Preface Chapter 1 The challenge Chapter 2 The nature of the evidence: A synthesis of meta-analyses Chapter 3 The argument: Visible teaching and visible learning Chapter 4: The contributions from the student Chapter 5 The contributions from the home Chapter 6 The contributions from the school Chapter 7 The contributions from the teacher Chapter 8 The contributions from the curricula Chapter 9 The contributions from teaching approaches - I Chapter 10 The contributions from teaching approaches - II Chapter 11: Bringing it all together Appendix A: The 800 meta-analyses Appendix B: The meta-analyses by rank order References

Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement

Recent studies of eye movements in reading and other information processing tasks, such as music reading, typing, visual search, and scene perception, are reviewed. The major emphasis of the review is on reading as a specific example of cognitive processing. Basic topics discussed with respect to reading are (a) the characteristics of eye movements, (b) the perceptual span, (c) integration of information across saccades, (d) eye movement control, and (e) individual differences (including dyslexia). Similar topics are discussed with respect to the other tasks examined. The basic theme of the review is that eye movement data reflect moment-to-moment cognitive processes in the various tasks examined. Theoretical and practical considerations concerning the use of eye movement data are also discussed.

/pdf/eye-movements-in-reading-and-information-processing-20-years-3z5ay8hdwc.pdf

Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research.

A theory of the way working memory capacity constrains comprehension is proposed. The theory proposes that both processing and storage are mediated by activation and that the total amount of activation available in working memory varies among individuals. Individual differences in working memory capacity for language can account for qualitative and quantitative differences among college-age adults in several aspects of language comprehension. One aspect is syntactic modularity: The larger capacity of some individuals permits interaction among syntactic and pragmatic information, so that their syntactic processes are not informationally encapsulated. Another aspect is syntactic ambiguity: The larger capacity of some individuals permits them to maintain multiple interpretations. The theory is instantiated as a production system model in which the amount of activation available to the model affects how it adapts to the transient computational and storage demands that occur in comprehension.

/pdf/a-capacity-theory-of-comprehension-individual-differences-in-4pgbsbb38c.pdf

A capacity theory of comprehension: individual differences in working memory.

A connectionist approach to processing in quasi-regular domains, as exemplified by English word reading, is developed. Networks using appropriately structured orthographic and phonological representations were trained to read both regular and exception words, and yet were also able to read pronounceable nonwords as well as skilled readers. A mathematical analysis of a simplified system clarifies the close relationship of word frequency and spelling-sound consistency in influencing naming latencies. These insights were verified in subsequent simulations, including an attractor network that accounted for latency data directly in its time to settle on a response. Further analyses of the ability of networks to reproduce data on acquired surface dyslexia support a view of the reading system that incorporates a graded division of labor between semantic and phonological processes, and contrasts in important ways with the standard dual-route account.

/pdf/understanding-normal-and-impaired-word-reading-computational-2q0o66tf09.pdf

Understanding normal and impaired word reading: computational principles in quasi-regular domains.

Psycholinguists have commonly assumed that as a spoken linguistic message unfolds over time, it is initially structured by a syntactic processing module that is encapsulated from information provided by other perceptual and cognitive systems. To test the effects of relevant visual context on the rapid mental processes that accompany spoken language comprehension, eye movements were recorded with a head-mounted eye-tracking system while subjects followed instructions to manipulate real objects. Visual context influenced spoken word recognition and mediated syntactic processing, even during the earliest moments of language processing.

/pdf/integration-of-visual-and-linguistic-information-in-spoken-3cpq90p2u5.pdf

Integration of visual and linguistic information in spoken language comprehension

The independence of syntactic processing

People comprehend utterances rapidly and without conscious effort. Traditional theories assume that sentence processing is algorithmic and that meaning is derived compositionally. The language processor is believed to generate representations of the linguistic input that are complete, detailed, and accurate. However, recent findings challenge these assumptions. Investigations of the misinterpretation of both garden-path and passive sentences have yielded support for the idea that the meaning people obtain for a sentence is often not a reflection of its true content. Moreover, incorrect interpretations may persist even after syntactic reanalysis has taken place. Our good-enough approach to language comprehension holds that language processing is sometimes only partial and that semantic representations are often incomplete. Future work will elucidate the conditions under which sentence processing is simply good enough.

Good-Enough Representations in Language Comprehension

http://old.nbu.bg/cogs/events/2004/materials/Fernanda/Ferreira%20Cog%20Psych%202003%2047%20No.2.pdf

The misinterpretation of noncanonical sentences

Ferreira and colleagues argued that the language comprehension system creates syntactic and semantic representations that are merely ‘good enough’ (GE) given the task that the comprehender needs to perform. GE representations contrast with ones that are detailed, complete, and accurate with respect to the input. In this article, we review the original argument for GE processing, and we present new evidence that supports the concept: first, local interpretations are computed, which can interfere with global ones; second, new findings based on the recording of event-related potentials show the use of simple heuristics rather than compositional algorithms for constructing sentence meaning; and recent studies show that the comprehension system has mechanisms for handling disfluencies, but they work imperfectly. We argue that the GE approach to language comprehension is similar to the use of fast and frugal heuristics for decision-making, and that future research should explore this connection more thoroughly.

https://www.sfs.uni-tuebingen.de/~cebert/teaching/10Unterspezifikation/papers/The%20Good%20Enough%20Approach%20to%20Language%20Comprehension%20(Ferreira+Patson).pdf

The ‘Good Enough’ Approach to Language Comprehension

F. Ferreira, J.M. Henderson, Introduction to the Integration of Language, Vision and Action. J.M. Henderson, F. Ferreira, Scene Perception for Psycholinguists. K. Rayner, S.P. Liversedge, Visual and Linguistic Processing During Eye Fixations in Reading. D.E. Irwin, Fixation Location Duration as Indices of Cognitive Processing. J.M. Findlay, Eye Scanning and Visual Search. M.J. Spivey, D.C. Richardson, S.A. Fitneva, Thinking Outside the Brain: Spatial Indices to Visual and Linguistic Information. A.S. Meyer, F. Lethaus, The Use of Eye Tracking in Studies of Sentence Generation. Z.M. Griffin, Why Look? Reasons for Eye Movements Related to Language Production. K. Bock, D.E. Irwin, D.J. Davidson, Putting First Things First. M.K. Tanenhaus, C.G. Chambers, J.E. Hanna, Referential Domains in Spoken Language Comprehension: Using Eye Movements to Bridge the Product and Action Traditions. J. Trueswell, L. Gleitman, Children's Eye Movements During Listening:Developmental Evidence for a Constraint-Based Theory of Sentence Processing. G.T.M. Altmann, Y. Kamide, Now You See It, Now You Don't: Mediating the Mapping between Language and the Visual World.

Fernanda Ferreira

Papers

The independence of syntactic processing

Good-Enough Representations in Language Comprehension

The misinterpretation of noncanonical sentences

The ‘Good Enough’ Approach to Language Comprehension

The Interface of Language, Vision, and Action: Eye Movements and the Visual World