Showing papers in "Journal of Psycholinguistic Research in 2021"

Measuring Students' Use of Zoom Application in Language Course Based on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

Abstract: The study uses technology acceptance model (TAM) to gain insights into user reactions to the technology adopted for language learning. The study aims to analyze the correlation between the variables of TAM on using Zoom application in language learning, in addition to examining how gender and experience influence the use of technology. The participants of this study comprise of 75 undergraduate English-as-Foreign-Language learners who have studied for their courses online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study reveal a strong positive correlation between the actual use of Zoom and the students' attitudes and behavioral intention. In addition, there is a positive correlation between computer self-efficacy and other variables (i.e. PU, actual use, PEU, attitude and behavioral intention). Further, while the results reveal that there is no correlation between the gender and any variables of the model, it has been found that experience is positively correlated with the variables of TAM.

How Do Arab Tweeters Perceive the COVID-19 Pandemic?

Abstract: Language reflects several cognitive variables that are grounded in cognitive linguistics, psycholinguistics and sociolinguistics. This paper examines how Arab populations reacted to the COVID-19 pandemic on Twitter over twelve weeks since the outbreak. We conducted a lexicon-based thematic analysis using corpus tools, and LIWC and applied R language's stylo. The dominant themes that were closely related to coronavirus tweets included the outbreak of the pandemic, metaphysics responses, signs and symptoms in confirmed cases, and conspiracism. The psycholinguistic analysis also showed that tweeters maintained high levels of affective talk, which was loaded with negative emotions and sadness. Also, LIWC's psychological categories of religion and health dominated the Arabic tweets discussing the pandemic situation. In addition, the contaminated counties that captured most of the attention of Arabic tweeters were China, the USA, Italy, Germany, India, and Japan. At the same time, China and the USA were instrumental in evoking conspiracist ideation about spreading COVID-19 to the world.

Overview of the Referential Process: The Operation of Language Within and Between People.

Abstract: Human mentation involves multiple formats of thought, which are connected substantially but partially, and may operate within or outside of awareness The modes of thought include symbolic processes which are discrete representations with properties of reference and generativity, and which may be images or words, and subsymbolic components which are continuous in format and based on analogic relationships The organization of experience is based on memory schemas, including emotion schemas organized through episodes that involve related sensory and bodily experiences with particular people in particular contexts The referential process is a set of bidirectional functions that enable connection between the subsymbolic components operating in multiple sensory channels and the discrete single channel verbal code The process involves three major functions: Arousal, the activation of an emotion schema not yet in symbolic form; Symbolizing, describing an event in which the schema has been activated; and Reflection/Reorganizing, exploring and elaborating the emotional meaning of such an event The concepts of the theory concern psychological aspects of thought, but are potentially mappable onto the underlying neural structure

Structural Relationship Between L2 Learning Motivation and Resilience and Their Impact on Motivated Behavior and L2 Proficiency.

Abstract: This exploratory study investigates the structural relationship between second language (L2) learning motivation, resilience, motivated behavior, and L2 proficiency among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students in South Korea. The research questions are as follows: (1) What are the constructs of resilience and L2 learning motivation among L2 learners? (2) What is the structural relationship between L2 learning motivation, resilience, motivated behavior, and L2 proficiency? A five-point Likert-type questionnaire was administered to 152 college-level EFL learners. The findings of factor analysis demonstrated that resilience factors were divided into self-composure, sociability, life satisfaction, communicative efficacy, and realistic optimism. Four factors emerged regarding L2 learning motivation: recognition from others, Ideal L2 self, instrumental motivation, and Ought-to L2 self. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that these factors are independent constructs with conceptual validity. The final structural equation model showed that resilience influenced L2 proficiency through L2 learning motivation and motivated behavior.

Overview of Computer Measures of the Referential Process.

Abstract: The Referential Process (RP) has three functions or processes, called Arousal, Symbolizing, and Reflecting/Reorganizing. Taken together, these provide a framework within which to address the question: how do people connect nonverbal experience and verbal forms. The purpose of this paper is to describe the Discourse Attributes Analysis Program (DAAP), which uses certain dictionaries or word lists to produce measures that model the referential process functions. These dictionaries are also described. The referential process may occur in any type of discourse context and the DAAP computer system may be applied to any type of verbal data. The focus in this paper is on transcripts of psychotherapy sessions. DAAP provides numeric and graphic data at several levels of discourse including word-by-word data concerning dictionary matches; average data for each turn of speech; average data for each speaker for each session; numeric data and graphic images for each session; and overall session data for each treatment. Graphic images of the ebb and flow of these computer generated functions of the referential process over the course of a therapy session are presented and interpreted. There are also discussions of new relational measures, as well as the referential process data base, which currently contains numerical data for 22 treatments, and presentations of several applications.

The Comparative Effects of Teacher Versus Peer-Scaffolding on EFL Learners' Incidental Vocabulary Learning and Reading Comprehension: A Socio-Cultural Perspective.

Abstract: Drawing on sociocultural theory, and multiple empirical studies conducted on the effectiveness of scaffolding on second or foreign language learning, the authors investigated the application of various forms of scaffolding (i.e., teacher versus peer-scaffolding) on EFL learners' incidental vocabulary learning and reading comprehension performance through a sociocultural perspective. To this end, 60 EFL learners out of one-hundred were selected through the administration of an Oxford Placement Test from three language institutes and divided into 3 groups (two experimental and one control group) each including 20 intermediate EFL learners. The first experimental group received teacher-scaffolding instruction, the second experimental group received peer-scaffolding instruction and the control group received traditional instruction with no scaffolding. The vocabulary and reading comprehension pre-tests were administered to the three groups. At the end of the experiment, the vocabulary and reading comprehension post-tests were administered. The descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and the inferential statistics (a One-way ANOVA) were run to analyze the collected data. The results showed that both experimental groups had better performance than the control group and there was a significant difference between teacher-scaffolding and peer-scaffolding in both vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension performance and the peer-scaffolding group had a better performance than the teacher-scaffolding group. This research provided some implications about different types of scaffolding for language teachers and syllabus designers.

Development and validation of measures of referential activity.

Abstract: Early research on the referential process (RP) focused on the function of connecting words and the entities to which they refer, as a trait, a dimension on which people differed in a relatively stable manner. The first study found a correspondence between retrieval time for a small set of color names, hand movements accompanying speech, and features of language content and style, such as use of particular pronouns and direct quotes. The second study supported these results using an early version of the Referential Activity (RA) scales, as well as a task of generating labels for subtly differing stimuli where labels had not been provided. Another study provided a close examination of the relation of hand and body movements to the functions of the RP. The current forms of the RA scales, Concreteness, Specificity, Clarity, and Imagery, which serve as the basis for the computerized measures of the Symbolizing function, were developed based on those early studies. Recent research on the RP, some of which will be presented in this issue, has focused primarily on the Symbolizing function as a state rather than trait dimension, and has examined factors affecting variation in this function. The early research also serves as a basis for empirical study of the other functions of the RP. Through interactive development of measures and theory, in experimental and clinical settings, the constructs of the multiple code theory and the RP continue to be refined and redefined.

Where do Language Mindsets Come from? An Ecological Perspective on EFL Students' Mindsets About L2 Writing.

Abstract: Although recent research suggests that language mindsets (i.e., fundamentalbeliefs aboutthe fixedness and malleability of language learning ability) are important for L2 learners’ motivation and learning behaviors, much research has focused on quantitative approaches and static individual differences, with little emphasis on its student-centered and ecologically-relevant phenomena. The aim of this study was to take an ecological perspective to understand the development of mindsets about L2 writingand their relevance tomotivation. Based on an analysis of in-depth interviewswith six (two males, four females) adult EFL learners in Iran, we identified that several eco-systemic factors underlie the emergence, complexity, and dynamics of the learners’ mindsets regarding the skill of L2 writing. Students emphasize that teachers (microsystem) play a central role in constructingtheir mindsets about L2 writing. In addition, their previous learning experiences, including teachers, parents, and high-stake exams (mesosystem), the institutional policies that emphasize English oral skills and neglect writing skills (exosystem), and the mainstream culture in favor of a natural talent for writing skills (macrosystem) also contributed to the emergence of learners’ mindsets. Moreover, the results highlighted the domain-specific and dynamic nature of language mindsets, such that learners considered their mindsets about L2 writing skills differently from other skills (e.g., speaking) and that their mindsets changed in different stages of the learning processes. We show that the ecological approach can unpack the complex-dynamic and multifaceted nature of mindsets, providing theoretical and pedagogical implications for fostering growth mindsets and improving learners’ L2 writing motivation.

Inhibitory Mechanisms in the Processing of Negations: A Neural Reuse Hypothesis.

Abstract: Negation is known to have inhibitory consequences for the information under its scope. However, how it produces such effects remains poorly understood. Recently, it has been proposed that negation processing might be implemented at the neural level by the recruitment of inhibitory and cognitive control mechanisms. On this line, this manuscript offers the hypothesis that negation reuses general-domain mechanisms that subserve inhibition in other non-linguistic cognitive functions. The first two sections describe the inhibitory effects of negation on conceptual representations and its embodied effects, as well as the theoretical foundations for the reuse hypothesis. The next section describes the neurophysiological evidence that linguistic negation interacts with response inhibition, along with the suggestion that both functions share inhibitory mechanisms. Finally, the manuscript concludes that the functional relation between negation and inhibition observed at the mechanistic level could be easily integrated with predominant cognitive models of negation processing.

Development of WRRL: A New Computerized Measure of the Reflecting/Reorganizing Function

Abstract: Reflecting/Reorganizing (R/R) is one of the three functions described by Bucci (Overview of the referential process: the operation of language within and between people, 2021a) as part of the referential process. The Weighted Referential Activity Dictionary (WRAD) was previously developed to model the Symbolizing function of the referential process. This paper presents the development of the Weighted Reflecting Reorganizing List (WRRL) as a model of the R/R function. The basic premise of this approach is that by rating segments of text rather than individual words, and using a word by word weighting procedure designed for this purpose, it is possible to identify the nature of the language style that is connected with particular degrees of involvement in the psychological process being modeled. Starting with a brief description of the R/R function, an iterative process was applied that resulted in a clear scoring manual for the R/R function. The method of developing the dictionary is described, a study providing validation for the measure is presented, and the nature of the language style used to express the R/R function is discussed. As was described for the WRAD, the language style of the WRRL was found to involve use of particular function words, applicable across a wide range of contents.

Developmental Relations Between Listening and Reading Comprehension in Young Chinese Language Learners: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract: The reciprocal influences between the development of Chinese-as-a-second-language (CSL) listening and reading comprehension among young learners in Hong Kong were evaluated using a 2-year, three-wave longitudinal design. A total of 129 senior primary CSL students were assessed using listening and reading comprehension tests at the end of grades 4, 5, and 6. An autoregressive, cross-lagged model was specified, and it accounted for a substantial portion of variance (more than 60%) in the two comprehension abilities by grades 5 and 6. Path analysis showed that the two comprehension abilities facilitated each other’s development across the years: on controlling for their respective strong autoregressive effects, the two comprehension abilities predicted a unique, substantial variance portion of each other every year. In addition, based on previous studies conducted on readers of both alphabetic languages and Chinese, this study argues the following points: (1) the development of CSL students’ reading comprehension is constrained by their listening comprehension, and (2) the acquisition of Chinese literacy skills may promote students’ listening comprehension by enhancing their linguistic knowledge and awareness.

Effects of Phonetic Training on the Discrimination of Second Language Sounds by Learners with Naturalistic Access to the Second Language.

Abstract: The present study investigates the effect of high variability phonetic training (HVPT) on the discrimination of second language (L2) vowel contrasts by adult speakers who live in a country where the L2 is dominant. The same subjects who participated in a previous discrimination task were trained in the discrimination of four L2 vowel contrasts which were relatively difficult for this population of learners. Both the post-test and the generalization test showed significant improvement in the discrimination of most vowel contrasts (both stressed and unstressed). The findings suggest that HVPT may facilitate the formation of robust L2 phonological representations even for learners who live and are educated in an L2-dominant environment, dissolving in that way the perceptual confusions which emerge from first language interference. Finally, important implications are made for the implementation of HVPT in L2 classrooms.

A Contrastive Analysis of Emotional Terms in Bed-Night Stories Across Two Languages: Does it Affect Learners' Pragmatic Knowledge of Controlling Emotions? Seeking Implications to Teach English to EFL Learners

Abstract: The present investigation aimed at studying emotional terms (ETs) in Persian and English bed-night stories for children by adopting a contrastive analysis approach within two phases. Emotional terms were categorized into two theoretical models (tokens and types) in phase one of the study, and in the second phase, the effect of teaching emotive narratives on learners' pragmatic knowledge of controlling emotions was scrutinized. To this aim, 30 English bed-night stories (15 in English and 15 in Persian) with similar lengths and difficulty levels were selected randomly. In the first phase of the study, the frequency of occurrence of emotional terms (ETs) in English and Persian English bed-night stories were compared. The results indicated that there were not statistically significant differences between the two groups of stories in terms of the emotion tokens utilized in both languages. Nevertheless, there was a major disparity in the number of ETs found in English and Persian bed-night tales concerning various types of emotions. During the second phase of the study, a group of 25 EFL learners were explicitly taught emotive English bed-night tales. A pre-test post-test design using a Discourse Completion Test was used to seek the efficacy of teaching ETs on the learners' pragmatic knowledge of controlling emotions. Findings showed that teaching emotive narratives enhanced students' pragmatic knowledge of emotions significantly. In light of the findings of the study, a number of conclusions are drawn and the implications are discussed.

Homo-schematic Metaphors: A Study of Metaphor Comprehension in Three Different Priming Conditions

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the process of metaphor comprehension in three different conditions of metaphor-prime, literal-prime, and no-prime. To achieve this objective, three experiments were conducted. In the metaphor-prime condition, each metaphor was preceded by a homo-schematic metaphor prime. In the literal-prime condition, each metaphor was preceded by a literal prime that provided some information about literal meanings of topic and vehicle of the following metaphor. In the no-prime condition, each metaphor was preceded by no stimulus. In each condition, a group of 20 participants made judgment on the sensibility of 15 metaphors. In Experiment 1, sensibility judgments in the literal-prime and metaphor-prime conditions were compared with each other. In Experiment 2, sensibility judgments in the no-prime and metaphor-prime conditions were compared with each other. In Experiment 3, sensibility judgments in the no-prime and literal-prime conditions were compared with each other. The obtained results indicated that in the metaphor-prime condition, metaphors were judged to have the highest degree of sensibility, and participants were faster in making sensibility judgments. On the other hand, in the literal-prime condition, metaphors were judged to have the lowest degree of sensibility. Therefore, it is suggested that the understanding of a homo-schematic metaphor prime activates an abstract schema. The activation of this schema prepares the ground for the understanding of the following metaphor. When a metaphor prime and its following metaphor share the same schema, the comprehender does not need to re-activate this schema to understand the following metaphor, as this schema has already been activated by metaphor prime.

The Mirror Generalization Process in Reading: Evidence from Korean Hangul.

Abstract: Mirror invariance or generalisation is the ability to recognise objects as being the same regardless of their spatial orientation. However, when, for example, learning to read Roman script, children need to hone these skills so that they can readily discriminate between mirror letters such as b/d or p/b. Korean Hangul makes a particularly interesting comparison as it has both lateral and vertical perceptually similar mirror letter pairs (i.e., ㅏㅓ, ㅑㅕ, ㅗㅜ, ㅛㅠ). In the current study, we investigated the mirror generalisation effect in native readers of Korean Hangul. We used a similar negative priming paradigm as used by (Ahr et al., Brain and Cognition 117:1–8, 2017) with Roman script readers. In contrast to their findings, we did not find evidence of negative priming due to either lateral (e.g., ㅏ + ㅓ) or vertical (e.g., ㅗ + ㅜ) mirror letter primes in Korean readers. One explanation for these results is that adult readers of Korean Hangul may not experience mirror invariance to the same extent as Roman script readers due to script-specific characteristics. Thus, learning to read this distinctive script may result in readers being less sensitive to mirror reversals than Roman script readers.

A Comparison of Pinyin Invented Spelling and Oddity Test in Measuring Phonological Awareness in L2 Learners of Chinese.

Abstract: The importance of phonological awareness (PA) for the acquisition of literacy skills has been widely recognized. Across languages, PA is commonly examined using the Oddity test, however, for Chinese-speaking children, Pinyin invented spelling is recommended as being a more powerful tool to assess PA. However, it is still unclear whether this holds true for learners of Chinese as a second language (CSL). To address this issue, we administered an oddity test and a Pinyin invented spelling task to explore Chinese PA in 43 Arabic and 40 English CSL learners at pre-intermediate and intermediate levels. The results generated two major findings. First, Pinyin invented spelling revealed more significant cross-group differences in Chinese PA between the Arabic and English CSL learners than the oddity test. Second, the participants’ performance in Pinyin invented spelling was a stronger predictor of character-reading and character-writing skills than their performance in the oddity test. The overall findings suggest that Pinyin invented spelling may be a more powerful measurement of Chinese PA for CSL learners in comparison to the conventional test, in line with the findings reported for Chinese-speaking children. The theoretical implications for understanding the role of phonological skills in the growth of Chinese literacy skills and practical suggestions for measuring Chinese PA are proposed.

Cross-Linguistic Morphological Awareness in Chinese Heritage Language Reading Acquisition.

Abstract: The study aimed to explore cross-linguistic contributions of morphological awareness to Chinese reading acquisition among Chinese heritage language (CHL) learners who had grown up speaking Chinese at home, received English medium education throughout schooling, and were studying Chinese at the time of the study. The sample thus represents a growing number of heritage-language (HL) speakers in US schools whose literacy development is not yet well documented. Little is known, to date, as to how HL literacy development benefits from the linguistic and metalinguistic resources gained through early oral language exposure. In the study, college-level CHL students (N = 195) completed a series of reading measures in their dominant language (English) and heritage language (Chinese). Path analysis was employed to test the cross-linguistic relationships in morphological awareness and lexical inference ability. The findings showed that dominant-language morphological awareness was significantly related to lexical inference skills in two languages. More critically, the current study tested the direct and indirect contributions of dominant-language morphological awareness to HL lexical inference. The results showed that dominant-language morphological awareness contributed only indirectly to HL lexical inference through HL morphological awareness and dominant-language lexical inference. Based on the findings, four tentative conclusions can be drawn: morphological awareness and lexical inference skills transfer across languages; cross-linguistic interaction only occurs between corresponding subskills; transferred subskills are modified to accommodate the target language properties; and the benefits of transferred subskills are realized only through their corresponding subskills in the target language. Practical implications of the findings are also discussed regarding HL instruction and learning.

Comparative Study of Chinese and American Media Reports on the COVID-19 and Expressions of Social Responsibility: A Critical Discourse Analysis.

Abstract: Critical discourse analysis aims to explore the dialectical relationship between discourse and ideology. Based on psycholinguistic research, this paper analyzes the Chinese and American media's news reports and comments on the COVID-19. It aims to expose the hidden psychological messages and ideologies behind the words. The corpus in this paper is mainly from the official media of China Daily and Time from December 2019 to January 2021 in China and the United States. This paper uses Wang Zhenhua's Appraisal Theory and Halliday's Systemic Functional Grammar as tools to make a comparative analysis of the corpus. At the textual level, languages are classified and lexical choices are analyzed followed by the analysis of the reporter's ideology after reviewing the motivation of the reporters of two countries. On the level of social responsibility expression and discourse, the paper analyzes the news reports, which are characterized by the combination of the reporter's views on the news. In the aspect of social practice, the social and cultural factors and background of news reports are analyzed. China calls for strengthening cooperation and exchanges with other countries to jointly fight the epidemic. The Chinese government has actively shared its experience and made corresponding contributions to international economic recovery. However, the US government shirks its responsibility by claiming that the effective implementation of Chinese methods and experience in China does not mean that it can achieve corresponding results in Europe and the US. At the same time, the United States provides medical supplies to other countries. This study hopes to help awaken readers' critical thinking and increase their awareness of the anti-control of mass discourse. At the same time, it is hoped that readers can view the epidemic from a more scientific perspective, understand the facts and reject the unwarranted panic. It will also help reshape Chinese and American discourse.

Investigating the Lexical Representation of Mandarin Tone 3 Phonological Alternations

Abstract: Phonological alternations pose challenges for models of spoken word recognition in how surface information is mapped onto stored representations in the lexicon. In the current study, an auditory-auditory priming lexical decision experiment was conducted to investigate the alternating representations of Mandarin Tone 3 in both half-third and third tone sandhi contexts. In Mandarin, a full Tone 3 (213) is reduced to an abridged tone (21) when followed by Tone 1, Tone 2, or Tone 4 (half-third tone sandhi), and Tone 3 is replaced by Tone 2 when followed by another Tone 3 (third tone sandhi). In the half-third sandhi block, disyllabic targets with a half-third (21) or full-third (213) tone FIRST syllable and a Tone 2 (35) or Tone 4 (51) second syllable were preceded by either a half-third prime, a full-third prime, or a control prime. In the third tone sandhi block, third-tone sandhi disyllabic targets with a half-third or full-third SECOND syllable were preceded by either a half-third prime, a full-third prime, or a control prime. Results showed that both half-third and full-third primes elicited significantly faster reaction times relative to the control Tone 1 condition. The size of the facilitation was not influenced by prime condition, target frequency, targets’ first syllable tone or targets’ second syllable tone. These data suggest that Mandarin T3 may be a more abstract tone and stored as the first syllable for both types of sandhi words.

The Effect of Positive Psychology Intervention on EFL Learners' Listening Comprehension.

Abstract: This study applies positive psychology to improve EFL learners' listening comprehension ability. To this aim, two groups of EFL learners (N = 45) participated in the study. The learners in the experimental group received the positive psychology intervention based on four components of positive psychology including hope, gratitude, emotion regulation, and empathy and those in the control group received the usual listening comprehension activities. The results including listening comprehension scores along with the analysis of the semi-structured interviews and class observations showed the effectiveness of the intervention, highlighting an increase in the students' listening comprehension scores. It was found that the experimental group experienced a range of positive and negative emotions, with positive emotions more than twice as frequent as negative emotions. The findings also showed that the intervention informed the instructor regarding specific areas where the learners encountered difficulty and in so doing, it allowed for applying appropriate strategies to help them overcome such problems. Finally, the theoretical and pedagogical implications of integrating positive emotions in foreign language teaching are discussed.

The Relationships Between Initial Consonants in Japanese Sound Symbolic Words and Familiarity, Multi-Sensory Imageability, Emotional Valence, and Arousal.

Abstract: Sound symbolic words consist of inevitable associations between sounds and meanings. We aimed to identify differences in familiarity, visual imageability, auditory imageability, tactile imageability, emotional valence, and arousal between Japanese sound symbolic words with voiced initial consonants (VCs; dakuon in Japanese; e.g., biribiri) and Japanese sound symbolic words with semi-voiced initial consonants (SVCs; handakuon in Japanese; e.g., piripiri), and between VCs (e.g., daradara) and Japanese sound symbolic words with voiceless initial consonants (VLCs; seion in Japanese; e.g., taratara). First, auditory imageability and arousal were significantly higher in VCs than SVCs, whereas familiarity, tactile imageability, and positive emotion (emotional valence) were significantly higher in SVCs than VCs. Second, visual imageability was higher in VCs than VLCs, while familiarity and positive emotion were higher in VLCs than VCs. Initial consonants in Japanese sound symbolic words could be associated with specific subjective evaluations such as familiarity, visual imageability, auditory imageability, tactile imageability, emotional valence, and arousal.

Word Learning in L2 Chinese: from Perspectives of Learner-Related and Language-Related Factors

Abstract: Word learning in a second language (L2) is a complex process, which is affected by learner-related (e.g., morphological awareness) and language-related (e.g., word semantic transparency) factors. Morphological awareness is learners' sensitivity to the morphological structure of printed words, and semantic transparency is the degree to which word-internal morphemes contribute to the whole words' meanings. However, little is known regarding how these morpheme-related factors jointly function in L2 word learning. Thus, this study focuses on how learners' morphological awareness and word semantic transparency affect word-meaning retention in L2 Chinese, particularly the extent to which semantic transparency shapes the contribution of learners' morphological awareness. Thirty-four L2 Chinese learners from an American university participated in this study. All the participants received a 40-min learning session and five paper-pencil measures. The main findings showed that (1) L2 learners' morphological awareness contributed to their word-meaning retention beyond L2 linguistic knowledge; (2) L2 learners performed better when recalling semantically transparent words than opaque words after learning sessions; and more importantly (3) learners with higher morphological awareness performed better than those with lower morphological awareness when recalling semantically transparent words, but the learners in both groups had similar performances when recalling opaque words.

Effects of Word Semantic Transparency, Context Length, and L1 Background on CSL Learners’ Incidental Learning of Word Meanings in Passage-Level Reading

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of semantic transparency of Chinese disyllabic compound words on Chinese as a second language (CSL) learners’ incidental learning of word meanings in sentence-level reading and passage-level reading. The accuracy of the learners’ lexical inferencing was compared among various types of words (transparent, semi-transparent, and opaque words), different context lengths (sentence and passage contexts), and learners with different L1 backgrounds (with and without a Chinese character background in their L1s). In the study, ninety CSL adult learners were asked to infer the meanings of target words in the sentence context and the passage context. The results indicated that the effects of semantic transparency and context length on inferencing accuracy were significant, while the effect of L1 background was not. It was also found that there were significant interactions between transparency and context length as well as between transparency and L1 background.

Negation Processing in Children with ADHD: The Generic Problem of Using Negation in Instructions.

Abstract: Recent studies have suggested that negation comprehension falls back onto inhibitory brain systems that are also crucial for impulse control and other non-linguistic control domains (Beltran et al., 2018, 2019; de Vega et al., 2016; Liu et al., 2020). Against this backdrop, the present pilot study investigated the use of negation within directional instructions (i.e., “not left”, “now left”, “not right”, “now right”) in children with ADHD and a control group. The results indicate that children in general have a long response delay following negative compared to affirmative instructions. Additionally, there was a tendency for this effect to be more pronounced in the ADHD group. Together, these results suggest that negation processing might indeed demand inhibitory control processes, which are differently available across different subgroups. Thus, the current study provides evidence that using negation in imperatives or instructions is generally rather critical and should be avoided if possible, but that negation use is probably even more problematic in specific clinical populations. Potential implications of these results will be discussed.

Stimulus Features of the Object Relations Technique Affecting the Linguistic Qualities of Individuals’ Narratives

Abstract: Previous studies on projective techniques have investigated the effects of variation in stimulus features on individuals’ response behavior. In particular, the influence of chromatic colors and form definition on the images elicited by the stimuli has been tested. Most studies have focused on the Rorschach and TAT and have examined effects in terms of variables such as reality testing and reactions to perceptual details. This is the first study to examine the effects of variation in visual stimuli as represented in features of the Object Relations Technique (ORT) cards on linguistic indicators of connection to emotional experience using measures of the referential process. The ORT was administered to 207 Italian non-clinical participants to explore effects of color, form and content variation on language style. The sample was stratified by age, gender, marital status and education to be representative of the Italian population. The stories told in response to the card images were rated using computerized linguistic measures, including the Weighted Referential Activity Dictionary—Italian version (IWRAD) which indicates the degree to which language is connected to nonverbal experience, and the Weighted Reflection/Reorganization List—Italian version (IWRRL) which detects a linguistic style of personal re-elaboration of emotional experience. The results provide support for the color-affect and form-reality testing hypotheses. Cards with better form definition, including color definition, and with fewer silhouettes of people elicited responses that were higher in IWRAD and lower in IWRRL, and also higher in the degree to which the two measures varied together. Implications of the results for use of ORT in clinical assessment and intervention are discussed.

The Role of Orthography in Lexical Processing of the Phonological Variants in Second Language.

Abstract: There is evidence that orthographic knowledge can influence on-line spoken-word recognition. Interestingly, when graphic and phonetic codes are not congruent due to the application of phonological alternation processes, people report hearing sounds that are matched to graphic (underlying), not phonetic codes (Halle et al. in J Mem Lang 43:618–639, 2000). It is, however, not known whether the same effect arises in the processing of a non-native language (L2). In the present study, advanced Mandarin learners of Korean as well as native Korean listeners performed a phoneme monitoring task using words undergoing obstruent nasalization in Korean. The results showed that orthographic information dominated the phonetic judgments of the native Korean listeners, while the Mandarin learners’ judgments relied more on the phonetic input. These results suggest that even the lexical access of highly experienced L2 learners differs from that of native speakers and that advanced learners still have difficulty employing orthographic information to access the L2 lexicon.

Assessing Key Linguistic Dimensions of Ruptures in the Therapeutic Alliance

Abstract: Over the past two decades, therapeutic alliance research has increasingly focused on understanding the process by which the alliance is ruptured and repaired. This paper is the first to explore how alliance rupture segments from psychotherapy sessions differ from non-rupture segments on key dimensions of the referential process. A sample of 27 psychotherapy sessions were scored using a measure designed to identify rupture from non-rupture segments. These segments were then scored for key linguistic dimensions of the referential process. During ruptures patients manifested a referential process marked by a decrease in emotional engagement, an increase in a measure of distancing, and an increase in negation as compared to non-rupture segments. Therapists show similar patterns but, in addition, manifest a language pattern that suggests that during ruptures, therapists are attempting to make sense of, and self-disclose, aspects of their inner experience. Implications for research and clinical work are explored.

The Processing of Negation and Polarity: An Overview.

Abstract: Negation is a universal component of human language; polarity sensitivity (i.e., lexical distributional constraints in relation to negation) is arguably so while being pervasive across languages. Negation has long been a field of inquiry in psychological theories and experiments of reasoning, which inspired many follow-up studies of negation and negation-related phenomena in psycholinguistics. In generative theoretical linguistics, negation and polarity sensitivity have been extensively studied, as the related phenomena are situated at the interfaces of syntax, semantics and pragmatics, and are thus extremely revealing about the architecture of grammar. With the now long tradition of research on negation and polarity in psychology and psycholinguistics, and the emerging field of experimental semantics and pragmatics, a multitude of interests and experimental paradigms have emerged which call for re-evaluations and further development and integration. This special issue contains a collection of 16 research articles on the processing of negation and negation-related phenomena including polarity items, questions, conditionals, and irony, using a combination of behavioral (e.g., rating, reading, eye-tracking and sentence completion) and neuroimaging techniques (e.g., EEG). They showcase the processing of negation and polarity with or without context, in various languages and across different populations (adults, typically developing and ADHD children). The integration of multiple theoretical and empirical perspectives in this collection provides new insights, methodological advances and directions for future research.

Verifying Negative Sentences.

Abstract: In the long history of psycholinguistic research on verifying negative sentences, an often-reported finding is that participants take longer to correctly judge negative sentences true than false, while being faster to judge their positive counterparts true (e.g. Clark & Chase, Cogn Psychol 3(3):472−517, 1972; Carpenter & Just, Psychol Rev 82(1):45–73, 1975). While many linguists and psycholinguists have strongly advocated the idea that the costs and complexity of negation can be explained by appeal to context, context-based approaches have not been able to provide a satisfying account of this polarity*truth-value interaction. By contrast, the alternative theory of negation processing, which says that negation is processed by separately representing the positive, does provide a plausible account. Our proposals provide a means for reconciliation between the two views since we argue that negation is a strong cue to a positive context. Here we present our account of why and when negation is often apparently processed via the positive. We review many of the factors that are seen to be at play in sentence verification involving negation. We present evidence that participants’ adoption of the positive-first procedure in sentence-picture verification tasks is conditioned by context.

Narrativity and Referential Activity Predict Episodic Memory Strength in Autobiographical Memories.

Abstract: Narrativity has been proposed as an indicator of episodic memory strength when people discuss their past (Nelson and Horowitz in Discourse Processes 31:307–324, 2001. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326950dp31-3_5 ). Referential Activity, the extent to which words convey a speaker's experience of being present in the event being described, has been independently hypothesized to indicate episodic memory strength (Maskit in J Psycholinguist Res, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10936-021-09761-8 ). These hypotheses are tested using a linguistic measure of narrativity and a computerized measure of referential activity to predict previous independent ratings of episodic memory strength that used the Levine et al. (Psychol Aging 17(4):677–689, 2002. https://doi.org/10.1037//0882-7974.17.4.677 ) measure of internal details in retold personal memories provided by Schacter (Addis et al. in Psychol Sci 19(1):33–41, 2008. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02043.x ). Raters scored narrativity on four brief near and far past memories elicited from 32 subjects, using Nelson's narrative temporal sequence method based on Labov’s (J Narrat Life Hist 7(1–4):395–415, 1997. https://doi.org/10.1075/jnlh.7.49som ) analysis of spoken narratives of personal experience; computerized weighted scores of referential activity (WRAD) were obtained on these same 128 memories. Data analysis showed that narrative temporal sequences predict internal details and WRAD predict internal details. Adding WRAD to narrative temporal sequences improved the prediction of internal details.