Showing papers in "Psychology of Language and Communication in 2015"

Developmental Trajectory of Audiovisual Speech Integration in Early Infancy. A Review of Studies Using the McGurk Paradigm

Abstract: Abstract Apart from their remarkable phonological skills young infants prior to their first birthday show ability to match the mouth articulation they see with the speech sounds they hear. They are able to detect the audiovisual conflict of speech and to selectively attend to articulating mouth depending on audiovisual congruency. Early audiovisual speech processing is an important aspect of language development, related not only to phonological knowledge, but also to language production during subsequent years. Th is article reviews recent experimental work delineating the complex developmental trajectory of audiovisual mismatch detection. Th e central issue is the role of age-related changes in visual scanning of audiovisual speech and the corresponding changes in neural signatures of audiovisual speech processing in the second half of the first year of life. Th is phenomenon is discussed in the context of recent theories of perceptual development and existing data on the neural organisation of the infant ‘social brain’.

The Associative Structure of the Mental Lexicon: Hierarchical Semantic Relations in the Minds of Blind and Sighted Language Users

Abstract: Abstract This paper concerns the role of hierarchical semantic relations: class inclusion and partwhole relations as factors organising the mental lexicon, and the dependence of their importance on visual perception and visual memories, as demonstrated by the results of a free association task. 58 blind and 58 sighted language users were instructed to give associations for a list of 75 Polish nouns. Semantic analysis showed that more than 40% of the whole corpus of answers was related to stimuli through the part-whole or class inclusion relations. The results of the analysis indicated many similarities, concerning both types of relations, in the feedback obtained from the blind and sighted respondents. However, the blind participants showed a significantly stronger tendency to respond with inclusive terms (hyperonyms of the stimuli) than the sighted respondents. Th e results were interpreted in terms of the specificity of the compensation processes.

Narrative Writing in Digital Formats: Interpreting the Impact of Audience

Abstract: Abstract Digital writing has enabled students to write for a variety of authentic audiences, both in and out of the classroom. As they consider audience, students shoulder a cognitive burden that they must juggle in addition to the task of composition. At the same time, writing provides students with opportunities to craft and express their identities. The ways that identity formation and cognitive load intersect may be particularly complex in digital, online writing environments, as students gain the ability to share and receive feedback from global and local audiences. In this counterbalanced experimental study, 86 seventh- and eighth-grade students responded to two narrative prompts. One prompt was written for the teacher and the other was written for the teacher and peers in an online forum. We examined student writing fluency, mechanical errors, academic word use, and setting. Students were found to be more likely to set narratives in private settings when writing for an audience that included peers. We discuss this finding from cognitive and sociocultural perspectives and how it might inform networked communication research.

Generation and Content Validation of a Persian Syntax Comprehension Test

Abstract: Abstract Lack of formal tests for assessing Persian language proficiency is one of the main problems for speech and language pathologists in Iran. The purpose of this study was to generate an item pool for a syntax comprehension test based on the characteristics of the Persian language and Iranian culture, as well as the spoken variant for 4-6 years old native Persian speaking children. We first extracted 41 syntactic structures of Persian for the syntax comprehension test, of which 8 structures were excluded in the first phase. Then, 198 items were developed for the remaining 33 syntactic structures. To determine content validity, 14 experts assessed the structures and 12 experts expressed their views on the items. Content Validity Ratio (CVR) was calculated. 24 structures with CVR > 0.50 were selected. 107 items were selected based on their CVR value (CVR > 0.47). Eleven new items were regenerated to replace items with a CVR below 0.47. According to the results, the test turned out to have a good content validity.

Politeness Strategies in English Business Letters: a Comparative Study of Native and Non-Native Speakers of English

Abstract: Th is study investigated the use of politeness strategies in a corpus of English business lett ers writt en by Iranian non-native speakers in comparison with business lett ers writt en by English native speakers. Th e positive and negative politeness strategies proposed by Brown and Levinson’s (1978) theory were employed. A corpus of 46 business lett ers written by non-native employees of four companies and 46 lett ers writt en by native speakers who were in correspondence with these companies were analyzed to examine their use of politeness strategies. Th e results collected from the analysis of lett ers writt en by nonnative parties as senders were compared to those writt en by native speakers as receivers in response. Th e fi ndings showed that although both parties used both types of politeness strategies in their lett ers, non-native participants employed both types (negative and positive politeness strategies) more than native speakers, especially positive politeness strategies, which were found to be used more frequently than negative ones. Additionally, the results demonstrated that social distance plays an important role in the employment of diff erent strategies, particularly in choosing the type of salutation, which is an act requiring the positive politeness strategy to reduce face threatening act. Th us, more frequent use of positive politeness strategies by non-native speakers could be an eff ect of this factor.

Second Language Working Memory Deficits and Plasticity in Hearing Bimodal Learners of Sign Language

Abstract: Abstract Little is known about the acquisition of another language modality on second language (L2) working memory (WM) capacity. Differential indexing within the WM system based on language modality may explain differences in performance on WM tasks in sign and spoken language. We investigated the effect of language modality (sign versus spoken) on L2 WM capacity. Results indicated reduced L2 WM span relative to first language span for both L2 learners of Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL). Importantly, ASL learners had lower L2 WM spans than Spanish learners. Additionally, ASL learners increased their L2 WM spans as a function of proficiency, whereas Spanish learners did not. This pattern of results demonstrated that acquiring another language modality disadvantages ASL learners. We posited that this disadvantage arises out of an inability to correctly and efficiently allocate linguistic information to the visuospatial sketchpad due to L1-related indexing bias.

Why Do Word Blends with Near-Synonymous Composites Exist and Persist? The Case of Guesstimate, Chillax, Ginormous and Confuzzled

Abstract: Abstract Despite their increasing use, little is known about the purpose of word blends, e.g. chillax, which have near-synonymous composite words (relax and chill). Potential explanations for their existence and persistence include: use in different sentence constructions, to provide unique meaning, and to create interest/identity. Th e current study used a vignette methodology with two-hundred and forty-one students to explore the relevance of such hypotheses for ‘guesstimate’, ‘chillax’, ‘ginormous’, and ‘confuzzled’. Our inconsistent results suggest that the semantics of the word blends may diff er from their composites in very subtle ways. However further work is needed to acknowledge and determine the impact of context upon the use and consequences of these word blends.

Processing Fluency and Decision-Making: The Role of Language Structure

Abstract: Abstract This paper models conventionalisation of language structure as constitutive of processing fluency. I postulate that the difference in conventionalisation of linguistic forms used for communication significantly influences our reasoning about linguistically-expressed problems. Two studies are reported that tested this hypothesis with the use of variably conventionalised - fluent and disfluent - formulations of problem-solving tasks. Th e findings indicate that even in tasks requiring analytic reasoning, the degree to which the linguistic forms employed to communicate are conventionalised is correlated with the subjects’ performance success rate. On a more general level, this paper seeks to empirically address the nature of links between linguistic form and meaning construction.

Letter Visibility and the Optimal Viewing Position Effect of Isolated Connected and Un-Connected Letters in Arabic

Abstract: Abstract The present study provides a further exploration of the role of Arabic letter visibility as a possible cause of the Optimal Viewing Position (OVP) effect. We used isolated connected and un-connected Arabic letters of different shapes (basic, initial, medial, final) placed at the center of fixation (Experiment 1) and at various possible positions in isolated presentation (Experiment 2). In order to investigate whether performance in the visual identification task is modulated by letter type, we presented each of the isolated connected and un-connected letter targets in each of the eleven stimulus positions across the array to produce a mean RT (ms) for each of the letter types. Using the initial fixation paradigm enabled us to compare reaction times with correctly identified letter targets appearing in the different possible positions. The findings of the present experiments demonstrated that visual letter recognition is influenced by: (i) the isolated letters’ type (connected, un-connected), as connected letters are easier to recognize than un-connected letters; (ii) isolated letters’ shape (basic, initial, medial, final), as medial and final are harder to recognize than basic and initial letter shapes; (iii) visual field, as reading rates were longer for letter stimuli that were presented in LVF compared to RVF; and (iv) eccentricity, as letter reading rates were correlated with their eccentric placement.

Generic and Specific Numeral Classifier Input and its Relation to Children’s Classifier and Number Learning

Abstract: Author(s): Atagi, N; Sandhofer, CM | Abstract: In Japanese, numeral classifiers-or measure words-co-occur with numbers in counting phrases. The present study characterized parent numeral classifier use and its relation to children's classifier acquisition and number learning. Twenty-four Japanese-speaking parents and their two- to six-year-old children viewed and talked about two wordless picture books about counting to each other. Children also participated in a Counting task and Give-N task. Results revealed (1) parents' classifier use changed in relation to children's age and classifier use, and (2) parents' increased use of specific classifiers was uniquely associated with children's number understanding. These results suggest that aspects of children's language and numerical development are related to parents' language input, demonstrating the importance of examining the relation between language and cognition in a developmental context.

Validity and Reliability of the Polish Adaptation of the Ruff Figural Fluency Test

Abstract: Abstract Normative studies of the Polish adaptation of Th e Ruff Figural Fluency Test (RFFT) were conducted on 475 men and women aged 16-79, taking into consideration such factors as gender, education, and place of residence. Clinical studies were also performed on a group of patients with left -, right-, or bilateral hemispheric brain lesions, Parkinson’s disease, Huntingon’s disease, progressive obturational lung disease, dementia and depression. Th e results support the utility of the RFFT as a measure of executive functions. Th e validity and reliability indices of the Polish version of the test are similar to those reported by Ruff (1996). However, the sample Polish test performance differs notably from American samples performance and this difference is discussed.

Appreciation of Ambiguous Humorous Messages: The Influence of Processing Mode and Presentation

Abstract: Abstract In the current study it was assumed that participants of the act of communication do not always follow the rules of cooperation, and sometimes build their utterance in a way that misleads the listener. It depends on the communicative competence of the listener and the message sender if an interaction between them takes place. Th e aim of this research was to assess to what extent deliberate, incorrect identification and the mode of communication in which the text is presented makes the audience lose their orientation in both bona-fide (informative) and non-bona-fide (playful) mode formulations. In order to answer these questions, two experiments were conducted using three types of texts: informative text with a humorous digression, humorous informative text, and a real life parody joke. Th e information preceding the presentation of the texts and the order in which they were shown was manipulated. Respondents assessed how funny each of the texts was. 85 high secondary school students participated in the survey. Th e conducted statistical analyses enabled us to establish that the information appearing at the beginning, i.e. the type of message (informative/humorous), can affect the recipient’s reaction and assessment of how funny a particular text was. Th e research results indicate that poor intensity of comicality in the messages may be aggravated by not indicating that they were intended to induce a humorous effect. This reveals the specific nature of humorous messages, bringing about an effect that is categorically inconsistent with the stimulus that precedes it.

Disrupt-Then-Reframe is in the Air: A French Replication and Refinement

Abstract: Initiated by Davis and Knowles (1999), the-disrupt-then-reframe technique is based on the linking of two moments in time. First of all, slipping an unexpected element into a communication situation that is likely to provoke a disruption in communication. Once this disruption has been achieved, proposing a target behaviour by insisting on the benefit that the individual could derive from it. We wanted to verify that this technique, effective in American, Dutch, and Polish contexts and naturally dependent on the culture of individuals and the communication norms which prevail there, could be effective in a French context. In accordance with the literature, our results show that when the two phases of the technique are linked, a greater persuasive effect is observed. A theoretically interesting way to interpret the effectiveness of the technique is proposed.