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Core vocabulary is a topic of huge interest in linguistics and has been studied from a wide variety of perspectives, such as language learning, dictionary studies, and cross-linguistically. In many of these conceptions, word frequency is widely considered the conventional measure of a word&#39;s coreness; however, this approach overlooks important aspects of mental representation like centrality in an associative semantic network. In this experiment, we compare different approaches to defining core words in a task that involves predicting missing words in sentences. Results showed that core words (regardless of definition) were easier to guess than non-core words, but that frequency-defined ones did not perform as well as expected given their higher predictability and the nature of the task. Analysis of incorrect responses also showed that people preferred to guess core words, simple synonyms, and words that are taxonomically related to the target. The findings suggest that how core vocabulary is defined depends in part on the nature of the task and that aspects of both mental representation and the linguistic environment play an important role.

CogSci 2023

Word Prediction in Context: An Empirical Investigation of Core Vocabulary

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CogSci 2022

The 44th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society highlighted research on the theme Cognitive Diversity in addition to the full breadth and diversity of research topics offered by the society’s membership. 





Core vocabulary is a topic of huge interest in linguistics and has been studied from a wide variety of perspectives, such as language learning, dictionary studies, and cross-linguistically. In many of these conceptions, word frequency is widely considered the conventional measure of a word's coreness; however, this approach overlooks important aspects of mental representation like centrality in an associative semantic network. In this experiment, we compare different approaches to defining core words in a task that involves predicting missing words in sentences. Results showed that core words (regardless of definition) were easier to guess than non-core words, but that frequency-defined ones did not perform as well as expected given their higher predictability and the nature of the task. Analysis of incorrect responses also showed that people preferred to guess core words, simple synonyms, and words that are taxonomically related to the target. The findings suggest that how core vocabulary is defined depends in part on the nature of the task and that aspects of both mental representation and the linguistic environment play an important role.

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The 45th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society presents the latest research across cognitive science and highlights the theme of Cognition in Context.

Objects can either be represented as independent individuals (“object-files”) or as members of a single collection (“ensemble”). A great deal of work over the past 40 years has explored these representational systems, largely in the visual domain. Far less is known about auditory objects. Here, we show that a property characteristic of visual object representation – that it can be modulated by simple linguistic framing – also applies to auditory objects. In particular, we show that using the expression “each sound” versus “every sound” can bias auditory object construal in the same way that using “each circle” versus “every circle” can bias visual object construal. These findings support the idea that object-files and ensembles are not limited to the visual domain, but are representational formats found more generally throughout cognition.

Language Shifts the Representation of Sounds in Time: From Auditory Individuals to Auditory Ensembles

The effect of a first language (L1) on the acquisition of a second language (L2) is widely acknowledged across psycho-linguistics field. However, prior studies have focused on limited L1-L2 pairs and raise questions to how do linguistic structures (syntactic, phonological, or genetics) either promote or hinder the learning of a new language. In current study, we collected standardized English assessment scores from English Language Learners at international schools from 36 countries and addressed the language pairs by comparing linguistic similarities between more than 30 L1s. We also examined if different linguistic structures of L1 influence the acquisition of L2 in terms of syntactic, phonological, and genetic similarities. As a result, we found older ELLs learn English at a faster rate compared to younger ELLs. Among older ELLs, students who speak L1 that shares linguistic similarities with English learn faster than ELLs whose L1 has a relatively distant relationship with English.

Will children learn English faster if their native language is similar to English?

By 24 months, toddlers can process language incrementally using phonology to disambiguate lexical candidates. Adult research shows incremental processing of word meaning; however, this aspect is unclear in research with toddlers. Thus, we investigated the effect of phonological and semantic competition on word recognition in 18- and 24-month-old toddlers. In a preferential-looking task, toddlers looked at semantic-related (taxonomic or thematic) or unrelated pairs of pictures with different or similar phonological onset. The results showed that the 18-month group looked at the target only when the onset of both pictures was different but not when they were similar -regardless of the type of relationship. By contrast, the 24-month group had a similar look pattern as the 18-month group, only in semantically related but not in unrelated pairs. This research suggests that at 24 months of age, toddlers can interpret language incrementally based on phonological and semantic representations.

The Effects of Phonological and Semantic Similarity on Early Word Recognition

Language acquisition starts at birth and takes place since early interactions, with specific timings and dynamics. Caregivers may unconsciously reflect gender/sex stereotypes in their communication style, which results in children being infused with expectations about their societal and gender roles ever since. 

In an exploratory study on 48 3-min recordings of free play of 12 Polish mother-infant dyads (5 girls, 7 boys), collected at 2, 3, 8 and 12 months, we asked if such differences are already present in infant-directed speech and in the dynamics of interactive behavior depending on child’s gender. 

We propose a novel analysis, combining semantics, vocabulary content, and vocalizations dynamics (via Recurrence Quantification Analysis). The results suggest potential differences in utilization of infant’s name - data show opposite trends over time, decreasing in the female group and increasing in the male. Similarly, diagonal RQA profiles show minor differences in mother-child interaction dynamics.

Do gender/sex stereotypes shape early social interactions and development?

The study investigates two different ways of guiding an explainee through action demonstration: contrastive and non-contrastive. Their effect was tested on attention to specific action elements (goal) as well as event memory. In an eye-tracking experiment, participants were shown different motion videos that were either contrastive or non-contrastive with respect to segments of movement presentation. As action demonstration is often multimodal, the stimuli were created with respect to their visual and verbal presentation. For visual presentation, a video combined two movements in a contrastive (e.g., Up-motion following a Down-motion) or non-contrastive way (e.g., two Up-motions following each other). For verbal presentation, each video was combined with a sequence of instruction description in form of negative (i.e., contrastive) or assertive (i.e., non-contrastive) guidance. It was found, a) attention to the event goal increased for this condition in later time window, and b) participants’ recall to the event was facilitated when a visually contrastive motion was combined with a verbal contrast.

Contrastiveness in the context of action demonstration: an eye-tracking study on its effects on action perception and action recall

The Interface Transparency Thesis (ITT) proposes that people tend to use a canonical interpretation of linguistic expressions, even when this interpretation is sub-optimal for the task at hand. 
The current paper sought to investigate this claim further by adding a time-pressure manipulation to a quantified sentence verification task, and analysing the results through
a computational model of decision making. 
The results indicate that time pressure -while effectively changing behavioral responses- does not alter cognitive processes associated with quantifier verification, thus supporting the ITT.

Time-pressure Does Not Alter the Bias Towards Canonical Interpretation of Quantifiers

In many lexical and semantic tasks single word stimuli are presented in isolation and it is assumed that responses are a function of the characteristics of the words presented, with no contribution from words that are merely associated with target words. Recent research suggests that semantic characteristics of a target word’s associate may in fact influence target word responses a syntactic classification task. The present study extends that previous research to examine whether lexical and semantic properties of target word associates are recruited during lexical and semantic decision tasks, and whether the type of associate information recruited varies as a function of task. We found that lexical properties of a word associate are related to accuracy in lexical decision, and that semantic properties of a word associate are related to both response time and accuracy in semantic decision. These findings provide new insight about the way word associates contribute to semantic representation and processing, even though they are not actually presented, moving beyond previous assumptions about lexical-semantic processing of single words.

Single words aren't processed in isolation: Effects of associate meanings on lexical and semantic processing

Among the interpersonal verbs, there is a class of causal verbs with implicit causality and implicit consequentiality, which can refer to the cause and effect of an event on the subject or the object of a sentence. The purpose of this study is to interplay among causal verb processing in Chinese to investigate whether focusing or integrating theory is supported. The study collected 36 participants and used an eye tracker in a visual word paradigm are adopted to understand the process of causal verb processing. In addition, a neutral clause was added to sentences for further investigation. The results showed that participants use greater proportion of looks on event on the subject before neutral clause appear. The main conclusions indicated that implicit causality could result in supporting the focus theory for the mental representation processing of causal verbs.

Implicit Causality in Chinese Verbs: The Process of Chinese Causal Verbs

Humans differ in how they experience their own thoughts. Some think they hear sentences in their “mind's ear”, others report seeing thoughts in their “mind’s eye”, while some struggle to find the words to describe their inner world. Here, we test whether individual thought profiles predict comprehension and memory of naturalistic narrative stimuli. We examine whether differences in thought influence the perceptual strength of words in participants' verbal recall for brief podcasts about abstract science topics. Results indicate that scores on two instruments that assess object imagery and vividness of visual imagery were associated with high perceptual strength in free recall statements while scores on the verbal dimension of these instruments were associated with lower perceptual strength in verbal recall for the same materials. Individual differences in thought profiles were not, however, predictive of differences in the accuracy of verbal recall.

Individual Differences in Preferred Thought Formats Predict Features of Narrative Recall

This study aimed to investigate whether people produce spontaneous gestures that reflect the underlying linguistic structures of speech. Participants were asked to convey information about an animation movie using a three-word phrase in Japanese that could be interpreted in two different ways. The results showed that most participants produced gestures while uttering the phrase and the onset of nouns reflected the underlying linguistic structures and verb types. Time-series analysis revealed that occurrence of object action gestures that depict a noun’s movement tended to reflect the linguistic structures. Additionally, we observed that participants produced additional gestures that were not described in the controlled utterance. These results suggest that people spontaneously produce gestures that can both syntactically and semantically disambiguate speech.

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Language Shifts the Representation of Sounds in Time: From Auditory Individuals to Auditory Ensembles

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