Semantic Recall Research Articles

Atypical semantic cognition in schizotypal personality disorder and borderline personality disorder

ABSTRACT Increased schizotypal traits have previously been associated with atypical semantic cognition in community samples. However, no study has yet examined whether adults diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) display atypical semantic fluency and memory. We hypothesized that 24 adults diagnosed with SPD would name more idiosyncratic words on the semantic fluency task and show decreased semantic recall for animal and fruit category words compared with 29 participants with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and a community sample of 96 age-matched controls. We examined whether atypical semantic cognition was specifically associated with disorganized and eccentric speech and thinking, or more broadly with pathological personality traits and personality functioning. Our main hypothesis was confirmed, as the SPD participants named more idiosyncratic words and recalled fewer semantically related words compared with controls. Surprisingly, participants with BPD likewise named more atypical words compared with controls. More idiosyncratic semantic fluency was associated with more eccentric speech and thinking. Increased idiosyncratic semantic fluency and reduced semantic recall were both coupled to increased detachment and lowered personality functioning, while reduced semantic recall further was related to increased interpersonal problems. Our findings suggest that persons with SPD, and to a lesser degree BPD, show atypical semantic cognition, which is associated with eccentric speech and thinking, and more broadly with impaired personality function, social withdrawal, and emotional flatness. The idiosyncratic semantic cognition may worsen difficulties with social reciprocity seen in SPD and BPD.

Using recognition testing to support semantic learning in developmental amnesia

ABSTRACT Patients with developmental amnesia (DA) have suffered hippocampal damage in infancy and subsequently shown poor episodic memory, but good semantic memory. It is not clear how patients with DA learn semantic information in the presence of episodic amnesia. However, patients with DA show good recognition memory and it is possible that semantic learning may be supported by recognition. Building on previous work, we compared two methods for supporting semantic learning in DA; recognition-learning and recall-learning. In each condition, a patient with DA (aged 8 years) was presented with semantic information in animated videos. After each presentation of a video, learning was supported by an immediate memory test. Two videos were paired with a cued recall test. Another two videos were paired with a multiple-choice test to enable recognition-based learning. The outcome measure was semantic recall performance after a short delay of 30 min and a long delay of one week. Results showed a benefit of recognition-learning compared to recall-learning on cued recall in the patient with DA (76% vs. 35%). This finding indicates that young people with severe hippocampal damage can utilize recognition to support semantic learning. This has implications for the support of school-aged children with episodic memory difficulties.

Investigating the influence of local and personal common ground on memory for conversation using an online referential communication task.

To maintain efficiency during conversation, interlocutors form and retrieve memory representations for the shared understanding or common ground that they have with their partner. Here, an online referential communication task (RCT) was used in two experiments to examine whether the strength and type of common ground between dyads influence their ability to form and recall referential labels for images. Results from both experiments show a significant association between the strength of common ground formed between dyads for images during the RCT and their verbatim-but not semantic-recall memory for image descriptions about a week later. Participants who generated the image descriptions during the RCT also showed superior verbatim and semantic recall memory performance. In Experiment 2, a group of friends with pre-existing personal common ground were significantly more efficient in their use of words to describe images during the RCT than a group of strangers without personal common ground. However, personal common ground did not lead to enhanced recall memory performance. Together, these findings provide evidence that individuals can remember some verbatim words and phrases from conversations, and partially support the theoretical notion that common ground and memory are intricately linked conversational processes. The null findings with regard to semantic recall memory suggest that the structured nature of the RCT may have constrained the types of memory representations that individuals formed during the interaction. Findings are discussed in relation to the multidimensional nature of common ground and the importance of developing more natural conversational tasks for future work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotion-modulated Recall: Congruency Effects of Nonverbal Facial and Vocal Cues on Semantic Recall

The current study had two main goals: First, to replicate the ‘bimodal integration’ effect (i.e. the automatic integration of crossmodal stimuli, namely facial emotions and emotional prosody); and second, to investigate whether this phenomenon facilitates or impairs the intake and retention of unattended verbal content. The study borrowed from previous bimodal integration designs and included a two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) task, where subjects were instructed to identify the emotion of a face (as either ‘angry’ or ‘happy’) while ignoring a concurrently presented sentence (spoken in an angry, happy, or neutral prosody), after which a surprise recall was administered to investigate effects on semantic content retention. While bimodal integration effects were replicated (i.e. faster and more accurate emotion identification under congruent conditions), congruency effects were not found for semantic recall. Overall, semantic recall was better for trials with emotional (vs. neutral) faces, and worse in trials with happy (vs. angry or neutral) prosody. Taken together, our findings suggest that when individuals focus their attention on evaluation of facial expressions, they implicitly integrate nonverbal emotional vocal cues (i.e. hedonic valence or emotional tone of accompanying sentences), and devote less attention to their semantic content. While the impairing effect of happy prosody on recall may indicate an emotional interference effect, more research is required to uncover potential prosody-specific effects. All supplemental online materials can be found on OSF (https://osf.io/am9p2/).

A-64 Neuropsychological Assessment in Bilateral Perisylvian Polymicrogyria: A Tool for Data-Driven Intervention

Abstract Objective This case study examined neurocognitive features associated with a rare genetic/neurological disorder impacting the cerebral cortex. Bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (BPP) is characterized by abnormal embryonic growth affecting both sides of the brain near the Sylvian fissure. BPP occurs randomly though researchers suspect an underlying genetic abnormality that may have autosomal recessive inheritance. Neurodevelopmental manifestations include neurocognition marked by EEG abnormalities, impaired motor function, and deficits in speech articulation, language development, learning and memory, and adaptive skills. Method A 13-year 7-month-old male with BPP, detected at 24 months by MRI, was seen for neuropsychological assessment to guide habilitative, academic and adaptive interventions. Relevant medical history includes stimulant medication and pharyngeal flap surgery. Parental concerns include the provision of appropriate special education services and withdrawal behaviors. Results Assessment revealed a complex neuropsychological profile characterized by nonverbal versus verbal intellectual strengths, receptive-expressive language impairment, underlying deficits in phonemic awareness, diminished fine motor speed, and diminished verbal fluency. Verbal list learning, semantic memory, and attention were intact. Mild elevations were evident for anxiety symptoms. Conclusion BPP, a rare genetic disorder, represents significant challenges for affected children. In this case study, a 13-year 7-month-old youngster’s assessment revealed underlying neurocognitive and neuromotor deficits most pronounced in aspects of language, speech articulation, select domains of executive functioning and academic skills. Areas of strength, including verbal memory and semantic recall, were indicated and merit consideration in developing appropriate interventions. This case study illustrates the value of neuropsychological assessment in guiding therapeutic interventions, pharmacotherapy, and appropriate educational services in this rare neurological disorder.

Spoken Word Learning in Children With Developmental Language Disorder or Dyslexia

PurposeWord learning difficulties have been documented in multiple studies involving children with dyslexia and developmental language disorder (DLD; see also specific language impairment). However, no previous studies have directly contrasted word learning in these two frequently co-occurring disorders. We examined word learning in second-grade students with DLD-only and dyslexia-only as compared to each other, peers with both disorders (DLD + dyslexia), and peers with typical development. We hypothesized that children with dyslexia-only and DLD-only would show differences in word learning due to differences in their core language strengths and weaknesses.MethodChildren (N = 244) were taught eight novel pseudowords paired with unfamiliar objects. The teaching script included multiple exposures to the phonological form, the pictured object, a verbal semantic description of the object, and spaced retrieval practice opportunities. Word learning was assessed immediately after instruction with tasks requiring recall or recognition of the phonological and semantic information.ResultsChildren with dyslexia-only performed significantly better on existing vocabulary measures than their peers with DLD-only. On experimental word learning measures, children in the dyslexia-only and DLD + dyslexia groups showed significantly poorer performance than typically developing children on all word learning tasks. Children with DLD-only differed significantly from the TD group on a single word learning task assessing verbal semantic recall.ConclusionsOverall, results indicated that children with dyslexia display broad word learning difficulties extending beyond the phonological domain; however, this contrasted with their relatively strong performance on measures of existing vocabulary knowledge. More research is needed to understand relations between word learning abilities and overall vocabulary knowledge and how to close vocabulary gaps for children with both disorders.Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14832717

Bridging form and meaning: support from derivational suffixes in word learning

BackgroundVocabulary development is closely associated with morphological knowledge, yet work is needed to understand the mechanisms underpinning this relationship. One possibility is that because morphological relationships entail systematic mappings between word form (phonology and orthography) and word meaning (semantics and grammar), children may take advantage of these links to form high‐quality lexical representations when learning novel words. This study examined whether developing readers show superior semantic, phonological and orthographic learning of novel words when those words contain an existing suffix that is congruent with the definition of that word.MethodsTwo groups of adolescents (younger: 12–13 years, n = 39, and older: 16–19 years, n = 39) learned definitions for 18 nonwords, each comprising a nonword stem and an existing suffix (e.g., clantist). Half the definitions were semantically and syntactically congruent with the suffix; the other half were incongruent. Training took place across two sessions, followed by a series of post‐tests measuring semantic learning (through a semantic recall task), phonological learning (through a shadowing task), lexicalisation of nonwords (through a lexical decision task) and orthographic learning (through a spelling task).ResultsBoth age groups showed significantly stronger semantic recall for items taught in the congruent compared with the incongruent condition. However, this effect did not emerge in our measures of phonological and orthographic learning or in lexicalisation of nonwords.ConclusionsThese findings provide some evidence that the presence of familiar suffixes in unfamiliar words facilitates novel word learning in adolescents, but in the present study, this benefit was only observed in the mappings between word form and meaning and not in the learning of word forms.

Autobiographical Memory From Different Life Stages in Individuals With Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Autobiographical memory dysfunction is a marker of vulnerability to depression. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) experience high rates of depression and memory impairment, and autobiographical memory impairments have been observed compared to healthy controls; however, these groups were not age-matched. This study aimed to determine whether individuals with untreated OSA have impaired autobiographical memory when compared to age-matched controls, and to assess the quality of autobiographical memories from three broad time points. A total of 44 participants with OSA (M age=49.4±13.0) and 44 age-matched controls (M age=50.0±13.1) completed the Autobiographical Memory Interview (AMI) to assess semantic and episodic memories from three different life stages, and 44 OSA participants and 37 controls completed the Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT) to assess overgeneral memory recall (an inability to retrieve specific memories). OSA participants had significantly poorer semantic recall of early adult life on the AMI (p<.001), and more overgeneral autobiographical memories recalled on the AMT (=.001), than controls. Poor semantic recall from early adult life was significantly correlated with more depressive symptoms (p=0.006) and lower education (p<0.02), while higher overgeneral memory recall was significantly associated with older age (p=.001). A specific deficit in semantic autobiographical recall was observed in individuals with OSA. OSA patients recalled more overgeneral memories, suggesting that aspects of the sleep disorder affect their ability to recollect specific details of events from their life. These cognitive features of OSA may contribute to the high incidence of depression in this population. (JINS 2019, 25, 266-274).

The influence of multiple trials and computer-mediated communication on collaborative and individual semantic recall

ABSTRACTCollaborative inhibition is a phenomenon where collaborating groups experience a decrement in recall when interacting with others. Despite this, collaboration has been found to improve subsequent individual recall. We explore these effects in semantic recall, which is seldom studied in collaborative retrieval. We also examine “parallel CMC”, a synchronous form of computer-mediated communication that has previously been found to improve collaborative recall [Hinds, J. M., & Payne, S. J. (2016). Collaborative inhibition and semantic recall: Improving collaboration through computer-mediated communication. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30(4), 554–565]. Sixty three triads completed a semantic recall task, which involved generating words beginning with “PO” or “HE” across three recall trials, in one of three retrieval conditions: Individual–Individual–Individual (III), Face-to-face–Face-to-Face–Individual (FFI) and Parallel–Parallel–Individual (PPI). Collaborative inhibition was present across both collaborative conditions. Individual recall in Recall 3 was higher when participants had previously collaborated in comparison to recalling three times individually. There was no difference between face-to-face and parallel CMC recall, however subsidiary analyses of instance repetitions and subjective organisation highlighted differences in group members' approaches to recall in terms of organisation and attention to others' contributions. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to retrieval strategy disruption.

Nonword Repetition and Vocabulary Knowledge as Predictors of Children's Phonological and Semantic Word Learning.

This study examined the unique and shared variance that nonword repetition and vocabulary knowledge contribute to children's ability to learn new words. Multiple measures of word learning were used to assess recall and recognition of phonological and semantic information. Fifty children, with a mean age of 8 years (range 5-12 years), completed experimental assessments of word learning and norm-referenced assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge and nonword repetition skills. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses examined the variance in word learning that was explained by vocabulary knowledge and nonword repetition after controlling for chronological age. Together with chronological age, nonword repetition and vocabulary knowledge explained up to 44% of the variance in children's word learning. Nonword repetition was the stronger predictor of phonological recall, phonological recognition, and semantic recognition, whereas vocabulary knowledge was the stronger predictor of verbal semantic recall. These findings extend the results of past studies indicating that both nonword repetition skill and existing vocabulary knowledge are important for new word learning, but the relative influence of each predictor depends on the way word learning is measured. Suggestions for further research involving typically developing children and children with language or reading impairments are discussed.

Supporting older and younger adults’ memory for recent everyday events: A prospective sampling study using SenseCam

This study measured the effect of a wearable camera, SenseCam, on older and younger adults' memories of recently experienced everyday events. Participants used SenseCam to prospectively sample events from a typical week, which they recalled two weeks later. Recall was cued by a self-generated title only (control condition), by the title and forward-order SenseCam images, or by the title and random-order SenseCam images. In the control condition, older and younger adults' memories were comparably episodic, but older adults recalled more semantic details. Both forward- and random-order SenseCam images were associated with increased episodic and semantic recall in both groups, and there was a small but significant effect of temporal order favouring the forward-order condition. These findings suggest that SenseCam is effective in supporting retrieval of memory for recent events, and the results of the temporal order manipulation also shed light on the mechanism of SenseCam's effect.

Collaborative Inhibition and Semantic Recall: Improving Collaboration Through Computer‐mediated Communication

SummaryTwo experiments investigated the recall of nominal and collaborating groups to test the following hypotheses: (i) semantic memory, as well as episodic memory, is disrupted by collaborative recall and (ii) both episodic and semantic recall will be greater in groups collaborating via computer‐mediated communication (CMC) than groups collaborating face to face. Experiment 1 investigated different collaborative constellations (nominal, face to face and parallel CMC) in a series of episodic and semantic word recall tasks. In Experiment 2, collaborative groups (nominal, face to face, parallel CMC and cyclic CMC) completed a Scrabble task in which they were required to generate words from a set of 12 letters. Both experiments demonstrated that collaborative inhibition was present in semantic recall. Parallel CMC improved recall by comparison with face‐to‐face collaboration in both experiments, whereas cyclic CMC did not. The underlying causes of collaborative inhibitory effects and the potential for reducing them with CMC are discussed.Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Semantic Recall Speed in Older Adults, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease (P6.207)

Semantic Recall Speed in Older Adults, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease (P6.207)

Benefits of computer-based memory and attention training in healthy older adults.

Multifactorial cognitive training programs have a positive effect on cognition in healthy older adults. Among the age-sensitive cognitive domains, episodic memory is the most affected. In the present study, we evaluated the benefits on episodic memory of a computer-based memory and attention training. We targeted consciously controlled processes at encoding and minimizing processing at retrieval, by using more familiarity than recollection during recognition. Such an approach emphasizes processing at encoding and prevents subjects from reinforcing their own errors. Results showed that the training improved recognition performances and induced near transfer to recall. The largest benefits, however, were for tasks with high mental load. Improvement in free recall depended on the modality to recall; semantic recall was improved but not spatial recall. In addition, a far transfer was also observed with better memory self-perception and self-esteem of the participants. Finally, at 6-month follow up, maintenance of benefits was observed only for semantic free recall. The challenge now is to corroborate far transfer by objective measures of everyday life executive functioning.

A semantic approach for extracting domain taxonomies from text

In this paper we present a framework for the automatic building of a domain taxonomy from text corpora, called Automatic Taxonomy Construction from Text (ATCT). This framework comprises four steps. First, terms are extracted from a corpus of documents. From these extracted terms the ones that are most relevant for a specific domain are selected using a filtering approach in the second step. Third, the selected terms are disambiguated by means of a word sense disambiguation technique and concepts are generated. In the final step, the broader–narrower relations between concepts are determined using a subsumption technique that makes use of concept co-occurrences in a text. For evaluation, we assess the performance of the ATCT framework using the semantic precision, semantic recall, and the taxonomic F-measure that take into account the concept semantics. The proposed framework is evaluated in the field of economics and management as well as the medical domain.

Mechanisms of age-related decline in memory search across the adult life span.

Three alternative mechanisms for age-related decline in memory search have been proposed, which result from either reduced processing speed (global slowing hypothesis), overpersistence on categories (cluster-switching hypothesis), or the inability to maintain focus on local cues related to a decline in working memory (cue-maintenance hypothesis). We investigated these 3 hypotheses by formally modeling the semantic recall patterns of 185 adults between 27 to 99 years of age in the animal fluency task (Thurstone, 1938). The results indicate that people switch between global frequency-based retrieval cues and local item-based retrieval cues to navigate their semantic memory. Contrary to the global slowing hypothesis that predicts no qualitative differences in dynamic search processes and the cluster-switching hypothesis that predicts reduced switching between retrieval cues, the results indicate that as people age, they tend to switch more often between local and global cues per item recalled, supporting the cue-maintenance hypothesis. Additional support for the cue-maintenance hypothesis is provided by a negative correlation between switching and digit span scores and between switching and total items recalled, which suggests that cognitive control may be involved in cue maintenance and the effective search of memory. Overall, the results are consistent with age-related decline in memory search being a consequence of reduced cognitive control, consistent with models suggesting that working memory is related to goal perseveration and the ability to inhibit distracting information.

The Standardization of Folksonomy Based on Ontology Technology

The folksonomy compared with the traditional classification and thematic approach, is a completely spontaneous by the user, which using natural language, uncontrolled information organization, easier to be accepted by public users. But on the one hand, the folksonomy due to the elimination of the strict vocabulary control and hierarchical structure has too many faults, such as fuzzy semantic retrieval accuracy and low recall rate, as well as tag the abuse of information garbage. In this paper, the author uses the ontology to standardize the folksonomy, and try to improve the effect of folksonomy for information organization and retrieval.

Investigating the relationships between autobiographical remembering, the self and posttraumatic stress disorder in individuals with HIV

A bidirectional relationship is proposed between the self and memory whereby autobiographical memories develop, express and maintain the self and the self implements control over autobiographical remembering (Conway, 2005). The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between self-concept, autobiographical remembering and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD) in individuals with HIV living in Iran. Participants were individuals with HIV (n = 61) and healthy nontrauma-exposed controls (n = 59). Participants completed Farsi versions of the Autobiographical Memory Test, Autobiographical Memory Interview, the “I AM” task and the Impact of Event–Revised. It was found that the HIV group provided fewer specific memories, had reduced semantic and episodic recall and provided fewer self-statements than the control group. Reduced autobiographical memory specificity was significantly correlated with recalling fewer self-statements and deficits in episodic memory mediated the relationship between group and fewer self-statements provided. Finally, proportion of HIV-themed self-statements correlated significantly with reduced memory specificity when age and education were included as covariates. The findings are discussed in regards to current psychological models of self and memory.

Dynamics of Semantic Recall in Younger and Older Adults (P02.049)

Objective: To compare younger and older cognitively normal adults on the dynamic and temporal properties of semantic recall in an 60-second animal naming paradigm. Background Category fluency testing involves both semantic recall as well as executive control of category switching. These functions vary across the lifespan, and both reduced semantic access and slowed retrieval have been hypothesized to account for reduced category fluency in older individuals and individuals with neurological and psychiatric disorders. Design/Methods: Seventeen younger (YA) and 15 older (OA) cognitively normal adults completed the UDS protocol for one-minute animal-naming. Tests were continuously recorded and response times scored by two observers (Inter-rater reliability for cluster size r(30)=0.78;p Results: Older adults produced fewer words (25.0 ± 4.8 vs. 17.1±6.2 ; p OA). Cluster sizes and mean intra-category response times were similar between groups. Between age groups, cluster size also differed significantly by cluster number. Conclusions: Continuous recording allows for fine grained analysis of category fluency responses.YA switched categories significantly faster throughout, contributing to increased word production. There is subtle evidence for decreased semantic access in OA. Further studies in subjects with dementia is required to see if this trend is operative in populations with decreased output in verbal fluency. Disclosure: Dr. Lerner has nothing to disclose. Dr. Rosati has nothing to disclose. Dr. Kaye has received personal compensation for activities with Eli Lilly & Company as a participant on a data safety and monitoring board. Dr. Kaye has received research support from Elan Corporation, Danone Medical, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Satoris, and Intel. Dr. Smyth has nothing to disclose. Dr. Woyczynski has nothing to disclose.

Overgeneral autobiographical memory recollection in Iranian combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder

This study examined the recollection of autobiographical material in memory among Iranian military veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and healthy non-trauma-exposed control subjects. Participants completed the Autobiographical Memory Test, Autobiographical Memory Interview (counterbalanced), Impact of Event Scale-Revised, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Wechsler Memory Scale-III and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. The PTSD group generated fewer specific episodic and semantic details of autobiographical memory compared to the non-PTSD and control groups. Working memory did not significantly moderate the relationship between PTSD diagnosis and reduced autobiographical memory specificity but did moderate the relationship between PTSD diagnosis and semantic recall; semantic memory recall was not significantly related to working memory ability for those with PTSD but was related to working memory ability for trauma survivors without PTSD. While the data provide some support for the expectation that higher working memory ability is associated with an increased ability to retrieve specific memories (i.e. semantic memory recall in those without PTSD), the findings are also consistent with the view that for those with PTSD the demands on working memory required for affect regulation cancel out this influence of working memory in augmenting access to specific memories.