Trained Words Research Articles

Does Foreign Language Writing Benefit From Increased Lexical Fluency? Evidence From a Classroom Experiment

We report a classroom experiment directed at increasing lexical fluency in writing. Participants were 107 Dutch students in bilingual (EFL) education (Grades 10 and 11). According to current theories of writing such fluency allows writers to devote more attention to higher order aspects of text production, such as idea generation, selection and organization, and revision of content. Two contrasting assumptions are studied: the inhibition assumption that effortful word production prevents writers from attending to higher order aspects and the compensation assumption that writers compensate for effortful word production processes by sequential processing strategies. Results show that a group trained in writing and fluency in the deployment of useful words for writing in specific tasks outperformed a group receiving the same writing lessons but without fluency training both in fluency of trained words and in frequency of use of the target words in writing. However, the lexical fluency group did not produce foreign language texts of better quality than the group that received no fluency training. Both groups, however, outperformed a baseline control group that had not received writing lessons. The results are interpreted as support for the compensation assumption.

Addicter: What Is Wrong with My Translations?

We introduce Addicter, a tool for Automatic Detection and DIsplay of Common Translation ERrors. The tool allows to automatically identify and label translation errors and browse the test and training corpus and word alignments; usage of additional linguistic tools is also supported. The error classification is inspired by that of Vilar et al. (2006), although some of their higherlevel categories are beyond the reach of the current version of our system. In addition to the tool itself we present a comparison of the proposed method to manually classified translation errors and a thorough evaluation of the generated alignments.

Recombinative reading derived from pseudoword instruction in a miniature linguistic system.

A miniature linguistic system was used to study acquisition of recombinative symbolic behavior. Three studies evaluated the teaching conditions of conditional discriminations with printed and spoken pseudowords that could potentially generate recombinative reading. Fifty-four college students across all studies learned to match 12 printed pseudowords to 12 spoken pseudowords. Some also matched pictures to the same spoken words. Each two-syllable pseudoword was formed by symbols from an arbitrarily created alphabet composed of four vowels and four consonants. Letters had univocal correspondence with phonemes. Recombinative receptive reading, comprehensive reading, and textual responding to pseudowords were periodically assessed. Experiment 1 (n = 20) showed that recombinative reading increased as the number of trained words composed of the same symbols increased. Experiment 2 (n = 14) showed that overtraining the same two words did not produce recombinative reading for most participants. Experiment 3 (n = 20), in which training with pictures was omitted, showed that elemental control by within-syllable units can develop even when the trained pseudowords are meaningless (not related to pictures). The present results support the utility of the miniature linguistic system methodology for identifying and controlling environmental determinants of rudimentary reading skills.

Acquisition and Generalization of Word Decoding in Students with Reading Disabilities by Integrating Vowel Pattern Analysis and Children’s Literature

This study investigated the effects of a reading intervention that integrated vowel pattern analysis and children’s literature on the word decoding performance of second graders with reading disabilities. The intervention evaluated students’ abilities to decode a set of training words using 3 common vowel patterns (syllable types), in isolation and in context. Additional sets of novel words and nonsense words using the same vowel patterns were presented to evaluate generalization of the reading intervention. A multiple-baseline design across vowel patterns was used to analyze the experimental effects of the decoding performance of 5 students. All 5 second graders demonstrated substantial gains in their ability to decode words with the 3 vowel patterns. The students increased their accuracy reading words in isolation, as well as in context. In addition, all students increased their decoding accuracy of both novel and nonsense generalization words. These increases in decoding accuracy were maintained during follow-up observations. The effects suggest the value of integrating code-based and meaning-based teaching strategies when designing interventions for students with reading disabilities.

Characteristics of listener sensitivity to talker-specific phonetic detail

Previous research shows that listeners are sensitive to talker differences in phonetic properties of speech, including voice-onset-time (VOT) in word-initial voiceless stop consonants, and that learning how a talker produces one voiceless stop transfers to another word with the same voiceless stop [Allen, J. S., and Miller, J. L. (2004). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 115, 3171-3183]. The present experiments examined whether transfer extends to words that begin with different voiceless stops. During training, listeners heard two talkers produce a given voiceless-initial word (e.g., pain). VOTs were manipulated such that one talker produced the voiceless stop with relatively short VOTs and the other with relatively long VOTs. At test, listeners heard a short- and long-VOT variant of the same word (e.g., pain) or a word beginning with a different voiceless stop (e.g., cane or coal), and were asked to select which of the two VOT variants was most representative of a given talker. In all conditions, which variant was selected at test was in line with listeners' exposure during training, and the effect was equally strong for the novel word and the training word. These findings suggest that accommodating talker-specific phonetic detail does not require exposure to each individual phonetic segment.

Lexical Quality in the Brain: ERP Evidence for Robust Word Learning From Context

We examined event-related potentials (ERPs) before and after word learning, using training contexts that differed in their level of contextual support for meaning acquisition. Novel words appeared either in contexts that were semantically constraining, providing strong cues to meaning, or in contexts that were weakly constraining, that is, uninformative. After each sentence, participants were shown the word in isolation and were asked to generate a close synonym. Immediately after training, words trained in high-constraint contexts elicited a smaller left temporal negativity (N300FT7) compared with words trained in low-constraint contexts, and both types of trained words elicited a stronger medial frontal negativity (N350Fz) relative to familiar words. Two days after training the N300FT7 disappeared and was replaced by a later, left parietal (P600Pz) effect. To examine robust learning, we administered a semantic priming test two days after training. Familiar words and words trained in high-constraint contexts elicited strong N400 effects. By contrast, words trained in low-constraint contexts elicited a weak N400 effect, and novel (untrained rare) words elicited no semantic priming. These findings suggest that supportive contexts and the use of an active meaning-generation task may lead to robust word learning. The effects of this training can be observed as changes in an early left frontal component, as well as the classical N400 effect. We discuss implications for theories of “partial” semantic knowledge and for robust word learning and instruction.

Episodic contributions to sequential control: Learning from a typist's touch.

Sequential control over routine action is widely assumed to be controlled by stable, highly practiced representations. Our findings demonstrate that the processes controlling routine actions in the domain of skilled typing can be flexibly manipulated by memory processes coding recent experience with typing particular words and letters. In two experiments, we extended Masson's (1986) procedure for measuring item-specific learning in the context of acquiring an unfamiliar skill to the highly skilled domain of typing. Skilled typists' performance improved during practice with typing words composed from a specific set of letters. In a transfer phase, performance was fastest for trained words, followed by new words composed of trained letters, and slowest for new words composed of untrained letters. The finding that recent episodic experience with typing particular words and letters influences skilled typing performance holds widespread implications for theories of typing, sequence learning, and motor control.

Errorless versus errorful training of spelling in individuals with acquired dysgraphia

We examined effects of error production in training of spelling in four individuals with stroke-induced dysgraphia. In a single participant crossover design, we provided errorless and errorful spelling training in counterbalanced phases. Improvements in spelling to dictation (large effect sizes) were evident for trained words in all participants following both errorful and errorless training phases, with some advantage of errorful over errorless for three of four participants. Little generalisation was noted for untrained control words. Post-treatment improvements were also noted in a standardised writing test in three of four participants. At one month after training completion, gains were largely maintained for trained words, again with larger effect sizes for errorful than errorless words in three of four participants. However, despite benefits for errorful training, participants stated a preference for the less frustrating errorless training protocol.

Errorless learning of computer-generated words in a patient with semantic dementia

This study explores the effectiveness and feasibility of an errorless learning approach administered via a computer-based treatment for anomia to CS, an individual with semantic dementia. Using a multiple baseline across behaviours design, we explored treatment specific effects, maintenance and generalisation of gains derived from the MossTalk Words® therapy programme. CS was treated on three lists of words, each containing items for which CS retained some semantic knowledge and some for which he did not. CS was tested immediately after therapy, and one and three months later. Improved naming was maintained on all lists at all testing intervals. In addition, among those words for which CS retained some semantic knowledge, he maintained the ability to name all practised words, but only half of the not practised words. This study underscored the feasibility of computer-based treatments for anomia in progressive disorders, demonstrated the effectiveness of an errorless approach in semantic dementia in re-training lost words, and provided justification for training words that patients still have in their daily vocabulary. The results are discussed in relation to other treatment studies in progressive aphasia and in the context of factors necessary for therapeutic success in semantic dementia.

Spiraling and Folding: The Word View

We show that for every n there are two simple curves on the torus intersecting at least n times without the two curves folding or spiraling with respect to each other. On the other hand, two simple curves in a punctured plane that intersect at least n times (and do not create any empty bigons) must either form a spiral of depth d or a fold of width cn/(d+1)−1, where c only depends on the number of punctures in the plane. The construction of the two curves on the torus involves train tracks and word equations, and the verification that the two curves do not spiral leads us to an infinite binary word based on the golden ratio which does not contain any square word ww for which |w| is even.

Equivalência de estímulos e estratégias de intervenção para crianças com dificuldade de aprendizagem

O paradigma de equivalência de estímulos foi utilizado como referencial para a elaboração e implementação de estratégias de intervenção individualizada para duas crianças que apresentavam dificuldade na alfabetização. As crianças participaram de programas de ensino de leitura de palavras com sílabas simples e complexas da língua portuguesa. Atividades lúdicas que envolviam ler e escrever foram realizadas em cada sessão antes e depois dos programas de ensino. As crianças aprenderam a ler as palavras de ensino com precisão. O desempenho nas tarefas de leitura e construção de palavras de recombinação melhorou com a exposição aos programas de ensino e às atividades lúdicas. O aumento gradual na precisão do repertório verbal em tarefas com palavras, frases e pequenos textos, observado assistematicamente durante as atividades lúdicas, sugere o efeito das estratégias de intervenção não só nos repertórios diretamente ensinados, mas também em comportamentos que envolvem diferentes modalidades de leitura e escrita. Estes resultados mostram o potencial de intervenções planejadas de acordo com o paradigma de equivalência para estabelecer condições para a ampliação do repertório verbal inicial do aprendiz e o ensino de unidades verbais maiores. Palavras-chave: equivalência de estímulos; leitura; escrita.

A meta-analysis of word-finding treatments for aphasia

Background: The research literature on treatment methods for word-finding deficits in aphasia is extensive. A meta-analysis of studies for word-finding therapy was conducted in order to objectively synthesise this information to answer large-scale questions of treatment efficacy. Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of various treatment approaches for word-finding deficits for individuals with aphasia. This analysis also examined gains made to trained and untrained words, the level of maintenance after therapy, and the effect of the time post-onset of aphasia on the recovery of language function. Methods & Procedures: Various search methods were used to gather anomia treatment studies for this analysis. From 44 studies, 107 effect sizes were calculated for the final analysis. These data were sorted according to the following moderator variables: treatment category (semantic, phonological, or mixed), word set (trained, exposed-related, exposed-unrelated, unexposed-unrelated, and unexposed-related), follow-up measures, and median number of months post-onset. Outcomes & Results: All therapy approaches showed evidence of efficacy, although the variance between studies was large. Strong gains were seen for trained and exposed words, but only minor gains for unexposed words. Large effects were seen for up to 2 months post-therapy, with lingering effects at 3 months post-therapy. Treatment appeared efficacious even for individuals that were years post-onset. Conclusions: An objective synthesis of the literature shows that intervention for word-finding deficits is efficacious. However, the level of gains varied widely across studies and therapy approaches. As expected, little generalisation was found for untrained-unexposed words.

Development and Efficacy of a Frequent-Word Auditory Training Protocol for Older Adults with Impaired Hearing

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a word-based auditory-training procedure for use with older adults who have impaired hearing. The emphasis during training and assessment is placed on words with a high frequency of occurrence in American English. In this study, a repeated-measures group design was used with each of the two groups of participants to evaluate the effects of the word-based training regimen. One group comprised 20 young adults with normal hearing and the other consisted of 16 older adults with impaired hearing. The group of young adults was not included for the purpose of between-group comparisons. Rather, it was included to demonstrate the efficacy of the training regimen, should efficacy fail to be demonstrated in the group of older adults, and to estimate the magnitude of the benefits that could be achieved in younger listeners. Significant improvements were observed in the group means for each of five measures of post-training assessment. Pretraining and post-training performance assessments were all based on the open-set recognition of speech in a fluctuating speech-like background noise. Assessment measures ranged from recognition of trained words and phrases produced by talkers heard during training to the recognition of untrained sentences produced by a talker not encountered during training. In addition to these group data, analysis of individual data via 95% critical differences for each assessment measure revealed that 75 to 80% of the older adults demonstrated significant improvements on most or all of the post-training measures. The word-based auditory-training program examined here, one based on words having a high frequency of occurrence in American English, has been demonstrated to be efficacious in older adults with impaired hearing. Training on frequent words and frequent phrases generalized to sentences constructed from frequently occurring words whether spoken by talkers heard during training or by a novel talker.

Training letter and orthographic pattern recognition in children with slow naming speed

Although research has established that performance on a rapid automatized naming (RAN) task is related to reading, the nature of this relationship is unclear. Bowers (2001) proposed that processes underlying performance on the RAN task and orthographic knowledge make independent and additive contributions to reading performance. We examined the benefits of training orthographic pattern recognition and speeded letter recognition for children in Grades 1 and 2 with slow naming speed. Children first received training in either orthographic pattern recognition or speeded letter recognition, and then switched to the other type of training. Results indicated that speeded letter recognition can improve through training, but only when preceded by training in orthographic pattern recognition. Orthographic pattern recognition training improved the accuracy and speed of reading training words, whether training occurred alone or following letter training. Letter training prior to the orthographic training provided no additional benefit. Together, these results argue for the importance of orthographic training for children with slow naming speed.

Treatment for lexical retrieval using abstract and concrete words in persons with aphasia: Effect of complexity

Background: The significance of imageability and concreteness as factors for lexical tasks in aphasic individuals is under debate. No previous treatment studies have looked specifically at training abstract words compared to concrete for improved lexical retrieval in patients with chronic aphasia. Aims: The goal of the present study was to determine the efficacy of a treatment for lexical retrieval that is based on models of lexical processing by utilising abstractness as a mode of complexity. It was hypothesised that training abstract words in a category will result in improvement of those words and generalisation to untrained target concrete words in the same category. However, training concrete words in a category will result in the retrieval of trained concrete words, but not generalisation to target abstract words. Methods & Procedures: A single‐participant experimental design across participants and behaviours was used to examine treatment and generalisation. Generative naming for three categories (church, hospital, courthouse) was tested during baseline and treatment. Each treatment session was carried out in five steps: (1) category sorting, (2) feature selection, (3) yes/no feature questions, (4) word recall, and (5) free generative naming. Outcomes & Results: Although participant 1 demonstrated neither significant learning nor generalisation during abstract or concrete word training, participants 2, 3, and 4 showed significant learning during abstract word training and generalisation to untrained concrete words. Participants 3 and 4 were also trained on concrete words, on which they improved, but did not show generalisation to untrained abstract words. Conclusions: The results of the present experiment support our hypothesis that training abstract words would result in greater learning and generalisation to untrained concrete words. They also tentatively support the idea that generalisation is facilitated by treatment focusing on more complex constructions (Kiran & Thompson, 2003; Thompson, Shapiro, Kiran, & Sobecks, 2003).

Therapy for naming deficits in two variants of primary progressive aphasia

Background: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) refers to a progressive and selective decline in language due to neurodegenerative disease. There are three variants of PPA, progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA), semantic dementia (SD), and logopaenic progressive aphasia (LPA). All variants include impaired object naming, but distinct underlying deficits might interfere with naming. Therefore, individuals with different types of PPA may respond differently to naming therapy. Aims: To identify differences in patterns of success and generalisation in response to the same treatment in patient with LPA and a patient with SD. Furthermore, we wished to identify whether the treatment effect was item specific (trained words) or generalised to untrained words in trained or untrained categories. Methods & Procedures: Participants included an individual with LPA and one with SD. An assessment of lexical processing was administered before and after a naming treatment to assess underlying deficits and generalisation effects. Therapy consisted of a cueing hierarchy treatment. Treatment items consisted of pictured objects in the categories of fruits/vegetables and clothing. Outcomes & Results: Two different patterns of performance were observed. The LPA participant improved in naming of treated items and untreated items in both treated and untreated categories. The participant with SD improved in naming treated items only, but showed less deterioration in untreated items in treated than untreated categories. Conclusions: Individuals with PPA can show improved naming (at least temporarily) with therapy, but generalisation to untrained items may depend on the underlying cause of the naming deficit, which may differ across subtypes.

Word discrimination therapy: A new technique for the treatment of a phonologically based word‐finding impairment

Background: The majority of cognitive neuropsychological treatments for impairments in phonological encoding utilise some form of phonological cueing or support. Most commonly, the participant is provided with supporting information about the phonological form of a particular word (either partial or complete, auditory or written), and must then generate the word orally. The provision of target phonology facilitates initial production of the word, which can then be repeatedly trained in order to induce relearning of the appropriate lexical–phonological associations. Aims: The aim of the current case study was to examine the effectiveness of an indirect cueing technique for the treatment of mild impairments in phonological encoding. In this treatment the participant must name pictures without assistance, but the picture names themselves share a phonological relationship (e.g., magnet, mattress, macaroni). These phonologically similar triplets incorporate a form of phonological cueing; however, the cues do not involve the direct provision of the word form. Methods & Procedures: The case reported here, patient TV, suffers from a mild phonological encoding impairment: he produces phonemic paraphasias and other form‐related errors on longer and/or less frequent words in spontaneous speech and other spoken word production tasks. In the treatment, TV was asked to name triplets of pictures whose names were either phonologically related (sharing either initial or final phonemes) or unrelated. This procedure was repeated across 12 therapy sessions, all of which trained the same set of words. TV's pre‐treatment naming accuracy on the training words was assessed using a repeated baseline design, and was continuously reassessed throughout treatment, and also at 3 months post‐therapy. The key comparison was between words trained within phonologically related triplets and control words trained in unrelated triplets. The design also included multiple assessments on an untrained set of words to assess generalisation. Outcomes & Results: For this mild case, naming accuracy for all words trained improved significantly. However, gains were significantly faster for the words that were trained within phonologically related triplets than those trained in unrelated triplets. Significant generalisation to untreated items was also observed, and gains on both treatment items and generalisation effects were maintained at 3 months post therapy. Conclusion: Results from this case study suggest that this type of indirect cueing technique may be a particularly efficient method for treating mild impairments in phonological coding.

Implicit phoneme manipulation for the treatment of apraxia of speech and co‐occurring aphasia

Background: Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a disorder of expressive speech attributed to an impairment at the motor planning and programming phases of speech production. AOS is treated in different ways but the articulatory kinematic approach is usually followed. The intervention described in this study introduces a new approach toward treatment of AOS with aphasia through the use of implicit manipulation of phonemes via rhyming, deletion and alliteration tasks. Theoretical models propose that during lexical retrieval, associated areas responsible for motor planning and the preparation of the utterance are activated. In a similar way, our tasks require a phoneme manipulation that is hypothesised to activate motor planning. The repeated implicit practice of retrieving and internally monitoring sounds in various phonetic contexts may improve the efficiency of the transition between phonological plans and the initial phase of motor planning and the monitoring of that plan. Therefore, if AOS is due to a dysfunction of motor planning, an implicit intervention targeting this phase may improve speech production without the need for overt practice. Methods and Procedures: This single‐subject multiple baseline intervention used implicit phoneme manipulation tasks in a subject with AOS and mild aphasia. The therapist‐designed computerised program required the subject to perform the implicit practice of rhyming, deletion, and alliteration of phonemes in three sound classes: /ʃ/, /ʤ/, and /s/ clusters in various phonetic contexts. Stimuli were presented on computerised templates requiring the subject to select the target among 3 foils. No overt speech was required however probe word repetitions were necessary to monitor treatment effects. Outcomes and Results: The effect sizes for the trained words were: /ʃ/ probes d = 4.46, /ʤ/ probes d = 6.02, and /s/ clusters d = 2.54 which represents a small to medium effect for /ʃ/ and /ʤ/. T‐MAC results of 59/87 (68%) at pre‐testing improved to 75/87 (87%) at post‐test (z = 3.08, binomial p < .01, two‐tailed) which suggest generalisation to non‐treatment words. Patterns of change in three probe words over the course of treatment suggest an improvement in speech production. Distortions, disturbed prosody and phonological errors were resolved in these probes by the maintenance session as judged by 5 SLPs. Conclusions: We conclude that in this participant (1) implicit phoneme manipulation training improved overt speech production; (2) accuracy of trained words, specifically a reduction in sound distortions, phonological errors and improved prosody, were the result of this treatment; and (3) a significant generalisation to non‐treatment words was the result of the intervention.

Equivalência de estímulos e uso de jogos para ensinar leitura e escrita

O estudo investigou se crianças que apresentaram erros de escrita de dissílabos simples aprenderiam a escrever corretamente por meio de jogos, que ensinassem relações entre palavra impressa/CRMTS, palavra impressa/figura, figura/CRMTS, palavra impressa/escrita manuscrita, palavra falada/figura, palavra impressa/palavra falada. Participaram três crianças com idade entre 6 e 8 anos. Inicialmente, realizou-se um ditado de 33 palavras, a partir do qual foram selecionadas, dentre as incorretamente escritas, 8 palavras para o treino. A intervenção consistiu de três jogos: tabuleiro, memória e cópia no quadro de giz. No final, realizou-se um ditado com as 8 palavras de treino e 10 de generalização. Os três participantes apresentaram aumento no número de palavras e sílabas de treino corretamente escritas e, com exceção de uma delas, também nas de generalização. Verificou-se que foi possível ensinar as relações condicionais programadas e que os jogos contribuíram para melhorar a escrita dos participantes. Discute-se a necessidade de futuras investigações.

Designing unique words for near‐optimal training in block transmission systems

AbstractIn this paper, we consider the problem of designing unique words (UWs) in single‐carrier block transmission systems for the purpose of performing bandwidth efficient channel estimation. By first deriving the Cramér‐Rao lower bound (CRLB) for the UW‐based channel estimator, we show that designing optimal UWs reduces to a problem of constructing sequences of length Q ≤ N/2 that, when padded with zeros to make a length‐N sequence, have good periodic autocorrelation properties. We then show that the only class of short (length‐Q) sequences that, when padded with N − Q zeros, have perfect periodic autocorrelation properties is the class of Kronecker delta sequences. Due to the fact that these sequences typically suffer from a high peak‐to‐average power ratio (PAPR), we then formulate two optimisation procedures to find near‐optimal UWs under certain constraints. Finally, we show that the sequences that are found with the proposed technique perform significantly better than Kronecker delta sequences that have been scaled to meet a given PAPR constraint. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.