Field Of Psycholinguistics Research Articles

Métodos on-line em psicolinguística: a tarefa labirinto (maze task)

Muitas pesquisas na área da psicolinguística e outras subáreas da linguística envolvem análises de tempo de reação (TR) de seres humanos ao lerem determinadas estruturas linguísticas. Esses TRs são utilizados como indicativos da dificuldade de se processar diferentes unidades linguísticas. Para coletar esse tipo de informação dois métodos são bastante utilizados: o rastreamento ocular (Rayner) e a leitura auto-monitorada (Mitchell (a)). No entanto, os dados obtidos por esses métodos podem conter ruídos que tornam as análises dos resultados mais complexas. Neste trabalho, vamos apresentar uma outra opção de método experimental de leitura que parece mitigar esses ruídos: a tarefa labirinto ou maze task (Forster; et al.).Os proponentes dessa técnica experimental defendem que os dados que ela gera são menos ruidosos pois ela inibe efeitos spill-over, diminui as possibilidades de estratégias de leitura e exige um alto nível de atenção por parte dos participantes. Assim, os dados são encontrados na região esperada e perguntas de compreensão não são necessárias. Descrevemosnesse artigo alguns dos primeiros estudos que utilizaram essa técnica. Os resultados desses trabalhos corroboram o seu potencial metodológico, já que demonstram que a tarefa gerou dados localizados convergentes com efeitos de processamento previamente observados na literatura.

Differences in Working Memory With Emotional Distraction Between Proficient and Non-proficient Bilinguals.

The impact of bilingual education and bilingual experience on working memory has been an important and controversial issue in the field of psycholinguistics. Taking Chinese-English bilinguals as an example, this study aims to investigate the differences in emotional working memory between proficient and non-proficient bilinguals by using delayed matching-to-sample task paradigm and the more complex N-back task in emotional contexts. The results show that proficient bilinguals may have better performance on both of these two working memory tasks than non-proficient bilinguals, and the advantage effects can be more apparent under high memory load conditions. In addition, the negative emotion context could have a positive impact on complex N-back tasks. This study supports the notion that bilingual experience can promote the development of an individual’s cognitive ability and enable individuals to possess more advantages in working memory even in the presence of emotional contexts.

Multidisciplinary Nature of the Psycholinguistic Discourse Neuroeconomics

Introduction. The article is devoted to the issues of multidisciplinary interaction in new scientific fields, which involve a wide variety of convergences, no matter how strange at first glance they may seem. One of these phenomena is the interaction of psycholinguistics and neuroeconomics.
 The goal. The article examines the transition of modern science to multidisciplinary discourse, which makes it necessary to conceptualize and possibly operationalize methods of psycholinguistics. The conceptualization of new areas of neuroeconomics, in a psycholinguistic context, presupposes a certain mental experience that includes, in addition to the processes of creating new concepts and contextual economic knowledge, also defining the role of interests, intentions, emotions in human economic activity.
 Methods. Multivariate analysis, comparative analysis, extrapolation.
 Results. It is proved that in recent decades the development of new areas of economic science, namely those related to the development of neuroeconomics, has significantly expanded the field of psycholinguistics. The production of new paradigms of economic theory, the formation of the corresponding definitions, objects requires the design and definition of them both in form and in content. It considers the need for a theoretical and orderly definition of the functional meaning of the psycholinguistic context of new definitions, the result of which can be a conceptual system for communication between specialists in various fields of science at the level of their professional understanding. It seems that the central issues in the psycholinguistic discourse of neuroeconomics have become the relationship between economics, psychology, linguistics and psycholinguistics. Such connection is undoubtedly of a multidisciplinary nature, which contributes to the deepening of the relationship between scientific thought, culture and language and became the impetus for understanding the nature of human cognition at a higher, multidisciplinary level of development of science. This is a necessary component for understanding the meanings and structure of concepts, terms and definitions, as well as communications at a higher scientific level.
 Conclusions. It is concluded that new areas of neuroeconomics such as behavioral economics, behavioral finance, emotional economics, psychological economics, have become areas of economic theory that, explicitly or implicitly, take into account the psychological characteristics of human perception and behavior in the process of economic activity. These definitions catalyze the theoretical integration of various scientific fields, and, above all, psycholinguistic science.

Psycholinguistics: Studying inflection and word placement with reference to sentence construction

Psycholinguistics is the discipline that investigates and describes the psychological processes which makes it possible for users to master and use a language. In the field of psycholinguistics, psychology and neurobiological factors forms the pillars in order to enable humans to acquire, comprehend and produce language. We have made a short analytical survey on some students aging between 15 to 25 years and supported it with some mathematical calculations regarding the topic. We have made an online form and spread it amongst the students to apply their vocabulary skills and answer the topic using which we will decide the efficiency of a person through their answers. The base parameters on which we have taken the questions are age, first language, medium of education accomplished in 10+2 level in academics. We have used condition probability to draw the conclusion on the survey that we have done to calculate and designed a pie chart on the basis of the resulting data. We want to showcase that what are the smallest of smallest factors which are responsible for misconducting or misinterpreting a sentence during any reading.

MODERN ONLINE PLATFORMS AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN TEACHING LINGUISTICS IN THE US HIGHER EDUCATION PRACTICE

The article deals with the problem of applying modern online platforms and digital technologies to teaching linguistics students in the US experience. It has been highlighted that nowadays it is imperative to discover new approaches to enhancing the quality of education process, in particular, professional training in linguistics, using prominent achievements of the leading countries, namely, the USA. The country is worldwide recognized as the main centre of linguistics and applies the most advanced and innovative technologies to teaching linguistics. Recent researches and publications on the topic have been analyzed. It has been found that digital learning is viewed in different contexts, may have different terms and interpretations, however most scholars agree it promotes digitality of the education process and sets innovative trends in the education of the future. It has been stated that future linguists should be able to effectively apply linguistic theories and methods for fulfilling standard professional tasks, in particular developing scientific and technical and special terminology, linguistic software, conducting research in the field of psycholinguistics, forensic linguistics, communicative linguistics, sociolinguistics, cognitive linguistics, applied linguistics, etc. Therefore, it has been specified that the US experience of professional training in linguistics aims to strengthen the education process with the use of innovative digital technologies so that future linguists may confidently implement the acquired knowledge and skills into professional activities. It has been found that content management systems are widely applied in professional training in linguistics, since they are aimed at making study time more flexible so that the students may efficiently organize their learning and successfully achieve learning goals. It has been clarified that online/distance learning, which includes videoconferencing software and massive open online courses, is actively implemented to eliminate geographic barriers and connect learners all over the world. It has been specified that modern linguistic multimedia laboratories play the leading role in making professional training in linguistics more digital. Based on the research findings, relevant conclusions have been drawn and optimal recommendations have been outlined how to enhance the quality of professional training in linguistics worldwide through applying modern online platforms and digital technologies.

THE POWER OF NEURAL OSCILLATIONS TO INFORM SENTENCE COMPREHENSION: A LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE.

The field of psycholinguistics is currently experiencing an explosion of interest in the analysis of neural oscillations - rhythmic brain activity synchronized at different temporal and spatial levels. Given that language comprehension relies on a myriad of processes, which are carried out in parallel in distributed brain networks, there is hope that this methodology might bring the field closer to understanding some of the more basic (spatially and temporally distributed, yet at the same time often overlapping) neural computations that support language function. In this review we discuss existing proposals linking oscillatory dynamics in different frequency bands to basic neural computations, and review relevant theories suggesting associations between band-specific oscillations and higher-level cognitive processes. More or less consistent patterns of oscillatory activity related to certain types of linguistic processing can already be derived from the evidence that has accumulated over the past few decades. The centerpiece of the current review is a synthesis of such patterns grouped by linguistic phenomenon. We restrict our review to evidence linking measures of oscillatory power to the comprehension of sentences, as well as linguistically (and/or pragmatically) more complex structures. For each grouping, we provide a brief summary and a table of associated oscillatory signatures that a psycholinguist might expect to find when employing a particular linguistic task. Summarizing across different paradigms, we conclude that a handful of basic neural oscillatory mechanisms are likely recruited in different ways and at different times for carrying out a variety of linguistic computations.

Attachment Preference in Auditory German Sentences: Individual Differences and Pragmatic Strategy.

Relative clauses modify a preceding element, but as this element can be flexibly located, the point of attachment is sometimes ambiguous. Preference for this attachment can vary within languages such as German, yet explanations for differences in attachment preference related to cognitive strategies or constraints have been conflicting in the current literature. The present study aimed to assess the preference for relative clause attachment among German listeners and whether these preferences could be explained by strategy or individual differences in working memory or musical rhythm ability. We performed a sentence completion experiment, conducted post hoc interviews, and measured working memory and rhythm abilities with diagnostic tests. German listeners had no homogeneous attachment preference, although participants consistently completed individual sentences across trials according to the general preference that they reported offline. Differences in attachment preference were moreover not linked to individual differences in either working memory or musical rhythm ability. However, the pragmatic content of individual sentences sometimes overrode the general syntactic preference in participants with lower rhythm ability. Our study makes an important contribution to the field of psycholinguistics by validating offline self-reports as a reliable diagnostic for an individual’s online relative clause attachment preference. The link between pragmatic strategy and rhythm ability is an interesting direction for future research.

Psycholinguistic Aspects of Reproducing the Chinese Military and Political Discourse in Ukrainian

The article is aimed at studying psycholinguistic issues regarding the interpretation variability and linguocultural accommodation of conceptual basis representing the determinants of the Chinese military and political discourse by the Ukrainians. The topicality is stipulated by great interest of the scientists in the fields of psycholinguistics, linguistic culturology, translation studies as to the semantic content within the view of the world displayed by ethnic groups from The Orient. The determinants of the Chinese military and political discourse (discourse, concept, concept sphere, linguistic component, extra-linguistic component) are specified in the article. The Chinese-language military-political discourse is understood as a totality of verbalized oral and written texts created in the context of the politics-oriented communication; ideographic and symbolic embodiment of the national concept sphere, which is governed by the national and culture-centric tactical and strategic vectors of the conflict-free interaction performed by communicants in the spheres of politics, economy, military-industry, international relations. The linguistic phenomena enable the Chinese military and political discourse to be actualized as well as the means of their reproduction in the Ukrainian language [replication (equivalent translation), transliteration, transcoding, descriptive translation, commentary; the communication-equal translation strategy; the redirection strategy where cultural and linguistic adaptations are applied]. The prospects of our further research are seen in the study of tactical and strategic vectors which may determine the peculiarities of reproducing the syntactic component of the discourse under study into the Ukrainian language.

Can prediction-based distributional semantic models predict typicality?

Recent advances in the field of computational linguistics have led to the development of various prediction-based models of semantics. These models seek to infer word representations from large text collections by predicting target words from neighbouring words (or vice versa). The resulting representations are vectors in a continuous space, collectively called word embeddings. Although psychological plausibility was not a primary concern for the developers of predictive models, it has been the topic of several recent studies in the field of psycholinguistics. That is, word embeddings have been linked to similarity ratings, word associations, semantic priming, word recognition latencies, and so on. Here, we build on this work by investigating category structure. Throughout seven experiments, we sought to predict human typicality judgements from two languages, Dutch and English, using different semantic spaces. More specifically, we extracted a number of predictor variables, and evaluated how well they could capture the typicality gradient of common categories (e.g., birds, fruit, vehicles, etc.). Overall, the performance of predictive models was rather modest and did not compare favourably with that of an older count-based model. These results are somewhat disappointing given the enthusiasm surrounding predictive models. Possible explanations and future directions are discussed.

Integration and Prediction in Language Processing: A Synthesis of Old and New

Current theories of language processing emphasize prediction as a mechanism to facilitate comprehension, which contrasts with the state of the field a few decades ago, when prediction was rarely mentioned. We argue that the field of psycholinguistics would benefit from revisiting these earlier theories of comprehension that attempted to explain integration and the processes underlying the formation of rich representations of linguistic input and that emphasized informational newness over redundancy. We suggest further that integration and anticipation may be complementary mechanisms that operate on elaborated, coherent discourse representations, supporting enhanced comprehension and memory. In addition, the traditional emphasis on language as a tool for communication implies that much linguistic content will be nonredundant; moreover, the purpose of anticipation is probably not to permit the prediction of exact lexical or syntactic forms but instead to induce a state of preparedness that allows the comprehender to be receptive to new information, thus facilitating its processing.

Pares léxicos en el léxico disponible de estudiantes italianos

The application of lexical availability studies to the field of psycholinguistics continues to produce interesting outcomes. Recent research, in fact, employs data from this kind of studies in order to qualitatively analyze the lexical-semantic relations that informants establish between words. Our study will analyze a type of minimal clusters or lexical pairs, such as perro - gato or carne - pescado , in two semantic areas ( Alimentos y bebidas and Animales ); in doing so, it seeks to contribute to current discussion by proposing new data to show that words will be organized in more structured semantic networks as proficiency of foreign students increases. This hypothesis is based on recent studies on lexical acquisition. Our study analyzes the lexical pairs established by Italian students of Spanish, distributed in two groups according to their academic level, and employs data collected from their availablewords.

Fluency in Second Language Testing: Insights From Different Disciplines

ABSTRACTThis article considers the construct of fluency in second language assessment and how it might be informed by research in applied linguistics. It briefly describes the way fluency is conceptualized in four language tests, as embodied in their respective assessment criteria, to show where the field is at present. The article then takes into account recent insights from applied linguistics, and from the fields of psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, and sociolinguistics. The article questions the current conceptualization of fluency in language testing, in which it is defined as a concept that should be sought in the ear of the beholder, and where disfluency is only seen as a deficit. Future research should focus on finding ways to ensure that the measures used in testing reflect the ability to talk fluently and efficiently, rather than measures that only reflect listeners’ impressions about such ability, and to show that these can be marked appropriately and reliably.

МЕХАНИЗМ АНАЛИЗА ЗВУЧАЩИХ ТЕКСТОВ

The article presents a mechanism for analyzing sounding texts on the material of spontaneous texts (television interviews in Russian, German and Spanish languages). The theoretical basis for the proposed experimental approach is the theory of speech activity and research in the field of psycholinguistics. The units that are subject to be analyzed are the rhythmic - intonational parameters of speech as the ones that are essential from the point of their function in the process of generation and perception of speech. The comparative nature of the study makes it possible to identify universal and culture-bound features of spontaneous speech.

Children’s reflections on the uses and functions of punctuation: the role of modality markers / Reflexiones infantiles sobre los usos y funciones de la puntuación: el papel de los marcadores de modalidad

Punctuation is an integral part of written language. How do children learn to punctuate? How do they understand the uses and functions of punctuation? This study answers those questions. Sixty primary school children, between seven and 12 years of age, were asked to introduce punctuation into an unpunctuated comic strip and to then discuss their decisions. The results show an evolution in the children’s answers that progresses from punctuating by using graphic criteria to punctuating using textual criteria, enabled through the use of modality markers; and from using punctuation marks to express their own reactions to the text to using punctuation to guide another reader’s interpretation of it. This study makes a significant contribution to the field of psycholinguistics due to the methodology used and the comprehensive explanation of the processes involved in the understanding and development of punctuation in children. These results could also be useful in didactic research.

Traducción y Cognición : textos especializados con metáforas

Para Aristóteles, la metáfora, más que un recurso retórico, es una “transposición” del significado de una cosa a otra, que no debe entendersecomo su simple cambio de nombre. No es un simple cambio de significante, sino la integración, o transporte, en el significado de un término, de una parte del significado de otro por medio de una imagen. De otra parte, Lakoff y Johnson (2003) señalan que la metáfora impregna la vida cotidiana, no solamente el lenguaje, sino también el pensamiento y la acción. Según estos autores, nuestro sistema conceptual ordinario es fundamentalmente de naturaleza metafórica. El objetivo de este artículo es doble: de un lado se pretende mostrar la manera como los especialistas recurren al uso de la metáfora para simplificar o explicar los conceptos y darlos a comprender de forma más concreta, de tal modo que se aproximen a la experiencia de los destinatarios; es decir, de una forma que tenga sentido para la mayoría de la gente (Suárez, 2004). De otro lado, mostrar lo que ocurre con este fenómeno lingüístico-discursivo en el paso del texto original al texto meta. Para llevar a cabo este trabajo, hemos seleccionado un corpus de textos paralelos del dominio de la psicolingüística cognitiva. Dichos textos han sido seleccionados bajo los criterios de paralelismo, unicidad del dominio y nivel de especialidad. Los datos analizados arrojarán resultados no sólo de índole cualitativo, sino cuantitativo en cuanto a los cambios que ocurren en el momento de traducir la metáfora. Dichos resultados aportarán de manera significativa a la tesis de maestría que se desarrolla en torno a la línea de investigación procesos cognitivos y traducción en el Programa de Maestría en traducción de la Universidad Autónoma de Manizales. Igualmente, a partir de este trabajo descriptivo, se espera obtener insumos para desarrollar la prueba experimental que formará parte de la investigación.

Multi-Sensory Learning Strategies to Support Spelling Development: a Case Study of Second-Language Learners with Auditory Processing Difficulties

Abstract Research confirms the multifaceted nature of spelling development and emphasizes the importance of both cognitive and linguistic skills (such as working and long-term memory, phonological processing, rapid automatized naming, orthographic awareness, mental orthographic images, semantic knowledge and morphological awareness) that affect spelling development. This has clear implications for many second-language spellers (L2) with auditory processing difficulties because writing systems are graphic representations of spoken language, and literacy development involves learning the association between the printed and oral forms of language (also known as phonological awareness and processing). In the present investigation, the researchers sampled second-language spellers (n = 22) with significant auditory processing delays and implemented an intervention programme that utilized visual and tactile coding strategies as part of the multi-sensory intervention therapy programme (for a period of six months). Post-test results were very promising and showed that L2 English-language spellers significantly improved in both short-term memory processing, phonological awareness and spelling performances. Considering this investigation’s contribution to effectively supporting the spelling development of children with auditory processing delays, the researchers are confident that it will expand and improve existing theoretical accounts of literacy (and spelling) acquisition in the field of psycholinguistics, whilst also facilitating the academic success of the growing L2 learner population in South Africa (and internationally).

In dialogue with an avatar, language behavior is identical to dialogue with a human partner

The use of virtual reality (VR) as a methodological tool is becoming increasingly popular in behavioral research as its flexibility allows for a wide range of applications. This new method has not been as widely accepted in the field of psycholinguistics, however, possibly due to the assumption that language processing during human-computer interactions does not accurately reflect human-human interactions. Yet at the same time there is a growing need to study human-human language interactions in a tightly controlled context, which has not been possible using existing methods. VR, however, offers experimental control over parameters that cannot be (as finely) controlled in the real world. As such, in this study we aim to show that human-computer language interaction is comparable to human-human language interaction in virtual reality. In the current study we compare participants’ language behavior in a syntactic priming task with human versus computer partners: we used a human partner, a human-like avatar with human-like facial expressions and verbal behavior, and a computer-like avatar which had this humanness removed. As predicted, our study shows comparable priming effects between the human and human-like avatar suggesting that participants attributed human-like agency to the human-like avatar. Indeed, when interacting with the computer-like avatar, the priming effect was significantly decreased. This suggests that when interacting with a human-like avatar, sentence processing is comparable to interacting with a human partner. Our study therefore shows that VR is a valid platform for conducting language research and studying dialogue interactions in an ecologically valid manner.

Critical Review of the Models of Reading Comprehension with a Focus on Situation Models

<p class="1"><span lang="X-NONE">Research directed at unveiling the complexities of reading skill burgeoned in conjunction with the advancements in the field of psycholinguistics. Tremendous effort has been made to make sense of the complex process of the underlying multi-faceted mechanisms of inference generation during reading. In this respect, the situation models have recently gained ground. In studies focused on reading skill, situation models are of top priority, because they illuminate the interactions among different components including the process of information network activation, strategic and conscious-based inference as well as the textual and meta-textual representations in the readers’ memory. This paper reviews prevalent reading models with a focus on the critical analysis of three foundational situation models including, Event-</span><span lang="EN-US">I</span><span lang="X-NONE">ndex</span><span lang="EN-US">ing</span><span lang="X-NONE">, Construction-Integration and Structure</span><span lang="EN-US">Buil</span><span lang="X-NONE">ding model</span><span lang="EN-US">s</span><span lang="X-NONE"> of comprehension. Unlike the previous research, the orientation of this paper toward situation models is based on their use in second language reading, which is simplified in tune and comprehensive in content. Its implications are beneficial for the wide spectrum of SLA theorists, teachers and students for the reading skill purposes.</span></p>

AUDIO-VISUAL TEXTS AND INTERCULTURAL APPROACH IN TEACHING GERMAN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

This article is a brief description of the research of the role of video in the study of intercultural differences on the lessons of German as a foreign language. The purpose and relevance of the research is determined due to the need to update teaching materials for the foreign language lessons by bringing German audio-visual materials. Given the global innovation trends in teaching of foreign languages and irresistible tread of globalization processes, in this paper the role of video in learning of foreign languages is considered and the features of the transmission elements of intercultural communication in the components of audio-visual materials are analyzed, based on the analysis of works of European and American researchers of recent years in the field of psycholinguistics, media linguistics and methods of teaching foreign languages. The article involves statistical data about the level of students’ motivation when audio-visual materials, multimedia means of teaching and innovative teaching approaches were used by teachers on the lessons of foreign languages. The author explains reflection methods in the audio-visual materials of intercultural elements. Cognitive aspects of perception and understanding of foreign language culture, primarily in the visual components of media materials are considered separately. Apart from this, the acknowledged difficulty of formulating a definition of "intercultural" is also discussed. Given the role of intercultural communication, especially the differences of cultures and their reflection in video reports, the author gives key arguments for the need of involvement of video reports on the lessons of German as a foreign language, outlines the potential difficulties in intercultural communication in the absence of this type of material in the process of learning a foreign language in the context of intercultural communication.

Normas categoriales para una muestra de hablantes adultos del español de Argentina

Este trabajo presenta las primeras normas categoriales para el español rioplatense1. Con esta finalidad, se evaluó a estudiantes universitarios por medio de una tarea de fluencia semántica escrita que incluyó 20 categorías: animales, frutas, verduras, partes del cuerpo, árboles, flores, profesiones, herramientas, utensilios de cocina, instrumentos musicales, mediosde transporte, muebles, indumentaria, electrodomésticos, útiles escolares, deportes, lugares de la casa, juegos, países y piedras preciosas. Se obtuvieron datos del número total de ejemplares que se produjeron por categoría semántica, el promedio de respuestas por categoría, la frecuencia de aparición de los ítems activados más tempranamente, los ítems más evocados para cada categoría y el rango de aparición de cada ejemplar. No se encontraron trabajos previos de normas categoriales para esta población hispanoparlante, aunque sí para el español de otras r egiones, por lo que se espera que estos datos sean de utilidad tanto para el desarrollo de investigaciones dentro del campo de la psicolingüística y la neurolingüística, así como también para la selección de estímulos en la evaluación y el tratamiento de p acientes con lesiones cerebrales.