Preexisting word knowledge is accessed in many cognitive tasks, and this article offers a means for indexing this knowledge so that it can be manipulated or controlled. We offer free association data for 72,000 word pairs, along with over a million entries of related data, such as forward and backward strength, number of competing associates, and printed frequency. A separate file contains the 5,019 normed words, their statistics, and thousands of independently normed rhyme, stem, and fragment cues. Other files provide n x n associative networks for more than 4,000 words and a list of idiosyncratic responses for each normed word. The database will be useful for investigators interested in cuing, priming, recognition, network theory, linguistics, and implicit testing applications. They also will be useful for evaluating the predictive value of free association probabilities as compared with other measures, such as similarity ratings and co-occurrence norms. Of several procedures for measuring preexisting strength between two words, the best remains to be determined. The norms may be downloaded from www.psychonomic.org/archive/.

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.3758/BF03195588.pdf

The University of South Florida free association, rhyme, and word fragment norms.

http://csjarchive.cogsci.rpi.edu/2005v29/1/s15516709HCOG2901_3/s15516709HCOG2901_3.pdf

The large-scale structure of semantic networks: statistical analyses and a model of semantic growth.

Processing language requires the retrieval of concepts from memory in response to an ongoing stream of information. This retrieval is facilitated if one can infer the gist of a sentence, conversation, or document and use that gist to predict related concepts and disambiguate words. This article analyzes the abstract computational problem underlying the extraction and use of gist, formulating this problem as a rational statistical inference. This leads to a novel approach to semantic representation in which word meanings are represented in terms of a set of probabilistic topics. The topic model performs well in predicting word association and the effects of semantic association and ambiguity on a variety of language-processing and memory tasks. It also provides a foundation for developing more richly structured statistical models of language, as the generative process assumed in the topic model can easily be extended to incorporate other kinds of semantic and syntactic structure.

Topics in semantic representation.

Much of our understanding of human thinking is based on probabilistic models. This innovative book by Jerome R. Busemeyer and Peter D. Bruza argues that, actually, the underlying mathematical structures from quantum theory provide a much better account of human thinking than traditional models. They introduce the foundations for modelling probabilistic-dynamic systems using two aspects of quantum theory. The first, 'contextuality', is a way to understand interference effects found with inferences and decisions under conditions of uncertainty. The second, 'quantum entanglement', allows cognitive phenomena to be modeled in non-reductionist ways. Employing these principles drawn from quantum theory allows us to view human cognition and decision in a totally new light. Introducing the basic principles in an easy-to-follow way, this book does not assume a physics background or a quantum brain and comes complete with a tutorial and fully worked-out applications in important areas of cognition and decision.

/pdf/quantum-models-of-cognition-and-decision-hejlh57vgk.pdf

Quantum Models of Cognition and Decision

Research on implicit cognition and addiction has expanded greatly during the past decade. This research area provides new ways to understand why people engage in behaviors that they know are harmful or counterproductive in the long run. Implicit cognition takes a different view from traditional cognitive approaches to addiction by assuming that behavior is often not a result of a reflective decision that takes into account the pros and cons known by the individual. Instead of a cognitive algebra integrating many cognitions relevant to choice, implicit cognition assumes that the influential cognitions are the ones that are spontaneously activated during critical decision points. This selective review highlights many of the consistent findings supporting predictive effects of implicit cognition on substance use and abuse in adolescents and adults; reveals a recent integration with dual-process models; outlines the rapid evolution of different measurement tools; and introduces new routes for intervention.

https://www.impliciet.eu/adapt/publications/2010%20StacyWiersAnnuRevClinPsy.pdf

Implicit cognition and addiction: a tool for explaining paradoxical behavior.

A model concerning the influence of implicitly activated information on cued recall and recognition is presented. The model assumes that studying a familiar word activates its associates and creates an implicit representation in long-term working memory. Test cues also activate their associates, with memory performance determined by a sampling process that operates on the intersection of information activated by the test cue with information previously activated by the studied word. Successful sampling is enhanced by preexisting connections among the associates of the studied word and by preexisting connections between it and the retrieval cue. However, the usefulness of the implicit representation is reduced by the activation of competing associates and by shifts of attention before testing. Experiments designed to test predictions of the model indicate that the associates of a familiar word can exert a powerful effect on its cued recall and recognition.

Interpreting the influence of implicitly activated memories on recall and recognition.

Concreteness norms were collected for 909 words using a seven point judgment scale, where each extremity highly represented the abstract or concrete levels, respectively. Results showed a bi-modal distribution suggesting that words may be classified either as concrete or abstract. The average reliability of the norms was r=0.97. Concreteness judgments were not influenced by sex, age, word written frequency or category size. The results indicate that concreteness may be considered as an independent word attribute.

/pdf/normas-de-concretude-para-909-palavras-da-lingua-portuguesa-24t4sdhenz.pdf

Normas de concretude para 909 palavras da língua portuguesa

Two experiments tested young and elderly participants in free recall, intra-list and extra-list cued recall. The first study investigated the effects of task complexity, age and stimulus presentation rate on free recall of words presented within sentences. In the second experiment cued recall for words were investigated as a function of age, type of memory test, target set size and associative strength. The results revealed poorer recall for older than younger people. This difference varied according to the type of memory test and to the presence of context related to targets during encoding.

/pdf/a-memoria-dos-idosos-em-tarefas-complexas-4aqf48wjdf.pdf

A memória dos idosos em tarefas complexas

Normas associativas para 69 categorias semânticas sao apresentadas. Sujeitos foram solicitados a produzir o primeiro exemplo de cada categoria natural que lhes viessem a mente. As seguintes informacoes sao oferecidas sobre cada categoria: o tamanho da categoria, o numero de acertos, a correlacao entre grupos, erros e respostas em branco, e os exemplos produzidos e suas respectivas frequencias absolutas. Os resultados indicaram que as normas apresentam um significativo graude confiabilidade, sendo os indices de consistencia similares a normas coletadas em outros paises. Discute-se, ainda, a validade destas informacoes como instrumento na pesquisa basica sobre processos cognitivos.

Gerson Américo Janczura

Papers

Interpreting the influence of implicitly activated memories on recall and recognition.

Normas de concretude para 909 palavras da língua portuguesa

A memória dos idosos em tarefas complexas

Normas Associativas Para 69 Categorias Semânticas

Implicit Memory and Inhibition