Psycholinguistic Processes Research Articles

The psycholinguistic and affective processing of framed health messages among younger and older adults.

How health-related messages are framed can impact their effectiveness in promoting behaviors, and messages framed in terms of gains have been shown to be more effective among older adults. Recent findings have suggested that the affective response to framed messages can contribute to these effects. However, the impact of demands associated with psycholinguistic processing for different frames is not well understood. In this study, exercise-related messages were gain or loss framed and with a focus on either desirable or undesirable outcomes. Participants read these messages while their eye movements were monitored and then provided affective ratings. Older adults reacted less negatively than younger adults to loss-framed messages and messages focusing on undesirable outcomes. Eye-movement measures indicated both younger and older adults had difficulty processing the most complex messages (loss-framed messages focused on avoiding desirable outcomes). When gain-framed messages were easily processed, they engendered more positive affect, which in turn, was related to better recall. These results suggest that affective and cognitive mechanisms are interdependent in comprehension of framed messages for younger and older adults. An implication for translation to effective health communication is that simpler message framing engenders a positive reaction, which in turn supports memory for that information, regardless of age. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Stages of Acquisition and the P/E Model of Working Memory: Complementary or contrasting approaches to foreign language aptitude?

AbstractThis paper explores the roles of both working memory (WM) and more traditional aptitude components, such as input processing and language analytic ability in the context of foreign language learning aptitude. More specifically, the paper compares two current perspectives on language aptitude: the Stages Approach (Skehan, 2016, 2019) and the P/E Model (Wen, 2016, 2019). Input processing and noticing, pattern identification and complexification, and feedback are examined as they relate to both perspectives and are then used to discuss existing aptitude testing, recent research, and broader theoretical issues. It is argued that WM and language aptitude play different but complementary roles at each of these stages, reflecting the various linguistic and psycholinguistic processes that are most prominent in other aspects of language learning. Overall, though both perspectives posit that WM and language aptitude have equal importance at the input processing stage, they exert greater influence at each of the remaining stages. More traditional views of aptitude dominate at the pattern identification and complexification stage and WM with the feedback stage.

Supplemental Material for The Psycholinguistic and Affective Processing of Framed Health Messages Among Younger and Older Adults

Supplemental Material for The Psycholinguistic and Affective Processing of Framed Health Messages Among Younger and Older Adults

Cognitive-Linguistic Functions in Adults With Epilepsy: Preliminary Electrophysiological and Behavioral Findings.

Purpose Cognition and language difficulties are frequently reported in both children and adults with epilepsy. The majority of the existing research has focused on pediatric epilepsy, documenting impairments in learning, academics, and social-emotional functioning. In comparison, language deficits in younger and older adults with epilepsy have received less empirical attention. Given recently identified limitations in the extant literature regarding assessing epilepsy-related language problems in adults (Dutta et al., 2018), the current exploratory study described in this research note investigated the cognitive-linguistic abilities of adults with focal or generalized types of epilepsy. Method Twelve participants with epilepsy and 11 age- and education-matched healthy controls completed a cognitive-linguistic test battery. Event-related potential (ERP) procedures were also employed to assess the integrity of neural activity supporting psycholinguistic processing in both groups using a lexical decision task. Results No significant performance differences between epilepsy and healthy control groups were noted on basic language tasks; however, group differences were evident on the more complex language measures, including spoken discourse. Even though both groups performed the lexical decision task similarly in terms of accuracy, individuals with epilepsy demonstrated longer reaction times and some atypical ERP characteristics compared to controls. Conclusion The cognitive-linguistic assessment and ERP findings suggested that, compared to neurotypical adults, individuals with epilepsy demonstrate slower processing times and greater difficulty with high-level language and spoken discourse production, despite performing within typical limits on basic language tests. Preliminary results from this research are significant in providing new knowledge about language functioning in adults with epilepsy.

Code-Switching Does Not Equal Code-Switching. An Event-Related Potentials Study on Switching From L2 German to L1 Russian at Prepositions and Nouns

Studies on event-related potentials (ERP) in code-switching (CS) have concentrated on single-word insertions, usually nouns. However, CS ranges from inserting single words into the main language of discourse to alternating languages for larger segments of a discourse, and can occur at various syntactic positions and with various word classes. This ERP study examined native speakers of Russian who had learned German as a second language; they were asked to listen to sentences with CS from their second language, German, to their first language, Russian. CS included either a whole prepositional phrase or only the lexical head noun of a prepositional phrase. CS at nouns resulted in a late positive complex (LPC), whereas CS at prepositions resulted in a broad early negativity, which was followed by an anterior negativity with a posterior positivity. Only in the last time window (800–1000 ms) did CS at prepositions result in a broad positivity similar to CS at nouns. The differences between both types of CS indicate that they relate to different psycholinguistic processes.

Motivational connections in language classrooms: A research agenda

AbstractWith roots in social psychology, second language (L2) motivation has largely been investigated using self-report techniques. Studies drawing on observational data gathered in contexts where learning takes place are rare, and understandings of how motivation evolves in classroom interactions remain limited (Boo, Dörnyei, & Ryan, 2015). In a position paper in Language Teaching, Ushioda (2016) maps out an agenda for qualitative research examining motivation that emerges in language classrooms. With a focus on psycholinguistic processes, and with the aim of understanding how motivation ‘connects with specific aspects of second language acquisition [and] particular features of linguistic development’, Ushioda makes the case for researching L2 motivation ‘through a small lens’ (p. 564). Furthering this agenda, I make proposals for research with a relational focus where, through a somewhat wider lens, motivation and engagement generated through connections created by teachers in their classroom practice can be investigated. To frame these proposals, I use the concept of connective instruction (Martin & Dowson, 2009). Connective instruction holds that motivation and engagement increase when students can connect with the teacher as a person, with content that the teacher enables them to get involved with, and with the working methods that the teacher promotes.

МЕТОДИ МАНІПУЛЯТИВНОГО ВПЛИВУ У ЛІНГВІСТИЦІ

Words are usually used in their direct meaning, but often the information provided is hidden. Manipulation is used in almost all spheres of human activity — in politics, advertising, jurisprudence, literature, psychotherapy, training, informal communication, etc., that makes it relevant for researchers. The article deals with the main points of view on linguistic manipulation as a complex psycholinguistic process and a kind of linguistic influence by the method of analysis, synthesis and generalization of scientific researches of native and foreign specialists in linguistics, psychology, rhetoric, neurolinguistic programming and discourse theory. Although the manipulative capacity of language is increasingly becoming the object of various linguistic studies, the main complexities of studying the phenomenon of speech influence remain. They are due to the interdisciplinary nature of the subject matter, the confusion of different modes of influence in language practices, and the lack of a generally accepted classification of means and methods of manipulation in linguistics. The main features of manipulation are: the hidden nature of the influence; the desire to subordinate the addressee of his will, change his views, perceptions, etc.; mastery of language and psychological skills; special linguistic organization of the text that contributes to errors in the interlocutor’s mind; lack of a defensive response from the addressee and the creation of the illusion of decision-making independence. Taken together, all these features distinguish linguistic manipulation from other forms of influence (rhetorically organized language, linguistic demagogy, propaganda, and neurolinguistic programming).

Researching Internet Nicknames: On the Methodology of Material Selection (Based on German-Language Internet Communication)

The paper aims to explore the Internet nickname as a main anthroponymic unit of Internet communication, an integral part of a virtual personality, and an outcome of complex psycholinguistic processes of self-naming. An overview of key studies of this phenomenon leads the author to conclude that it still lacks proper theoretical grounding, which is largely due to its specific properties that impede research. The article focuses on the issues that arise at the stage of material selection. The main points for discussion were suggested both by the analysis of existing research on the topic, as well as empirical data collected during almost ten years of anthroponymic studies of German-language virtual communication. The first issue relates to the necessity of using external sources (users’ personal data, their social media imprint) for reliable analysis and interpretation of nicknames. Thereby, the paper argues the relevance of content and discourse analysis for studying virtual personality, as well as interviewing the users to obtain a comprehensive research file. Since random sampling remains the key method for selecting factual material, the question persists about the sufficient amount of the data. The article highlights the solutions proposed by different researchers and gives sociolinguistic groundings to the minimal number of data that ensures a representative sample of aliases. Finally, the question of the choice of sources is raised. The author concludes that an unconditional trend in anthroponymic research of nicknames is the study of units within one specific Internet service.

Honorification in Nepali: a psycholinguistic perspective

This research article explores the psycholinguistic processes of honorification manipulation in Nepali language. Honorification is not static but dynamic process and is affected by many factors including psychological. Data is drawn from published narratives, mostly in the Nepali media, and analyzed from psycholinguistic perspective. The range of data include politics, royalese, language of marital discord and media. Significant influencers in choice of honorifics are fluctuation in state of mind and proximality. The canonical three-level honorific system is discussed as a reference point for psychologically motivated honorification fluctuation. Three types of honorific operators are identified and discussed: psychological, royalese and neutralization. The article attempts to bring forth the complex mechanisms that work on the honorification system in Nepali language.

Preschoolers’ Metaphor Comprehension. Methodological Issues in Experimental Pragmatics

Abstract There exists a variety of theoretical frameworks attempting to account for the nature, comprehension, and use of everyday metaphor. Since these frameworks use different operational definitions of metaphor, they tend to view the psycholinguistic process of comprehending metaphorical language and the various factors that may play a role in metaphor processing from different perspectives. The first part of the paper briefly summarizes four of these theoretical approaches to everyday metaphor (Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Similarity Theory, Relevance Theory, and the Optimal Innovation Hypothesis) and discusses some consequences of the diversity of theories that present a puzzle or prove to be undesirable for empirical research. The areas discussed include the various dimensions of metaphor categorization, the role of linguistic context, and the effects of linguistic and non-linguistic cognitive skills of the comprehender. Drawing on the discussion in the first part, the second part of the paper outlines an experiment designed with reference to Giora’s Optimal Innovation Hypothesis in which preschoolers’ metaphor comprehension is explored as a function of the familiarity of the expression’s literal meaning and the perceived creativity of the metaphorical use. This experiment further explores the relationship between children’s metaphor comprehension and other cognitive abilities such as intention attribution. This method allows us to quantify metaphor comprehension and preference in the context of pragmatic development and general cognitive skills.

On the structure, survival and change of consonant clusters

Abstract This paper shows how preferability measures can help to explain the cross-linguistic distribution of consonant clusters, their acquisition, as well as aspects of their diachronic development. Phonological preferability is measured in terms of cluster size and Net Auditory Distance, which interact with morphological complexity and frequency. Predictions derived from the preferability of clusters are tested against the evidence of language specific phonotactics, language use, language acquisition, psycholinguistic processing, and language change.

Triggered codeswitching: Lexical processing and conversational dynamics

AbstractThis study investigates the psycholinguistic process underlying triggered codeswitching – codeswitching facilitated by the occurrence of cognates – within the context of conversational dynamics. It confirms that, in natural bilingual speech, lexical selection of cognates can facilitate codeswitching by enhancing the activation of the non-selected language. Analyses of a large-scale corpus of Welsh–English conversational speech showed that 1) producing cognates facilitated codeswitching, 2) speakers who generally produced more cognates generally codeswitched more, even in clauses that did not contain cognates, 3) larger numbers of cognates in a clause increased the likelihood of codeswitching, 4) codeswitching temporarily remained facilitated after the production of cognates, and 5) hearing rather than producing cognates did not facilitate codeswitching. The findings confirm the validity of the proposed cognitive account of triggered codeswitching, and clarify the relation between the lexical activation of cognates and consecutive language choice, in accord with current insights in lexical processing.

НАВЧАННЯ ДІАЛОГІЧНОМУ ТА МОНОЛОГІЧНОМУ ЯПОНСЬКОМУ МОВЛЕННЮ: ОНЛАЙН-КУРС

The article represents basic psychological, psycholinguistic and methodological background of development of the online course for teaching basic Japanese dialogue and monologue. The mentioned prerequisites are to be seen in close relation to the modern tendencies of foreign language teaching. The role of modern teacher as a representer of the teaching process as well as facilitator of the studying process itself is also described. Basic factors that influence the process of forming communicative competence in Japanese language are presented. Thus, among methodological background the process of organizing studying by teacher, the individualization principles in teaching are mentioned. The individual styles of learning, as well as individual strategies are presented as essential psychological prerequisites of the studying process. The psycholinguistic process of getting the new information is presented as one of the factors of forming the communicative competence in speaking. Based on the mentioned factors, the online course for teaching basic Japanese dialogical and monological speech is described. The course is being at the process of development. The article deals with its basic steps of studying. Some practical aspects of the future course usage are shown. The course includes three basic steps, which present the whole process from getting sample phrases and text till presenting fluent self-made dialogues and speeches in Japanese. The first step presents video materials and printed materials where students get the information on the phrase level. The video component of the course allows saving the auditory time by doing a big amount of work online. The second step presents authorial dialogues in video and printed form. Together with the basic structure needed to present the dialogue students are given some extra information of cross cultural character. The aim of the step is to present self-made dialogues by students. The third step suggests work on the speech level. The purpose of the last step lies in creating authorial students` speeches based on the given material. The course presents a complex system of online and printed materials which, together with the teacher`s work in class, enable fast development of speaking skills. Furthermore, the perspectives of the future usage of the course are laid as a base for its practical development.

How to Make Writing Fun: Free Writing in the Eng-Rus Languages

Writing is a complicated psycholinguistic process of generating messages. It is determined by the writers’ personality, their communicative and cognitive needs, target settings for upcoming types of written messages, and the audiences for which the written speech is created.The present paper provided an absolutely new and original approach to writing teaching in the EFL class. Concepts of writing and free writing were investigated in order to differentiate recognized writing techniques from offered technique: Teaching free writing in the English and Russians. It was preceded from the classical model of automatic writing by Myers (1885) and the free writing strategy by Elbow (1998). Our newly elaborated technique had some common features with both of the above mentioned teaching techniques, but it differed in what English language learners had to write without stopping through using both languages: their mother and target languages.The research aimed to develop teaching tips based on free writing in Eng-Rus techniques that are recommended to be implemented for teaching English to beginners. Findings can be considered by English teachers of elementary and secondary schools, and adult English learners at the elementary level.

Exploring Learners’ Self-Reported Behavioral Patterns in Two Task-Readiness Conditions: A Qualitative Study

Abstract Task-planning studies have mostly been conducted using quantitative methods, not qualitative. However, the actual planning behaviors by learners could be overlooked by quantitative research which focuses mostly on planning outcomes rather than the processes. This study aims to bridge this gap by exploring learner behavioral patterns in pre-task planning as well as the under-investigated area of topic familiarity by drawing upon interview data. This consists of a comparison between the task-external and task-internal readiness constructs proposed in Bui’s (2014) task-readiness framework. Eight undergraduate students in Hong Kong completed two speaking tasks (a familiar and an unfamiliar task), followed by retrospective interviews. Though largely confirming previous (but parsimonious) research on task planning behaviors, this study discovered three major findings that had not been covered well in previous literature. First, while past studies focused on the psycholinguistic processes of task planning, these participants extensively reported its affective influences. Next, most participants reported their overall intended emphasis was on accuracy. These reports contradict general quantitative research results which suggest that task planning often leads to complexity, not accuracy. Finally, the lack of planning time as task-external readiness can be partly compensated for by topic familiarity as task-internal readiness. These issues along with their relevant implications in teaching and learning are discussed in this study.

Гармония как принцип образования дефисных субстантивно-субстантивных конструкций (на примере единиц личной семантики)

Using the structure of hyphenated compound words has become a productive way of creating new nominations in contemporary Russian. The aim of this article is to show that harmony as an orderly combination of elements in a whole is the main concept that underpins multiple psycholinguistic processes, resulting in the occurrence of hyphenated compound words in Russian speakers’ language.

Ensino do verbo gustar em espanhol para brasileiros: intervenção pedagógica baseada na instrução de processamento

Este artigo apresenta uma pesquisa que visou analisar efeitos da instrução de processamento (VANPATTEN, 2005), na aprendizagem do verbo gustar, por aprendizes brasileiros de espanhol. Essa instrução se baseia em processos psicolinguísticos que subjazem à compreensão doinput, observando as estratégias naturais de processamento e suas convergências e divergências com o sistema-alvo da aquisição. Nessa perspectiva, preparamos uma sequência de atividades nas quais a atenção dos aprendizes foi manipulada durante o processamento do input para facilitar o intake e o estabelecimento de conexões entre forma e significado. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida com aprendizes, em nível inicial, divididos entre grupo experimental e controle. Na primeira parte do estudo, os grupos realizaram pré e pós- teste, contendo tarefas de julgamento de gramaticalidade, de identificação do sujeito das frases e de produção de frases, intercalados pelo período de instrução de processamento, aplicada somente ao grupo experimental. Na segunda parte, o grupo experimental recebeu também a instrução tradicional (que prevê produção da estrutura-alvo) sobre o verbo gustar e realizou outro pós-teste. Os resultados não evidenciaram diferenças significativas entre os grupos, mas mostraram que a instrução de processamento aliada à instrução tradicional pode trazer benefícios ao processo de aquisição e uso da estrutura-alvo, pois torna a aprendizagem mais eficaz.

Collaborative Attention Work on Gender Agreement in Italian as a Foreign Language

ABSTRACTIn cognitivist Second Language Acquisition (SLA), attention and noticing are described as psycholinguistic processes that (may) have a role in language learning. The operationalization of such constructs, however, poses methodological challenges, since neither online nor off‐line measures are coextensive with these cognitive processes that occur in the individual mind–brain. In contrast with such a perspective, the present conversation‐analytic study re‐specifies attention in social terms, as a nexus of publicly displayed actions that are jointly achieved by college level students of Italian as a foreign language as they engage in collaborative writing while planning for a group presentation to be performed in the second language (L2). More specifically, the article describes gender‐focusing sequences that are initiated by attention‐mobilizing turns with which a student directs her coparticipants’ attention to an oral or written item that is oriented to as possibly inaccurate in terms of gender assignment. The study shows the agentive role of students in identifying learnables and solving language‐related issues and provides an example of how participants do learning as a socially situated and collaborative activity by enacting immanent pedagogies (Lindwall & Lymer, 2005).

Procesamiento de causalidad y contracausalidad: Interacciones entre estructura sintáctica y conocimiento del mundo en la comprensión de relaciones semánticas

This paper is part of a comprehensive study on the psycholinguistic processing of causality and counter-causality in discourse. The particular aim is to analyze the articulation between the semantic and syntactic information during this process. That is, how the syntactic complexity is related to the processing complexity when readers have to understand pieces of discourse that express particular semantic relationships: causal and counter-causal. One of the main objectives will be to study how the performance pattern changes when the possibility / impossibility to involve world knowledge conditions the process. We present a psycholinguistic experiment, which aims at analyzing the comprehension of causal and counter-causal relations, expressed by sentences with different syntactic structure –coordinates and subordinates– and in two conditions regarding the type of information: every-day items –the speaker may involve their world knowledge– and technical items –this intervention of previous world knowledge is not possible–. Results show that this factor determines the processing pattern and significantly modifies the articulation between syntactic complexity and processing complexity: only in the absence of prior knowledge, syntactic complexity is reflected directly in processing complexity.

PSYCHOLINGUISTIC AGE-PROFILES OF LANGUAGE IMPAIRMENT: A COMPARISON BETWEEN CHILDREN WITH TYPICAL AND ATYPICAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Background: Assessment of language is very important to detect atypically developed children. In this sense, psycholinguistic abilities are predictors of developmental functioning. The aim of this study was to compare ages of psycholinguistic processes between atypically and typically developed children. Material/Methods: In this cross-sectional study, six-, seven- and eight-year-old children from Cordoba (Argentina) (n= 28) were evaluated with the Spanish version of Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (S-ITPA). Statistical analysis included Student’s t-test in order to find differences between groups. Results: In the six-year-old sample, those with atypical language showed significantly lower psycholinguistic ages in: global psycholinguistic age, auditory association, and verbal expression, auditory reception, auditory sequential memory, grammatical closu re, and auditory closure, manual expression. In seven-year-old sample differences were found in grammatical closure and auditory closure. In eight-year-old group, atypical language sample showed lower psycholinguistic ages in auditory association, verbal expression and auditory sequential memory. Conclusions: This evidence establishes a limit stage corresponding to 6 years of age, which reflects the consolidation and integrity of language and the aptitudes involved. In later ages (e.g. seven and eight years), results may be biased by acquired formal learning abilities.