Korea’s children’s textbooks. Yu Hap is very significant as the first written language textbook published in Korea. A comparative analysis of the characters used in four children’s books published in Korea found that the characters in Yu Hap are very common, and the text has a high learning value. Approximately 50% of the characters in San Bai Qian and Yu Hap are the same, showing that both China and Korea had similar perceptions of the characters in common use. A very significant proportion of characters overlap in Basic Chinese Character for Educational Use, List of Common Words in Modern Chinese, and Yu Hap; this supports the idea that the same characters have continued to be used from ancient times to the present day.

A comparative study of children’s Chinese character textbooks in Korea and China, with a focus on Yu Hap

This study examines why and how Chinese characters spread into Korea. It subsequently conducts a comparative analysis of Korean and Chinese children’s textbooks with a focus on Yu Hap from the perspective of the acceptance and acculturation of Chinese characters. It also explores how commonly used the characters in Yu Hap are, and the text’s learning value as one of Korea’s children’s textbooks. Yu Hap is very significant as the first written language textbook published in Korea. A comparative analysis of the characters used in four children’s books published in Korea found that the characters in Yu Hap are very common, and the text has a high learning value. Approximately 50% of the characters in San Bai Qian and Yu Hap are the same, showing that both China and Korea had similar perceptions of the characters in common use. A very significant proportion of characters overlap in Basic Chinese Character for Educational Use, List of Common Words in Modern Chinese, and Yu Hap; this supports the idea that the same characters have continued to be used from ancient times to the present day.

Creation of Text Document Matrices and Visualization by Self-Organizing Map

In the paper, text mining and visualization by self-organizing map (SOM) are investigated. At first, textual information must be converted into numerical one. The results of text mining and visualization depend on the conversion. So, the influence of some control factors (the common word list and usage of the stemming algorithm) on text mining results, when a document dictionary is created, is investigated. A self-organizing map is used for text clustering and graphical representation (visualization). A comparative analysis is made where a dataset consists of scientific papers about the optimization, based on Pareto, simplex, and genetic algorithms. Two new measures are also proposed to estimate the SOM quality when the classified data are analyzed: distances between SOM cells, corresponding to data items assigned to the same class, and the distance between centers of SOM cells, corresponding to different classes. The quantization error is measured to estimate the SOM quality, too. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.itc.43.1.4299

Synchronous and Asynchronous Theta and Gamma Activity during Episodic Memory Formation

To test the hypothesis that neural oscillations synchronize to mediate memory encoding, we analyzed electrocorticographic recordings taken as 68 human neurosurgical patients studied and subsequently recalled lists of common words. To the extent that changes in spectral power reflect synchronous oscillations, we would expect those power changes to be accompanied by increases in phase synchrony between the region of interest and neighboring brain areas. Contrary to the hypothesized role of synchronous gamma oscillations in memory formation, we found that many key regions that showed power increases during successful memory encoding also exhibited decreases in global synchrony. Similarly, cortical theta activity that decreases during memory encoding exhibits both increased and decreased global synchrony depending on region and stage of encoding. We suggest that network synchrony analyses, as used here, can help to distinguish between two major types of spectral modulations: (1) those that reflect synchronous engagement of regional neurons with neighboring brain areas, and (2) those that reflect either asynchronous modulations of neural activity or local synchrony accompanied by global disengagement from neighboring regions. We show that these two kinds of spectral modulations have distinct spatiotemporal profiles during memory encoding.

Power Shifts Track Serial Position and Modulate Encoding in Human Episodic Memory

The first events in a series exert a powerful influence on cognition and behavior in both humans and animals. This is known as the law of primacy. Here, we analyze the neural correlates of primacy in humans by analyzing electrocorticographic recordings in 84 neurosurgical patients as they studied and subsequently recalled lists of common words. We found that spectral power in the gamma frequency band (28-100 Hz) was elevated at the start of the list and gradually subsided, whereas lower frequency (2-8 Hz) delta and theta band power exhibited the opposite trend. This gradual shift in the power spectrum was found across a widespread network of brain regions. The degree to which the subsequent memory effect was modulated by list (serial) position was most pronounced in medial temporal lobe structures. These results suggest that globally increased gamma and decreased delta-theta spectral powers reflect a brain state that predisposes medial temporal lobe structures to enhance the encoding and maintenance of early list items.

What do spelling errors tell us? Classification and analysis of errors made by Greek schoolchildren with and without dyslexia

In this study we propose a classification system for spelling errors and determine the most common spelling difficulties of Greek children with and without dyslexia. Spelling skills of 542 children from the general population and 44 children with dyslexia, Grades 3–4 and 7, were assessed with a dictated common word list and age-appropriate passages. Spelling errors were classified into broad categories, including phonological (graphophonemic mappings), grammatical (inflectional suffixes), orthographic (word stems), stress assignment (diacritic), and punctuation. Errors were further classified into specific subcategories. Relative proportions for a total of 11,364 errors were derived by calculating the opportunities for each error type. Nondyslexic children of both age groups made primarily grammatical and stress errors, followed by orthographic errors. Phonological and punctuation errors were negligible. Most frequent specific errors were in derivational affixes, stress diacritics, inflectional suffixes, and vowel historical spellings. Older children made fewer errors, especially in inflectional suffixes. Dyslexic children differed from nondyslexic ones in making more errors of the same types, in comparable relative proportions. Spelling profiles of dyslexic children did not differ from those of same-age children with poor reading skills or of younger children matched in reading and phonological awareness. In conclusion, spelling errors of both dyslexic and nondyslexic children indicate persistent difficulty with internalizing regularities of the Greek orthographic lexicon, including derivational, inflectional, and word (stem) families. This difficulty is greater for children with dyslexia.

Hippocampal and Neocortical Gamma Oscillations Predict Memory Formation in Humans

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the human brain has shown that the hippocampus and the left temporal and frontal cortices play a key role in the formation of new verbal memories. We recorded electrical activity from 2349 surgically implanted intracranial electrodes in epilepsy patients while they studied and later recalled lists of common words. Using these recordings, we demonstrate that gamma oscillations (44-64 Hz) in the hippocampus and the left temporal and frontal cortices predict successful encoding of new verbal memories. This increase in gamma oscillations was not seen in other frequency bands, whose activity generally decreased during successful memory formation. These findings identify a role for gamma oscillations in verbal memory formation with the hippocampus and the left temporal and frontal cortices, the same regions implicated using noninvasive fMRI recording methods.

The recall of missing items

In two experiments, we studied the recall of missing items. Short lists of common words were presented once and were followed immediately by a random permutation of all but one of the presented items. The task of the subject was to recall the missing item--that is, the item present in the study set but missing from the probe set. Experiment 1 replicated the high accuracy with five-item lists originally reported by Yntema and Trask (1963) and showed that the latencies were quite short (about 750 msec). Experiment 2 varied list length unpredictably and showed that accuracy was a function of both list length (four, five, or six items) and serial position. Latency was again quite short but was essentially independent of list length and serial position. It was possible to simulate most of the effects with the power set model with no free parameters (i.e., parameters that varied with the experimental manipulations). The results seemed to be more consistent with a direct access model (the power set model of TODAM; Murdock, 1995) than with a simple search or serial-scanning model.

Interrupting recognition memory: tests of a criterion-change account of the revelation effect.

The revelation effect is evidenced by an increase in positive recognition responses when the test probe is immediately preceded by an unrelated problem-solving task. As an alternative to familiarity-based explanations of this effect (Hicks & Marsh, 1998; Westerman & Greene, 1998), Niewiadomski and Hockley (2001) proposed a decision-based account in which it is assumed that the problem-solving task displaces the study list context in working memory, leading subjects to adopt a more liberal recognition criterion. In the present study, we show that the revelation effect is seen when the stimulus materials are pure lists of very rare words or nonwords. In contrast, for mixed lists of common words and very rare words or nonwords, the revelation effect is found for common words but disappears for very rare words and nonwords. We argue that, in mixed lists, the liberal decision bias following the revelation task and the criterion changes between common words and very rare words and nonwords serve to offset each other.

Identification of the vocabulary learning device in the brain

Vocabulary acquisition is major aspect of language learning in children but also in adults, particularly when learning a foreign language. Selective impairment of vocabulary acquisition is observed in patients with auditory-verbal (phonological) short-term memory deficit, while a more general failure of long-term learning of verbal information is observed in amnesia. Anatomical studies in brain damaged patients have not been fully informative, as they fail to indicate the exact localization of the brain regions involved in vocabulary learning. To identify the relevant brain systems, we performed regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) PET measurements in six normal subjects while they were learning a list of neologisms or a list of common words.

The Computer Readability Editing System

The Computer Readability Editing System (CRES) is a tool for helping technical writers adhere to writing rules contained in military standards and guidelines. For example, it helps in using consistent terminology, defining technical terms and avoiding certain kinds of awkward sentence construction. The most important feature of the system is its control of vocabulary using a series of carefully compiled word lists including a common word list of 4,000 words and seven technical word lists (e.g., electronics and propulsion engineering). The lists were laboriously compiled for use specifically with military technical information. Users can easily compile lists for their own needs. The program, now running on the WANG VS minicomputer, has been designed for ease of use. Many contractors are incorporating CRES into their automated publishing systems.

SPONTANEOUS USE OF MNEMONICS BY ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS

Abstract This study was prompted by the confusion that exists in the literature concerning the effectiveness of mnemonic training programs for elderly adults. Our purpose was to understand what kinds of mnemonic activities might occur spontaneously in standard (or “do‐nothing) control groups of older individuals. Elderly adults in two studies were asked to: (1) predict how successful they might be in a simple memorization task; (2) memorize a short list of common words; (3) report how they actually carried out the memory task. In the second study, reports of strategy usage were also given before the memorization task and compared with reports of strategies actually used. Summaries of the reported mnemonic strategies are presented. The relationships between strategy reports, memory performance, and predicted memory performance are examined. Predicted memory performance and actual memory performance were not strongly related. Reports of using imagery were relatively rare. Persons using deep processing stra...

Maintenance of children's rehearsal strategies: Effects of amount of training and strategy form

Fifty third- and fourth-grade children, assigned to groups varying in Amount (1 or 2 sessions) and Type (cumulative-cluster or cluster) of strategy training or to a control condition, participated in three free recall sessions, two training sessions with blocked lists of common words and a maintenance session with a 50-states list blocked by geographical regions. During strategy training and maintenance, the cumulative-cluster groups recalled more than the cluster and control groups. Amount of training significantly influenced degree of strategy maintenance, but only in the cumulative-cluster strategy. Strategy form was highly correlated with recall in the cumulative-cluster condition, while total study time (effort) was related to recall only in conditions where strategy instructions were not given. The form of the strategy during training predicted transfer form and recall. 100% of the children who received extended training and demonstrated good strategy form during acquisition sessions successfully transferred the strategy to the geography task.

Word Learning: Concrete vs Abstract Acquisition

Concrete vs abstract word learning was investigated in first grade subjects on a trials-to-criterion basis. Eight four-letter words were selected (four concrete, four abstract) from a list of common words and presented mechanically to subjects. Subjects were divided into groups high and low in reading readiness. A 2 × 2 analysis of variance indicated that contrary to previously published research, there is no difference in the ability to learn concrete or abstract words. Further, low-readiness subjects did not perform with any significant degree of difference from subjects high in readiness. It was concluded that concreteness or abstractness may not be a significant factor in word learning, as previously assumed.

Visual search through words and nonwords in horizontal and vertical orientations.

In a repeated measurement design, 18 college women searched for target letters in 18 lists of common words, rare words, and nonwords arranged either vertically or horizontally. The mean search time in seconds for three trials in each of six conditions was expected to be significantly slower for nonwords than for words and for vertical orientations than for horizontal orientations. More importantly, a significant interaction was predicted between direction of search and the type of list searched. Results confirmed earlier findings that the two main effects were significant; the significant interaction provided empirical evidence that consideration needs to be given to both intraword redundancy and direction of visual search.

Rehearsal and free recall in children of superior and average intelligence

Children of similar chronological age who were either of superior or average intelligence were presented with lists of common words for single-trial free recall. Rehearsal was recorded during list presentation. Children of superior intelligence exhibited greater recall and rehearsal. This superiority in performance, however, was limited to the initial and middle portions of the serial position curve. Recall and rehearsal at terminal serial positions did not differentiate the groups. The results were interpreted as supporting a two-process view of immediate recall used to elucidate memory disparities between normal and retarded adolescents.

Effects of high-priority events on recall and recognition of other events

High-priority events (HPEs) were names of famous people inserted in lists of common words. Significant decrements in recall of items immediately preceding HPEs at input were observed at the 1-sec rate but not at the 0.5-sec rate of presentation. Recognition data at both rates indicated significant detrimental effects on items immediately preceding and immediately following HPEs. Recognition effects were obtained both with and without prior free recall, and occurred even in the absence of HPE instructions. The results suggest that the items just before and just after an HPE both suffer losses of effective presentation time at input.

Interactive presentation in multi-trial free recall

This study investigated interactive presentation in multi-trial free recall. Subjects were given six trials on a 30-word list of common words under one of three experimental conditions. Group C was the control group with standard (randomized) presentation order. In Group B, all words recalled on Trial n were presented at the beginning of list presentation on Trial n + 1. In Group E, all words recalled on Trial n were presented at the end of list presentation on Trial n + 1. The groups differed in the slopes of the acquisition curves, serial position effects, and conditional recalls. Interactive presentation seems to be a feasible technique, and should be useful in testing theories of learning and memory.