Showing papers on "Verbal learning published in 1987"

A ROWS is a ROSE: Spelling, sound, and reading

Abstract: Skilled readers generally are assumed to make little or no use of words’ phonological features in visual word identification. Contrary to this assumption, college students’ performance in the present reading experiments showed large effects of stimulus word phonology. In Experiments 1 and 2, these subjects produced larger false positive error rates in a semantic categorization task when they responded to stimulus foils that were homophonic to category exemplars (e.g., ROWS for the category A FLOWER) than when they responded to spelling control foils. Additionally, in Experiment 2, this homophony effect was found under brief-exposure pattern-masking conditions, a result consistent with the possibility that phonology is an early source of constraint in word identification. Subjects did, however, correctly reject most homophone foils in Experiments 1 and 2. Experiment 3 investigated the source of this ability. The results of Experiment 3 suggest that subjects detected homophone impostors, such as ROWS, by verifying target foil spellings against their knowledge of the correct spellings of category exemplars, such as ROSE.

Verbal and spatial immediate memory span: normative data from 1355 adults and 1112 children.

Abstract: Norms are provided for verbal and visuo-spatial immediate memory span, two tasks widely used in the clinical assessment of short-term memory and its neurological disorders. Data have been collected from 1355 male and female adult subjects, with various educational backgrounds and a 20–99 years age range. Span shows a major decrement after the late sixties and is affected by educational level. Male subjects score better on the spatial task. Data collected from 1112 male and female children, 4-to-10 year-old, show that span increases with age and boys score better on the spatial test.

First in, first out: word learning age and spoken word frequency as predictors of word familiarity and word naming latency.

Abstract: This study is concerned with recent claims that subjective measures of word frequency are more suitable than are standard word frequency counts as indices of actual frequency of word encounter. A multiple regression study is reported, which shows that the major predictor of familiarity ratings is word learning age. Objective measures of spoken and written word frequency made independent contributions to the variance. It is concluded that rated familiarity is not an appropriate substitute for objective frequency measures. A multiple regression study of word naming latency is reported, and shows that rated word learning age is a better predictor of word naming latency than are spoken word frequency, written word frequency, rated familiarity, and other variables. Possible theoretical explanations for age-of-acquisition effects are discussed and it is concluded that early-learned words have a more complete representation in a phonological output lexicon. This conclusion is related to relevant developmental literature.

Word Learning in Children: An Examination of Fast Mapping.

Abstract: Children may be able to gain at least partial information about the meaning of a word from how it is used in a sentence, what words it is contrasted with, as well as other factors. This strategy, known as fast mapping, may allow the child to quickly hypothesize about the meaning of a word. It is not yet known whether this strategy is available to children in semantic domains other than color. In the first study, 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds were introduced to a novel color, shape, or texture word by contrasting the new term with a well-known word from that domain. They were then tested for their ability to produce and comprehend the new term and for whether they knew what semantic domain the word referred to. The results show that even 2-year-old children can quickly narrow down the meaning of a word in each of the semantic domains examined, although children learned more about shape terms than color or texture words. A second study explored the effects of several variables on children's ability to infer the meaning of a new term. One finding of this study was that if the context is compelling, children can figure out the meaning of a new word even without hearing an explicit linguistic contrast.

The comparative psychology of intelligence.

Abstract: Recent decades have seen a number of influential attacks on the comparative psychology of learning and intelligence. Two specific charges have been that the use of distantly related species has prevented us from making valid evolutionary inferences and that learning mechanisms are species-specific adaptations to ecological niches and hence not properly comparable between species. It is argued here that work using distantly related species may yield valuable insights into the structure of intelligence and that the question of whether or not learning mechanisms are niche-specific is one which can only be answered by comparative work in “nonnatural” situations. The problems involved in defining and assessing intelligence are discussed. Experimental work has not succeeded in demonstrating differences in intellect among nonhuman vertebrates. Hence the null hypothesis – that there are no differences in intellect among nonhuman vertebrates – should be adopted; the superiority of human intelligence stems from our possessing a species-specific language-acquisition device. One implication of the null hypothesis is that general problem-solving capacity is independent of niche-specific adaptations. A second implication is that problem-solving may involve relatively simple mechanisms; association formation in particular may play a central role in nonhuman intelligence, allowing the successful detection of causal links between events. Causality is a constraint common to all ecological niches.

Effects of topic knowledge on the allocation of processing time and cognitive effort to writing processes.

Abstract: Conditions of low and high knowledge about the topic of a writing task were compared in terms of the time and cognitive effort allocated to writing processes These processes were planning ideas, translating ideas into text, and reviewing ideas and text during document composition Directed retrospection provided estimates of the time devoted to each process, and secondary task reaction times indexed the cognitive effort expended Topic knowledge was manipulated by selecting subjects in Experiment 1 and by selecting topics in Experiment 2 The retrospection results indicated that both low- and high-knowledge writers intermixed planning, translating, and reviewing during all phases of composing There was no evidence that low- and high-knowledge writers adopt different strategies for allocating processing time About 50% of writing time was devoted to translating throughout composition From early to later phases of composing, the percentage of time devoted to planning decreased and that devoted to reviewing increased The secondary task results showed that the degree of cognitive effort devoted to planning, translating, and reviewing depended on the task Also, the high-knowledge writers expended less effort overall than did the low-knowledge writers; there was no difference in allocation strategy across planning, translating, and reviewing

Transfer of Cognitive Skills

Abstract: Publisher Summary The cognitive science revolution has made impressive advances in the understanding of cognitive performance and the acquisition of cognitive skills. Based upon these successes, powerful theories are emerging that can predict when and how much transfer will occur. While these theories are diverse, their common denominator is the problem space hypothesis, with many of these theories using production systems as a tool for theory development and representation. This chapter describes the transfer of complex cognitive skills, such as text editing, with an emphasis on the relationship between transfer and learning. It presents the comparison of the cognitive science approach to transfer with the older verbal learning tradition. The chapter also presents a number of cognitive science concepts and methods that are important to the new study of transfer. The theoretical and practical goal of understanding the conditions of transfer of cognitive skills cannot go on in a vacuum. Before it can be possibly understood what is transferred, skilled performance must be understood and the way it is acquired.

Memory function and verbal learning ability in patients with complex partial seizures of temporal lobe origin.

Abstract: Summary: A variety of experimental paradigms have been utilized to study verbal learning and memory ability in patients with epilepsy. One commonly used paradigm, the free recall of a list(s) of related or unrelated words, has revealed a variety of performance anomalies in patients with complex partial seizures (CPS) of temporal lobe origin, but published studies have varied markedly in important methodological details, making it difficult to interpret discrepant findings as well as to assess the gen-eralizability of results. The purpose of this investigation was to simultaneously inquire into several aspects of verbal learning and memory function that have been reported or hypothesized to be compromised in individuals with CPS of left temporal lobe origin. Thirty patients with CPS of lateralized temporal lobe onset [15 left temporal (LT) and 15 right temporal (RT)] were compared with 15 matched controls (NC) on several measures derived from the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), i.e., verbal learning ability, immediate free recall, presence of retroactive interference effects, semantic organization, retrieval efficiency, and recognition memory. Compared to RT and NC groups, the LT patients manifested poorer verbal learning ability, impaired immediate memory, and increased difficulty in the retrieval of verbal material from memory store. Compared to NC subjects, the LT group showed poorer semantic organization in their verbal learning and recall. The RT and NC groups were essentially similar in all respects. Finally, the clinical utility of these findings were investigated, and a series of decision rules designed to separate LT from RT patients was derived. RESUME Un grand nombre de modeles experimentaux ont ete utilises pour etudier les capacityes de memoire et d'apprentissage ver-baux chez les patients epileptiques. l'un des protocoles les plus courants, utilisant la recitation de listes de mots lies ou indepen-dants, a permis de reveler un certain nombre d'anomalies chez les patients presentant des crises partielles complexes d'origine temporale. Les travaux publices component cependant des differences methodologiques de detail mais importantes, ce qui rend difficile Interpretation de certaines contradictions et la generalisation des conclusions. Le but de ce travail a ete d'envi-sager simultanement diferents aspects de l'acquisition mnesique et verbale pour lesquels on a deja decrit ou suppute un deficit chez les patients presentant des crises partielles complexes (CPC) du lobe temporal gauche. 30 patients avec CPC a debut temporal lateralise (15 a gauche (TG), 15 a droite (TD)) ont ete compares a 15 sujets controles normaux apparies au moyen de plusieurs parametres tires du California Verbal Learning Test: capacityea d'apprentissage verbal, memorisation immediate libre, presence d'effets d'interference retroactifs, organisation seaman-tique, efficacite de la recherche mnesique, memoire de reconnaissance. Compares aux normaux et aux TD, les patients du groupe TG ont manifeste une moindre capacitye d'apprentissage verbal, une diminution de la memoire immediate, une difficultea l'evocation du materiel engrange dans la memoire. Compare aux temoins normaux, le groupe TG a presente une moindre organisation semantique dans l'apprentissage et la memorisation ver-baux. Les groupes TD et controle ont ete pratiquement superpo-sables a tous points de vue. Nous avons enfin recherche l'interet clinique de ces constatations, et essaye d'etablir une serie de criteres de decision pour separer les patients presentant des crises d'origine temporale. RESUMEN Para el estudio del aprendizaje verbal y de la capacidad de memorizar de los pacientes con epilepsia se han utilizado varios paradigmas experimentales. Uno de los paradigmas mas comun-mente utilizados, el recuerdo libre de una lista (s) de palabras relacionadas o no relacionadas, ha revelado varias anomalias en los resultados en pacientes con ataques parciales complejos (CPS) que se originan en el lobulo temporal pero los estudios publicados han variado mucho en lo que se refiere a importantes detalles metodologicos, lo que hace dificil la interpretation de los hallazgos discrepantes asi como la determination de lo gen-eralizable de los resultados. El proposito de esta investigacion ha consistido en indagar los diversos aspectos del aprendizaje verbal y de la funcion de la memoria que han sido sujetos de hipotesis que indican que estan comprometidos en individuos con CPS del lobulo temporal izquierdo. Treinta enfermos con CPS de comienzo temporal lateralizado ((15 lobulo temporal izquierdo (LT) y 15 temporal derecho (RT)) han sido comparados con 15 controles (NC) utilizando varias medidas que constan en el test de aprendizaje verbal de California (CVLT), es decir, la habilidad de aprendizaje verbal, recuerdo libre inmediato, pre-sencia de efectos retroactivos de interferencia, organizacidn se-mantica, eficiencia en la recuperation de datos y la memoria de reconocimiento. Los pacientes LT, comparandolos con los de RT y NC, manifestaron una habilidad para el aprendezaje verbal mas pobre, memoria inmediata dificultosa y un incremento en la diflcultad para la recuperacion de material verbal almacenado en la memoria. El grupo LT, comparado con los sujetos del grupo NC, mostrti una organizacion semantica mas pobre en el aprendizaje verbal y en la recuperaci6n. Los grupo RT y NC fueron esencialmente semejantes en todos los aspectos. Finalmente, la utilidad clinica de estos hallazgos fue, subsiguientemente, inves-tigada y se han disenado una serie de reglas de “decision” para separar los paciente LT de los RT. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Unterschiedliche experimentelle Paradigmen wurden zur Un-tersuchung der verbalen Lernfahigkeit und des Gedachtnisses bei Epileptikern benutzt. Ein gebrauchliches Paradigma, nam-lich die freie Wiederholung einer Liste aufeinander bezogener oder unbezogener Worter, brachte eine Reihe von Schwierig-keiten bei Patienten mit komplex fokalen Anfallen temporalen Ursprungs hervor; entsprechende Arbeiten zeigen jedoch groBe methodische Unterschiede, so das sowohl die Interpretation entsprechender Befunde als auch eine Verallgemeinerung sehr schwierig ist. Der Sinn dieser Arbeit war die gieichzeitige Un-tersuchung verschiedener Aspekte des verbalen Lernens und Gedachtnisses wie sie bei Patienten mit komplex fokalen Anfallen links-temporalen Ursprungs berichtet, bzw. hypothetisiert werden. 30 Patienten mit komplex fokalen Anfallen oder Anfallen temporalen Ursprungs (15 links-temporal und 15 rechts-temporal) wurden mit 15 “matched controls” bezuglich verschiedener Testgrosen verglichen, die vom “California Verbal Learning Test” abgeleitet wurden: Im Vergleich mit Patienten mit Anfallen rechts-temporalen Ursprungs und den Kontrollen schnitten die Patienten mit Anfallen links-temporalen Ursprungs bezuglich der verbalen Lernfahigkeit schlechter ab, sie zeigten ein eingeschranktes Kurzzeitgedachtnis und grosere Schwierig-keiten, verbale Informationen aus dem Gedachtnis abzurufen. Verglichen mit der Kontrollgruppe zeigte die Gruppe eine schlechtere semantische Organisation bezuglich des Wort-lernens und der Worterinnerung. Die Gruppen mit Anfallen rechts-temporalen Ursprungs und die Kontrollen waren in alien diesen Punkten im wesentlichen vergleichbar. Die Untersuch-ungsergebnisse werden hinsichtlich ihrer Brauchbarkeit unter-sucht, Patienten mit Anfallen links-temporalen Ursprungs von Patienten mit Anfallen rechts-temporalen Ursprungs zu trennen.

Cognitive disorders of infantile autism: A study employing the WISC, spatial relationship conceptualization, and Gesture Imitations

Abstract: Sixteen autistic children with WISC Performance IQs of 70 or above were analyzed to determine their conceptions of spatial relations, size comparisons, and gesture imitations through the use of the WISC, an originally devised Language Decoding Test (LDT), and a modified Gesture Imitation Test (GIT). WISC results were replicated as in previous studies. The autistic children showed an inability to acquire concepts of size comparison and spatial relationships through verbal instructions. They often gave peculiar responses (partial imitations), which seem to be related to their inability to integrate another person's body as a whole through visual input. These findings support the notion that the basic cognitive deficit is an impairment of symbolic-representational functioning, including language and body images, which results from a combination of delay and deviation of the symbolic-representational function.

Effects of variable encoding and spaced presentations on vocabulary learning.

Abstract: ] examined the applicability of the encoding variability hypothesis and the spacing phenomenon to vocabulary learning in five experiments. I manipulated encoding variability by varying the number of potential retrieval routes to the word meanings, using a one-sentence context condition, a three-sentence context condition, and a no-context (definitions-only) control condition. I evaluated the spacing effect by presenting each word with or without intervening words. The results provided no evidence that the opportunity to establish multiple retrieval routes by means of contextual information is helpful to vocabulary learning, a conclusion supported unequivocally by all five experiments. By contrast, spaced presentations yielded substantially higher levels of learning than did massed presentations. I discuss the results largely in terms of educational concerns, including the utility of the learning-from-context approach to vocabulary learning. In the experiments reported in this article, 1 investigated the applicability of two principles derived from traditional verbal learning research—variable encoding and the spacing effect—to a real-world activity, vocabulary learning. More specifically, the principal questions under investigation were whether vocabulary learning would be enhanced by (a) the opportunity to establish multiple retrieval routes to word meanings and (b) spaced rather than massed presentations of the to-be-learned information.

A Functional Analysis of Phonological Knowledge and Generalization Learning in Misarticulating Children

Abstract: It has been suggested that a child's productive phonological knowledge may be one factor that potentially accounts for individual differences in generalization learning observed among phonologically disordered children (Dinnsen & Elbert, 1984; Elbert, Dinnsen, & Powell, 1984). This paper evaluates the hypothesis that productive phonological knowledge influences generalization. Three related studies involving 6 functionally misarticulating children were conducted. In the first study, a description of each child's phonological system was developed using procedures of standard generative analysis. Based upon these descriptions, each child's productive phonological knowledge of his or her own sound system was determined and then ranked on a continuum ranging from "most" to "least" knowledge relative to the adult target. The second study implemented an experimental treatment program based upon each child's productive phonological knowledge, with treatment sounds selected directly from each child's continuum of knowledge. The third study reassessed each child's productive phonological knowledge following treatment. The results of these three studies indicated that a child's productive phonological knowledge of the sound system influenced the overall amount of generalization learning. However, the extent of generalization learning was associated with the point on the knowledge continuum at which treatment was initiated. These findings are discussed with reference to individual differences in generalization learning.

Predicting Spoken Language Acquisition of Profoundly Hearing-Impaired Children

Abstract: The Spoken Language Predictor (SLP) Index is a proposed guide for making recommendations regarding the most appropriate communication mode to be used in educating a given hearing-impaired child. The SLP Index is the sum of points obtained on five predictor factors that have been weighted according to their contribution to successful spoken language acquisition. The point values assigned for each factor as well as assignment of points to particular test scores within each factor was accomplished by subjective clinical judgment followed by trial application to actual clinic cases. Three ranges of SLP indexes are associated with three educational recommendations: speech emphasis (SLP = 80–100), provisional speech instruction (SLP = 60–75), and sign language emphasis (SLP = 0–55). The purpose of this article is to describe the development and application of the SLP and preliminary evidence for its stability and validity.

An Effect of Modeling and Imitation Teaching Procedures on Children with and without Specific Language Impairment

Abstract: Following a treatment program in which an invented morpheme was taught through either imitation or modeling procedures, the generalization of 40 specific language-impaired children was compared to that of 40 children learning language normally. The results of the comparison indicated that the two teaching procedures have opposite relative effects on the two groups. The abnormal group generalized more extensively following imitation teaching while the normal group generalized more extensively following modeling teaching. The opposing results of the two procedures on the two groups suggest that language-impaired children will benefit more from teaching strategies that are adapted to their unique learning styles than from strategies fashioned after the styles of children who learn language normally.

Errors in short-term memory for good and poor readers.

Abstract: This study examined the role of phonetic factors in the performance of good and poor beginning readers on a verbal short-term memory task. Good and poor readers in the second and third grades repeated four-item lists of consonant-vowel syllables in which each consonant shared zero, one, or two features with other consonants in the string. As in previous studies, the poor readers performed less accurately than the good readers. However, the nature of their errors was the same: Both groups tended to transpose initial consonants as a function of their phonetic similarity and adjacency. These findings suggest that poor readers are able to employ a phonetic coding strategy in short-term memory, as do good readers, but less skillfully.

Age and diabetes related changes in verbal fluency

Abstract: Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is present in 7-10% of the aged. This disease appears to be associated with an acceleration of the aging process and results in compromised performance on learning and memory tasks. The present study used a verbal fluency test to examine semantic memory performance in two age groups (55-64 and 65-74 years) of diabetic subjects and controls. In addition, immediate and secondary memory were also examined using the digit symbol and digit span tests and a serial learning task. Results showed that digit symbol performance was poorer for older subjects and diabetics while serial learning was poorer only for diabetic subjects. However, the number of words generated on the verbal fluency test was similar for all groups. Qualitative analyses of the verbal output revealed that older subjects and diabetics produced the greatest number of previously recited words (repetitions). Repetitions may signal a failure to adequately monitor behavior which in turn could contribute to cognitive decline.

Memory failure in Huntington's disease.

Abstract: Patients with Huntington's disease (HD) were compared to normal controls of equivalent age and verbal intelligence on a set of verbal learning tasks. Although the HD patients showed the expected deficit in secondary (long-term) memory, their performance was otherwise comparable to that of the control groups. Primary (short-term) memory was normal, there was normal sensitivity to proactive interference, and the patients showed an advantage, albeit reduced, in recall of related compared to unrelated word lists. The findings suggest that mnemonic input is encoded semantically in HD though less efficiently than in unafflicted individuals, and that difficulty accessing information in semantic (knowledge-based) memory may be partially responsible for the memory disorder of HD.

Zonisamide (CI-912) and cognition: results from preliminary study.

Abstract: Nine patients with refractory partial seizures were evaluated in a pilot study of a new anticonvulsant compound, zonisamide (1,2-benzisoxazole-3-methanesulfonamide; CI-912). Cognitive functioning was evaluated prior to treatment with zonisamide and repeated after 12 and 24 weeks of treatment with zonisamide. At minimum steady-state plasma concentrations greater than 30 micrograms/ml, zonisamide appeared to affect specific cognitive functions such as acquisition and consolidation of new information. Previously learned material, such as vocabulary, and psychomotor performance were not affected. Verbal learning was affected, while visual-perceptual learning was unimpaired. These cognitive effects were observed in the absence of the usual clinical signs and symptoms of toxicity. A linear relationship was found between impairment of cognitive abilities and the minimum plasma concentration (r = -0.73; p less than 0.05). Findings also suggest the development of tolerance to the adverse cognitive effects.

Slow negative potential shifts indicating verbal cognitive learning in a concept formation task

Abstract: It is well-known clinically that patients with left frontal lesions are impaired in their verbal-cognitive learning ability. Starting from such observations, it is of particular interest whether the event-related cerebral potential shifts recorded in healthy human subjects would indicate a left frontal lobe involvement in verbal-cognitive learning tasks. In a concept formation paradigm, subjects learned by trial and error to transform letters into Morse codes. This cognitive performance was accompanied by a slow negative potential shift (SP) that in frontal recordings was lateralized towards the left hemisphere. off results show in a later stage of learning, in which the experience of the preceding trial and error learning could be integrated, an increasing slow negativity over the frontal cortex. Ss also participated in a control task with already known letter/Morse code combinations. Again, a negative potential shift occurred within the stimulus-response interval, however, it was smaller in amplitude.

Chapter 7 – NEURAL DYNAMICS OF WORD RECOGNITION AND RECALL: ATTENTIONAL PRIMING, LEARNING, AND RESONANCE

Abstract: Data and models about recognition and recall of words and nonwords are unified using a real-time network processing theory. Lexical decision and word frequency effect data are analysed in terms of the same theoretical concepts that have unified data about development of circular reactions, imitation of novel sounds, matching phonetic to articulatory requirements, serial and paired associate verbal learning, free recall, unitization, categorical perception, selective adaptation, auditory contrast, and word superiority effects. The theory, called adaptive resonance theory, arose from an analysis of how a language system self-organizes in real-time in response to its complex input environment. Such an approach emphasizes the moment-by-moment dynamical interactions that control language development, learning, and stability. Properties of language performance emerge from an analysis of the system constraints that govern stable language learning. Concepts such as logogens, verification, automatic activation, interactive activation, limited-capacity processing, conscious attention, serial search, processing stages, speed-accuracy trade-off, situational frequency, familiarity, and encoding specificity are revised and developed using this analysis. Concepts such as adaptive resonance, resonant equilibration of short term memory, bottom-up adaptive filtering, top-down adaptive template matching, competitive masking field, unitized list representation, temporal order information over item representations, attentional priming, attentional gain control, and list-item error trade-off are applied.

Cognitive concomitants of dopamine system stimulation in parkinsonian patients.

Abstract: Verbal, visuospatial and motor functions were studied in eight Parkinsonian patients both during levodopa stimulated and unstimulated state and in eight matched, untreated, healthy controls. Profound changes in patients' motor status were accompanied by relatively selective effects on delayed verbal memory, a function which was also most impaired compared with controls. With dopaminomimetic therapy, tests of delayed verbal memory consistently improved, but did not reach control performance levels. These results could indicate a functional impairment in the mesocortical dopamine system, which can be attenuated, but not entirely corrected, by dopaminomimetic therapy.