Publications

Displaying 501 - 559 of 559
  • Twomey, K., Smith, A. C., Westermann, G., & Monaghan, P. (Eds.). (2016). Neurocomputational Models of Cognitive Development and Processing: Proceedings of the 14th Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop. Singapore: World Scientific.

    Abstract

    This volume presents peer-reviewed versions of papers presented at the 14th Neural Computation and Psychology Workshop (NCPW14), which took place in July 2014 at Lancaster University, UK. The workshop draws international attendees from the cutting edge of interdisciplinary
    research in psychology, computational modeling, artificial intelligence and psychology, and aims to drive forward
    our understanding of the mechanisms underlying a range of cognitive processes.
  • Tyler-Julian, K., Chapman, K. M., Frances, C., & Bauer, G. B. (2016). Behavioral lateralization in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris). International Journal of Comparative Psychology, 29. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1hg3g3vt.

    Abstract

    We examined side preferences in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) through observations of limb use (right and left flipper) in 123 wild and 16 captive individuals. We also analyzed archival data, the United States Geological Survey Sirenia ProjectManatee Individual Photo-identification Systemdataset, to determine lateralization of evasive action from boats. Wild and captive manatees displayed flipper lateralization at the individual, but not the population level for several behaviors including substrate touches, sculling, and feeding. In contrast, manatees were lateralized at the population level for boat-scar biases,with more manatees showing a left scar bias (45.3%) versus right (34.3%) or dorsal/ambipreferent (20.3%).
  • Ulbrich, C., Alday, P. M., Knaus, J., Orzechowska, P., & Wiese, R. (2016). The role of phonotactic principles in language processing. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31(5), 662-682. doi:10.1080/23273798.2015.1136427.

    Abstract

    The paper reports the results of a learnability experiment with German speakers, investigating the role of universal phonotactic constraints and language use in language processing. Making use of an artificial language paradigm, participants learned nonce words with existent and non-existent German final consonant clusters adhering to or violating sonority sequencing principles postulated for consonant clusters. Behavioural data and event-related brain potentials in response to these cluster properties were obtained twice, before and after learning word-picture-pairs. The results show (1) that learning and processing of final consonant clusters is facilitated by adherence to the sonority hierarchy, and (2) that actual existence of well- and ill-formed consonant clusters aids processing mechanisms. Thus, both implicit knowledge of universal phonotactic principles and frequency-based factors are demonstrated to play a role in the online-processing of words.
  • Ünal, E., Pinto, A., Bunger, A., & Papafragou, A. (2016). Monitoring sources of event memories: A cross-linguistic investigation. Journal of Memory and Language, 87, 157-176. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2015.10.009.

    Abstract

    When monitoring the origins of their memories, people tend to mistakenly attribute mem- ories generated from internal processes (e.g., imagination, visualization) to perception. Here, we ask whether speaking a language that obligatorily encodes the source of informa- tion might help prevent such errors. We compare speakers of English to speakers of Turkish, a language that obligatorily encodes information source (direct/perceptual vs. indirect/hearsay or inference) for past events. In our experiments, participants reported having seen events that they had only inferred from post-event visual evidence. In general, error rates were higher when visual evidence that gave rise to inferences was relatively close to direct visual evidence. Furthermore, errors persisted even when participants were asked to report the specific sources of their memories. Crucially, these error patterns were equivalent across language groups, suggesting that speaking a language that obligatorily encodes source of information does not increase sensitivity to the distinction between per- ception and inference in event memory.
  • Ünal, E., & Papafragou, A. (2016). Interactions between language and mental representations. Language Learning, 66(3), 554-580. doi:10.1111/lang.12188.

    Abstract

    It has long been recognized that language interacts with visual and spatial processes. However, the nature and extent of these interactions are widely debated. The goal of this article is to review empirical findings across several domains to understand whether language affects the way speakers conceptualize the world even when they are not speaking or understanding speech. A second goal of the present review is to shed light on the mechanisms through which effects of language are transmitted. Across domains, there is growing support for the idea that although language does not lead to long-lasting changes in mental representations, it exerts powerful influences during momentary mental computations by either modulating attention or augmenting representational power
  • Ünal, E., & Papafragou, A. (2016). Production--comprehension asymmetries and the acquisition of evidential morphology. Journal of Memory and Language, 89, 179-199. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2015.12.001.

    Abstract

    Although children typically comprehend the links between specific forms and their mean- ings before they produce the forms themselves, the opposite pattern also occurs. The nat- ure of these ‘reverse asymmetries’ between production and comprehension remains debated. Here we focus on a striking case where production precedes comprehension in the acquisition of Turkish evidential morphology and explore theoretical explanations of this asymmetry. We show that 3- to 6-year-old Turkish learners produce evidential mor- phemes accurately (Experiment 1) but have difficulty with evidential comprehension (Experiment 2). Furthermore, comprehension failures persist across multiple tasks (Experiments 3–4). We suggest that evidential comprehension is delayed by the develop- ment of mental perspective-taking abilities needed to compute others’ knowledge sources. In support for this hypothesis, we find that children have difficulty reasoning about others’ evidence in non-linguistic tasks but the difficulty disappears when the tasks involve accessing one’s own evidential sources (Experiment 5)
  • Van Turennout, M., Hagoort, P., & Brown, C. M. (1998). Brain activitity during speaking: From syntax to phonology in 40 milliseconds. Science, 280, 572-574.

    Abstract

    In normal conversation, speakers translate thoughts into words at high speed. To enable this speed, the retrieval of distinct types of linguistic knowledge has to be orchestrated with millisecond precision. The nature of this orchestration is still largely unknown. This report presents dynamic measures of the real-time activation of two basic types of linguistic knowledge, syntax and phonology. Electrophysiological data demonstrate that during noun-phrase production speakers retrieve the syntactic gender of a noun before its abstract phonological properties. This two-step process operates at high speed: the data show that phonological information is already available 40 milliseconds after syntactic properties have been retrieved.
  • Van Turennout, M., Hagoort, P., & Brown, C. M. (1998). Brain activity during speaking: From syntax to phonology in 40 milliseconds. Science, 280(5363), 572-574. doi:10.1126/science.280.5363.572.
  • Van Leeuwen, E. J. C., Acerbi, A., Kendal, R. L., Tennie, C., & Haun, D. B. M. (2016). A reappreciation of ‘conformity’. Animal Behaviour, 122, e5-e10. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.09.010.
  • Van de Geer, J. P., & Levelt, W. J. M. (1963). Detection of visual patterns disturbed by noise: An exploratory study. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 15, 192-204. doi:10.1080/17470216308416324.

    Abstract

    An introductory study of the perception of stochastically specified events is reported. The initial problem was to determine whether the perceiver can split visual input data of this kind into random and determined components. The inability of subjects to do so with the stimulus material used (a filmlike sequence of dot patterns), led to the more general question of how subjects code this kind of visual material. To meet the difficulty of defining the subjects' responses, two experiments were designed. In both, patterns were presented as a rapid sequence of dots on a screen. The patterns were more or less disturbed by “noise,” i.e. the dots did not appear exactly at their proper places. In the first experiment the response was a rating on a semantic scale, in the second an identification from among a set of alternative patterns. The results of these experiments give some insight in the coding systems adopted by the subjects. First, noise appears to be detrimental to pattern recognition, especially to patterns with little spread. Second, this shows connections with the factors obtained from analysis of the semantic ratings, e.g. easily disturbed patterns show a large drop in the semantic regularity factor, when only a little noise is added.
  • Van Leeuwen, E. J. C., Mulenga, I. C., Bodamer, M. D., & Cronin, K. A. (2016). Chimpanzees’ Responses to the Dead Body of a 9-Year-Old Group Member. American Journal of Primatology, 78(9), 914-922. doi:10.1002/ajp.22560.

    Abstract

    The social behavior of chimpanzees has been extensively studied, yet not much is known about how they behave in response to the death of a group member. Here, we provide a detailed report of the reactions of a group of chimpanzees to finding the dead body of a 9-year-old male group member. The behavior of the group was characterized by quiet attendance and close inspections punctuated by rare displays. Moreover, the body was continuously attended and closely inspected by several adults and juveniles, including an adult male who formed a close social bond with the deceased individual after the deceased individual’s mother died 4 years earlier. When considered with observations of how chimpanzees respond to dead infants and adults in this group and in others, these observations suggest that chimpanzees’ responses to death may be mediated by social bonds with the deceased individual. The results are discussed in light of recent reports on chimpanzees’ reactions to dead community members and more general primate thanatology.
  • Van Ooijen, B., Cutler, A., & Berinetto, P. M. (1993). Click detection in Italian and English. In Eurospeech 93: Vol. 1 (pp. 681-684). Berlin: ESCA.

    Abstract

    We report four experiments in which English and Italian monolinguals detected clicks in continous speech in their native language. Two of the experiments used an off-line location task, and two used an on-line reaction time task. Despite there being large differences between English and Italian with respect to rhythmic characteristics, very similar response patterns were found for the two language groups. It is concluded that the process of click detection operates independently from language-specific differences in perceptual processing at the sublexical level.
  • Van Valin Jr., R. D. (2016). An overview of information structure in three Amazonian languages. In M. Fernandez-Vest, & R. D. Van Valin Jr. (Eds.), Information structure and spoken language from a cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 77-92). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Van den Hoven, E., Hartung, F., Burke, M., & Willems, R. M. (2016). Individual differences in sensitivity to style during literary reading: Insights from eye-tracking. Collabra, 2(1): 25, pp. 1-16. doi:10.1525/collabra.39.

    Abstract

    Style is an important aspect of literature, and stylistic deviations are sometimes labeled foregrounded, since their manner of expression deviates from the stylistic default. Russian Formalists have claimed that foregrounding increases processing demands and therefore causes slower reading – an effect called retardation. We tested this claim experimentally by having participants read short literary stories while measuring their eye movements. Our results confirm that readers indeed read slower and make more regressions towards foregrounded passages as compared to passages that are not foregrounded. A closer look, however, reveals significant individual differences in sensitivity to foregrounding. Some readers in fact do not slow down at all when reading foregrounded passages. The slowing down effect for literariness was related to a slowing down effect for high perplexity (unexpected) words: those readers who slowed down more during literary passages also slowed down more during high perplexity words, even though no correlation between literariness and perplexity existed in the stories. We conclude that individual differences play a major role in processing of literary texts and argue for accounts of literary reading that focus on the interplay between reader and text.
  • van den Berg, S. M., de Moor, M. H. M., Verweij, K. J. H., Krueger, R. F., Luciano, M., Arias Vasquez, A., Matteson, L. K., Derringer, J., Esko, T., Amin, N. F., Gordon, S. D., Hansell, N. K., Hart, A. B., Seppälä, I., Huffman, J. E., Konte, B., Lahti, J., Lee, M., Miller, M., Nutile, T. and 101 morevan den Berg, S. M., de Moor, M. H. M., Verweij, K. J. H., Krueger, R. F., Luciano, M., Arias Vasquez, A., Matteson, L. K., Derringer, J., Esko, T., Amin, N. F., Gordon, S. D., Hansell, N. K., Hart, A. B., Seppälä, I., Huffman, J. E., Konte, B., Lahti, J., Lee, M., Miller, M., Nutile, T., Tanaka, T., Teumer, A., Viktorin, A., Wedenoja, J., Abdellaoui, A., Abecasis, G. R., Adkins, D. E., Agrawal, A., Allik, J., Appel, K., Bigdeli, T. B., Busonero, F., Campbell, H., Costa, P., Smith, G. D., Davies, G., de Wit, H., Ding, J., Engelhardt, B. E., Eriksson, J. G., Fedko, I. O., Ferrucci, L., Franke, B., Giegling, I., Grucza, R., Hartmann, A. M., Heath, A. C., Heinonen, K., Henders, A. K., Homuth, G., Hottenga, J.-J., Iacono, W. G., Janzing, J., Jokela, M., Karlsson, R., Kemp, J., Kirkpatrick, M. G., Latvala, A., Lehtimäki, T., Liewald, D. C., Madden, P. F., Magri, C., Magnusson, P. E., Marten, J., Maschio, A., Mbarek, H., Medland, S. E., Mihailov, E., Milaneschi, Y., Montgomery, G. W., Nauck, M., Nivard, M. G., Ouwens, K. G., Palotie, A., Pettersson, E., Polasek, O., Qian, Y., Pulkki-Råback, L., Raitakari, O., Realo, A., Rose, R. J., Ruggiero, D., Schmidt, C. O., Slutske, W. S., Sorice, R., Starr, J. M., St Pourcain, B., Sutin, A. R., Timpson, N. J., Trochet, H., Vermeulen, S., Vuoksimaa, E., Widen, E., Wouda, J., Wright, M. J., Zgaga, L., Porteous, D., Minelli, A., Palmer, A. A., Rujescu, D., Ciullo, M., Hayward, C., Rudan, I., Metspalu, A., Kaprio, J., Deary, I. J., Räikkönen, K., Wilson, J. F., Keltikangas-Järvinen, L., Bierut, L. J., Hettema, J. M., Grabe, H. J., Penninx, B. W. J. H., van Duijn, C. M., Evans, D. M., Schlessinger, D., Pedersen, N. L., Terracciano, A., McGue, M., Martin, N. G., & Boomsma, D. I. (2016). Meta-analysis of Genome-Wide Association Studies for Extraversion: Findings from the Genetics of Personality Consortium. Behavior Genetics, 46, 170-182. doi:10.1007/s10519-015-9735-5.

    Abstract

    Extraversion is a relatively stable and heritable personality trait associated with numerous psychosocial, lifestyle and health outcomes. Despite its substantial heritability, no genetic variants have been detected in previous genome-wide association (GWA) studies, which may be due to relatively small sample sizes of those studies. Here, we report on a large meta-analysis of GWA studies for extraversion in 63,030 subjects in 29 cohorts. Extraversion item data from multiple personality inventories were harmonized across inventories and cohorts. No genome-wide significant associations were found at the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) level but there was one significant hit at the gene level for a long non-coding RNA site (LOC101928162). Genome-wide complex trait analysis in two large cohorts showed that the additive variance explained by common SNPs was not significantly different from zero, but polygenic risk scores, weighted using linkage information, significantly predicted extraversion scores in an independent cohort. These results show that extraversion is a highly polygenic personality trait, with an architecture possibly different from other complex human traits, including other personality traits. Future studies are required to further determine which genetic variants, by what modes of gene action, constitute the heritable nature of extraversion. © 2015 The Author(s)

    Additional information

    10519_2015_9735_MOESM1_ESM.docx
  • Van den Broek, G., Takashima, A., Wiklund-Hörnqvist, C., Karlsson-Wirebring, L., Segers, E., Verhoeven, L., & Nyberg, L. (2016). Neurocognitive mechanisms of the “testing effect”: A review. Trends in Neuroscience Education, 5, 52-66. doi:10.1016/j.tine.2016.05.001.

    Abstract

    Memory retrieval is an active process that can alter the content and accessibility of stored memories. Of potential relevance for educational practice are findings that memory retrieval fosters better retention than mere studying. This so-called testing effect has been demonstrated for different materials and populations, but there is limited consensus on the neurocognitive mechanisms involved. In this review, we relate cognitive accounts of the testing effect to findings from recent brain-imaging studies to identify neurocognitive factors that could explain the testing effect. Results indicate that testing facilitates later performance through several processes, including effects on semantic memory representations, the selective strengthening of relevant associations and inhibition of irrelevant associations, as well as potentiation of subsequent learning
  • Van den Broek, G., Takashima, A., Wiklund-Hörnqvist, C., Karlsson-Wirebring, C., Segers, E., Verhoeven, L., & Nyberg, L. (2016). Neurocognitive mechanisms of the “testing effect”: A review. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 5(2), 52-66. doi:10.1016/j.tine.2016.05.001.

    Abstract

    Memory retrieval is an active process that can alter the content and accessibility of stored memories. Of potential relevance for educational practice are findings that memory retrieval fosters better retention than mere studying. This so-called testing effect has been demonstrated for different materials and populations, but there is limited consensus on the neurocognitive mechanisms involved. In this review, we relate cognitive accounts of the testing effect to findings from recent brain-imaging studies to identify neurocognitive factors that could explain the testing effect. Results indicate that testing facilitates later performance through several processes, including effects on semantic memory representations, the selective strengthening of relevant associations and inhibition of irrelevant associations, as well as potentiation of subsequent learning.
  • Van der Ven, F., Takashima, A., Segers, E., Fernández, G., & Verhoeven, L. (2016). Non-symbolic and symbolic notation in simple arithmetic differentially involve intraparietal sulcus and angular gyrus activity. Brain Research, 1643, 91-102.

    Abstract

    Addition problems can be solved by mentally manipulating quantities for which the bilateral intraparietal sulcus (IPS) is likely recruited, or by retrieving the answer directly from fact memory in which the left angular gyrus (AG) and perisylvian areas may play a role. Mental addition is usually studied with problems presented in the Arabic notation (4+2), and less so with number words (four+two) or dots (:: +·.). In the present study, we investigated how the notation of numbers influences processing during simple mental arithmetic. Twenty-five highly educated participants performed simple arithmetic while their brain activity was recorded with functional magnetic resonance imaging. To reveal the effect of number notation, arithmetic problems were presented in a non-symbolic (Dots) or symbolic (Arabic; Words) notation. Furthermore, we asked whether IPS processing during mental arithmetic is magnitude specific or of a more general, visuospatial nature. To this end, we included perception and manipulation of non-magnitude formats (Colors; unfamiliar Japanese Characters). Increased IPS activity was observed, suggesting magnitude calculations during addition of non-symbolic numbers. In contrast, there was greater activity in the AG and perisylvian areas for symbolic compared to non-symbolic addition, suggesting increased verbal fact retrieval. Furthermore, IPS activity was not specific to processing of numerical magnitude but also present for non-magnitude stimuli that required mental visuospatial processing (Color-mixing; Character-memory measured by a delayed match-to-sample task). Together, our data suggest that simple non-symbolic sums are calculated using visual imagery, whereas answers for simple symbolic sums are retrieved from verbal memory.
  • Van Leeuwen, T. M., Dingemanse, M., Todil, B., Agameya, A., & Majid, A. (2016). Nonrandom associations of graphemes with colors in Arabic. Multisensory Research, 29, 223-252. doi:10.1163/22134808-00002511.

    Abstract

    Numerous studies demonstrate people associate colors with letters and numbers in systematic ways. But most of these studies rely on speakers of English, or closely related languages. This makes it difficult to know how generalizable these findings are, or what factors might underlie these associations. We investigated letter–color and number–color associations in Arabic speakers, who have a different writing system and unusual word structure compared to Standard Average European languages. We also aimed to identify grapheme–color synaesthetes (people who have conscious color experiences with letters and numbers). Participants associated colors with 28 basic Arabic letters and ten digits by typing color names that best fit each grapheme. We found language-specific principles determining grapheme–color associations. For example, the word formation process in Arabic was relevant for color associations. In addition, psycholinguistic variables, such as letter frequency and the intrinsic order of graphemes influenced associations. Contrary to previous studies we found no evidence for sounds playing a role in letter–color associations for Arabic, and only a very limited role for shape influencing color associations. These findings highlight the importance of linguistic and psycholinguistic features in cross-modal correspondences, and illustrate why it is important to play close attention to each language on its own terms in order to disentangle language-specific from universal effects
  • Van Wermeskerken, M., Fijan, N., Eielts, C., & Pouw, W. (2016). Observation of depictive versus tracing gestures selectively aids verbal versus visual–spatial learning in primary school children. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 30, 806-814. doi:10.1002/acp.3256.

    Abstract

    Previous research has established that gesture observation aids learning in children. The current study examinedwhether observation of gestures (i.e. depictive and tracing gestures) differentially affected verbal and visual–spatial retention whenlearning a route and its street names. Specifically, we explored whether children (n = 97) with lower visual and verbal working-memory capacity benefited more from observing gestures as compared with children who score higher on these traits. To thisend, 11- to 13-year-old children were presented with an instructional video of a route containing no gestures, depictive gestures,tracing gestures or both depictive and tracing gestures. Results indicated that the type of observed gesture affected performance:Observing tracing gestures or both tracing and depictive gestures increased performance on route retention, while observingdepictive gestures or both depictive and tracing gestures increased performance on street name retention. These effects werenot differentially affected by working-memory capacity
  • Van Geenhoven, V. (1998). On the Argument Structure of some Noun Incorporating Verbs in West Greenlandic. In M. Butt, & W. Geuder (Eds.), The Projection of Arguments - Lexical and Compositional Factors (pp. 225-263). Stanford, CA, USA: CSLI Publications.
  • Van Valin Jr., R. D. (1998). The acquisition of WH-questions and the mechanisms of language acquisition. In M. Tomasello (Ed.), The new psychology of language: Cognitive and functional approaches to language structure (pp. 221-249). Mahwah, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
  • Van de Geer, J. P., Levelt, W. J. M., & Plomp, R. (1962). The connotation of musical consonance. Acta Psychologica, 20, 308-319.

    Abstract

    As a preliminary to further research on musical consonance an explanatory investigation was made on the different modes of judgment of musical intervals. This was done by way of a semantic differential. Subjects rated 23 intervals against 10 scales. In a factor analysis three factors appeared: pitch, evaluation and fusion. The relation between these factors and some physical characteristics has been investigated. The scale consonant-dissonant showed to be purely evaluative (in opposition to Stumpf's theory). This evaluative connotation is not in accordance with the musicological meaning of consonance. Suggestions to account for this difference have been given.
  • Van Putten, S., San Roque, L., & Majid, A. (2016). Taal en de zintuigen. MeerTaal, 4(1), 10-13.

    Abstract

    We ervaren de wereld met onze zintuigen: we zien, horen, voelen, proeven en ruiken. Deze ervaringen kunnen we met elkaar delen door middel van taal. Maar hoe doen we dat eigenlijk? Kunnen we alle zintuiglijke ervaringen even makkelijk verwoorden? En kunnen sprekers van verschillende talen allemaal hetzelfde uitdrukken? In dit artikel gaan de auteurs in op deze vragen en geven ze suggesties om in de klas met deze taal van de zintuigen aan de slag te gaan. Het is een voorbeeld van onderzoekend leren op de grens van taalonderwijs en wereldorientatie.
  • Van Rijswijk, R. (2016). The strength of a weaker first language: Language production and comprehension by Turkish heritage speakers in the Netherlands. PhD Thesis, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
  • Vanlangendonck, F., Willems, R. M., Menenti, L., & Hagoort, P. (2016). An early influence of common ground during speech planning. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31(6), 741-750. doi:10.1080/23273798.2016.1148747.

    Abstract

    In order to communicate successfully, speakers have to take into account which information they share with their addressee, i.e. common ground. In the current experiment we investigated how and when common ground affects speech planning by tracking speakers’ eye movements while they played a referential communication game. We found evidence that common ground exerts an early, but incomplete effect on speech planning. In addition, we did not find longer planning times when speakers had to take common ground into account, suggesting that taking common ground into account is not necessarily an effortful process. Common ground information thus appears to act as a partial constraint on language production that is integrated flexibly and efficiently in the speech planning process.
  • Varlokosta, S., Belletti, A., Costa, J., Friedmann, N., Gavarro, A., Grohmann, K. K., Guasti, M. T., Tuller, L., Lobo, M., Andelkovic, D., Argemi, N., Avram, L., Berends, S., Brunetto, V., Delage, H., Ezeizabarrena, M. J., Fattal, I., Haman, E., Van Hout, A., de Lopez, K. J. and 18 moreVarlokosta, S., Belletti, A., Costa, J., Friedmann, N., Gavarro, A., Grohmann, K. K., Guasti, M. T., Tuller, L., Lobo, M., Andelkovic, D., Argemi, N., Avram, L., Berends, S., Brunetto, V., Delage, H., Ezeizabarrena, M. J., Fattal, I., Haman, E., Van Hout, A., de Lopez, K. J., Katsos, N., Kologranic, L., Krstic, N., Kraljevic, J. K., Miekisz, A., Nerantzini, M., Queralto, C., Radic, Z., Ruiz, S., Sauerland, U., Sevcenco, A., Smoczynska, M., Theodorou, E., van der Lely, H., Veenstra, A., Weston, J., Yachini, M., & Yatsushiro, K. (2016). A cross-linguistic study of the acquisition of clitic and pronoun production. Language Acquisition, 23(1), 1-26. doi:10.1080/10489223.2015.1028628.

    Abstract

    This study develops a single elicitation method to test the acquisition of third-person pronominal objects in 5-year-olds for 16 languages. This methodology allows us to compare the acquisition of pronominals in languages that lack object clitics (“pronoun languages”) with languages that employ clitics in the relevant context (“clitic languages”), thus establishing a robust cross-linguistic baseline in the domain of clitic and pronoun production for 5-year-olds. High rates of pronominal production are found in our results, indicating that children have the relevant pragmatic knowledge required to select a pronominal in the discourse setting involved in the experiment as well as the relevant morphosyntactic knowledge involved in the production of pronominals. It is legitimate to conclude from our data that a child who at age 5 is not able to produce any or few pronominals is a child at risk for language impairment. In this way, pronominal production can be taken as a developmental marker, provided that one takes into account certain cross-linguistic differences discussed in the article.
  • Verheijen, J., Van den Bossche, T., Van der Zee, J., Engelborghs, S., Sanchez-Valle, R., Lladó, A., Graff, C., Thonberg, H., Pastor, P., Ortega-Cubero, S., Pastor, M. A., Benussi, L., Ghidoni, R., Binetti, G., Clarimon, J., Lleó, A., Fortea, J., De Mendonça, A., Martins, M., Grau-Rivera, O. and 8 moreVerheijen, J., Van den Bossche, T., Van der Zee, J., Engelborghs, S., Sanchez-Valle, R., Lladó, A., Graff, C., Thonberg, H., Pastor, P., Ortega-Cubero, S., Pastor, M. A., Benussi, L., Ghidoni, R., Binetti, G., Clarimon, J., Lleó, A., Fortea, J., De Mendonça, A., Martins, M., Grau-Rivera, O., Gelpi, E., Bettens, K., Mateiu, L., Dillen, L., Cras, P., De Deyn, P. P., Van Broeckhoven, C., & Sleegers, K. (2016). A comprehensive study of the genetic impact of rare variants in SORL1 in European early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Neuropathologica, 132(2), 213-224. doi:10.1007/s00401-016-1566-9.

    Abstract

    The sortilin-related receptor 1 (SORL1) gene has been associated with increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Rare genetic variants in the SORL1 gene have also been implicated in autosomal dominant early-onset AD (EOAD). Here we report a large-scale investigation of the contribution of genetic variability in SORL1 to EOAD in a European EOAD cohort. We performed massive parallel amplicon-based re-sequencing of the full coding region of SORL1 in 1255 EOAD patients and 1938 age- and origin-matched control individuals in the context of the European Early-Onset Dementia (EOD) consortium, originating from Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Germany, and Czech Republic. We identified six frameshift variants and two nonsense variants that were exclusively present in patients. These mutations are predicted to result in haploinsufficiency through nonsense-mediated mRNA decay, which could be confirmed experimentally for SORL1 p.Gly447Argfs*22 observed in a Belgian EOAD patient. We observed a 1.5-fold enrichment of rare non-synonymous variants in patients (carrier frequency 8.8 %; SkatOMeta p value 0.0001). Of the 84 non-synonymous rare variants detected in the full patient/control cohort, 36 were only detected in patients. Our findings underscore a role of rare SORL1 variants in EOAD, but also show a non-negligible frequency of these variants in healthy individuals, necessitating the need for pathogenicity assays. Premature stop codons due to frameshift and nonsense variants, have so far exclusively been found in patients, and their predicted mode of action corresponds with evidence from in vitro functional studies of SORL1 in AD. © 2016, The Author(s).
  • Viebahn, M. (2016). Acoustic reduction in spoken-word processing: Distributional, syntactic, morphosyntactic, and orthographic effects. PhD Thesis, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen.
  • De Vos, C. (2016). Sampling shared sign languages. Sign Language Studies, 16(2), 204-226. doi:10.1353/sls.2016.0002.

    Abstract

    This article addresses some of the theoretical questions, ethical considerations, and methodological decisions that guided the creation of the Kata Kolok corpus as well as the Kata Kolok child signing corpus. This discussion is relevant to the formation of prospective sign corpora that aim to portray the various sociolinguistic landscapes in which sign languages, whether rural or urban, emerge and evolve.
  • Vuong, L., Meyer, A. S., & Christiansen, M. H. (2016). Concurrent statistical learning of adjacent and nonadjacent dependencies. Language Learning, 66, 8-30. doi:10.1111/lang.12137.

    Abstract

    When children learn their native language, they have to deal with a confusing array of dependencies between various elements in an utterance. The dependent elements may be adjacent to one another or separated by intervening material. Prior studies suggest that nonadjacent dependencies are hard to learn when the intervening material has little variability, which may be due to a trade-off between adjacent and nonadjacent learning. In this study, we investigate the statistical learning of adjacent and nonadjacent dependencies under low intervening variability using a modified serial reaction time (SRT) task. Young adults were trained on mixed sets of materials comprising equally probable adjacent and nonadjacent dependencies. Offline tests administered after training showed better performance for adjacent than nonadjacent dependencies. However, online SRT data indicated that the participants developed sensitivity to both types of dependencies during training, with no significant differences between dependency types. The results demonstrate the value of online measures of learning and suggest that adjacent and nonadjacent learning can occur together even when there is low variability in the intervening material
  • Wang, L., Verdonschot, R. G., & Yang, Y. (2016). The processing difference between person names and common nouns in sentence contexts: An ERP study. Psychological Research, 80, 94-108. doi:10.1007/s00426-014-0645-6.

    Abstract

    Person names and common nouns differ in how they are stored in the mental lexicon. Using event-related potentials, this study compared the integration of names and nouns into sentence contexts. Both person names and common nouns were highly related in meaning and either congruent or incongruent within the previous contexts. Name incongruence elicited an N400 effect, suggesting that people were able to rapidly retrieve the semantic meaning of names from long-term memory even when this process was mediated by person identification. Conversely, participants showed a “good enough” processing of the nouns due to their low specificity level and, thus, rich semantic associations, leading to a P600 effect. These distinctive ERP effects provide clear evidence for the distinctive semantic representations of these word categories by showing that the activation of a name’s meaning is mediated by a single connection between identity-specific information and person identity, whereas multiple connections exist between nouns and their meanings.

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  • Wang, H., Callaghan, E., Gooding-Williams, G., McAllister, C., & Kessler, K. (2016). Rhythm makes the world go round: An MEG-TMS study on the role of right TPJ theta oscillations in embodied perspective taking. Cortex, 75, 68-81. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.11.011.

    Abstract

    While some aspects of social processing are shared between humans and other species, some aspects are not. The former seems to apply to merely tracking another's visual perspective in the world (i.e., what a conspecific can or cannot perceive), while the latter applies to perspective taking in form of mentally “embodying” another's viewpoint. Our previous behavioural research had indicated that only perspective taking, but not tracking, relies on simulating a body schema rotation into another's viewpoint. In the current study we employed Magnetoencephalography (MEG) and revealed that this mechanism of mental body schema rotation is primarily linked to theta oscillations in a wider brain network of body-schema, somatosensory and motor-related areas, with the right posterior temporo-parietal junction (pTPJ) at its core. The latter was reflected by a convergence of theta oscillatory power in right pTPJ obtained by overlapping the separately localised effects of rotation demands (angular disparity effect), cognitive embodiment (posture congruence effect), and basic body schema involvement (posture relevance effect) during perspective taking in contrast to perspective tracking. In a subsequent experiment we interfered with right pTPJ processing using dual pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (dpTMS) and observed a significant reduction of embodied processing. We conclude that right TPJ is the crucial network hub for transforming the embodied self into another's viewpoint, body and/or mind, thus, substantiating how conflicting representations between self and other may be resolved and potentially highlighting the embodied origins of high-level social cognition in general.
  • Wang, X., Zhen, Z., Song, Y., Kong, X., & Liu, J. (2016). The Hierarchical Structure of the Face Network Revealed by Its Functional Connectivity Pattern. The Journal of Neuroscience, 36(3), 890-900. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2789-15.2016.

    Abstract

    A major principle of human brain organization is “integrating” some regions into networks while “segregating” other sets of regions into separate networks. However, little is known about the cognitive function of the integration and segregation of brain networks. Here, we examined the well-studied brain network for face processing, and asked whether the integration and segregation of the face network (FN) are related to face recognition performance. To do so, we used a voxel-based global brain connectivity method based on resting-state fMRI to characterize the within-network connectivity (WNC) and the between-network connectivity (BNC) of the FN. We found that 95.4% of voxels in the FN had a significantly stronger WNC than BNC, suggesting that the FN is a relatively encapsulated network. Importantly, individuals with a stronger WNC (i.e., integration) in the right fusiform face area were better at recognizing faces, whereas individuals with a weaker BNC (i.e., segregation) in the right occipital face area performed better in the face recognition tasks. In short, our study not only demonstrates the behavioral relevance of integration and segregation of the FN but also provides evidence supporting functional division of labor between the occipital face area and fusiform face area in the hierarchically organized FN.
  • Weber, K., Christiansen, M., Petersson, K. M., Indefrey, P., & Hagoort, P. (2016). fMRI syntactic and lexical repetition effects reveal the initial stages of learning a new language. The Journal of Neuroscience, 36, 6872-6880. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3180-15.2016.

    Abstract

    When learning a new language, we build brain networks to process and represent the acquired words and syntax and integrate these with existing language representations. It is an open question whether the same or different neural mechanisms are involved in learning and processing a novel language compared to the native language(s). Here we investigated the neural repetition effects of repeating known and novel word orders while human subjects were in the early stages of learning a new language. Combining a miniature language with a syntactic priming paradigm, we examined the neural correlates of language learning online using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). In left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and posterior temporal cortex the repetition of novel syntactic structures led to repetition enhancement, while repetition of known structures resulted in repetition suppression. Additional verb repetition led to an
    increase in the syntactic repetition enhancement effect in language-related brain regions. Similarly the repetition of verbs led to repetition enhancement effects in areas related to lexical and semantic processing, an effect that continued to increase in a subset of these regions. Repetition enhancement might reflect a mechanism to build and strengthen a neural network to process novel syntactic structures and lexical items. By contrast, the observed repetition suppression points to overlapping neural mechanisms for native and new language constructions when these have sufficient structural similarities.
  • Weber, A. (1998). Listening to nonnative language which violates native assimilation rules. In D. Duez (Ed.), Proceedings of the European Scientific Communication Association workshop: Sound patterns of Spontaneous Speech (pp. 101-104).

    Abstract

    Recent studies using phoneme detection tasks have shown that spoken-language processing is neither facilitated nor interfered with by optional assimilation, but is inhibited by violation of obligatory assimilation. Interpretation of these results depends on an assessment of their generality, specifically, whether they also obtain when listeners are processing nonnative language. Two separate experiments are presented in which native listeners of German and native listeners of Dutch had to detect a target fricative in legal monosyllabic Dutch nonwords. All of the nonwords were correct realisations in standard Dutch. For German listeners, however, half of the nonwords contained phoneme strings which violate the German fricative assimilation rule. Whereas the Dutch listeners showed no significant effects, German listeners detected the target fricative faster when the German fricative assimilation was violated than when no violation occurred. The results might suggest that violation of assimilation rules does not have to make processing more difficult per se.
  • Weber, K., Luther, L., Indefrey, P., & Hagoort, P. (2016). Overlap and differences in brain networks underlying the processing of complex sentence structures in second language users compared to native speakers. Brain Connectivity, 6(4), 345-355. doi:10.1089/brain.2015.0383.

    Abstract

    When we learn a second language later in life do we integrate it with the established neural networks in place for the first language or is at least a partially new network recruited? While there is evidence that simple grammatical structures in a second language share a system with the native language, the story becomes more multifaceted for complex sentence structures. In this study we investigated the underlying brain networks in native speakers compared to proficient second language users while processing complex sentences. As hypothesized, complex structures were processed by the same large-scale inferior frontal and middle temporal language networks of the brain in the second language, as seen in native speakers. These effects were seen both in activations as well as task-related connectivity patterns. Furthermore, the second language users showed increased task-related connectivity from inferior frontal to inferior parietal regions of the brain, regions related to attention and cognitive control, suggesting less automatic processing for these structures in a second language.
  • Weber, K., Lau, E., Stillerman, B., & Kuperberg, G. (2016). The Yin and the Yang of Prediction: An fMRI Study of Semantic Predictive Processing. PLoS One, 11(3): 0148637. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0148637.

    Abstract

    Probabilistic prediction plays a crucial role in language comprehension. When predictions are fulfilled, the resulting facilitation allows for fast, efficient processing of ambiguous, rapidly-unfolding input; when predictions are not fulfilled, the resulting error signal allows us to adapt to broader statistical changes in this input. We used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to examine the neuroanatomical networks engaged in semantic predictive processing and adaptation. We used a relatedness proportion semantic priming paradigm, in which we manipulated the probability of predictions while holding local semantic context constant. Under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity, we replicate previous observations of reduced activity to semantically predictable words in the left anterior superior/middle temporal cortex, reflecting facilitated processing of targets that are consistent with prior semantic predictions. In addition, under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity we observed significant differences in the effects of semantic relatedness within the left inferior frontal gyrus and the posterior portion of the left superior/middle temporal gyrus. We suggest that together these two regions mediated the suppression of unfulfilled semantic predictions and lexico-semantic processing of unrelated targets that were inconsistent with these predictions. Moreover, under conditions of higher (versus lower) predictive validity, a functional connectivity analysis showed that the left inferior frontal and left posterior superior/middle temporal gyrus were more tightly interconnected with one another, as well as with the left anterior cingulate cortex. The left anterior cingulate cortex was, in turn, more tightly connected to superior lateral frontal cortices and subcortical regions—a network that mediates rapid learning and adaptation and that may have played a role in switching to a more predictive mode of processing in response to the statistical structure of the wider environmental context. Together, these findings highlight close links between the networks mediating semantic prediction, executive function and learning, giving new insights into how our brains are able to flexibly adapt to our environment.

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  • Wilkins, D. (1993). Route Description Elicitation. In S. C. Levinson (Ed.), Cognition and space kit 1.0 (pp. 15-28). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. doi:10.17617/2.3513141.

    Abstract

    When we want to describe a path through space, but do not share a common perceptual field with a conversation partner, language has to work doubly hard. This task investigates how people communicate the navigation of space in the absence of shared visual cues, as well as collecting data on motion verbs and the roles of symmetry and landmarks in route description. Two speakers (separated by a curtain or other barrier) are each given a model of a landscape, and one participant describes standard routes through this landscape for the other to match.
  • Wilkins, D., & Hill, D. (1993). Preliminary 'Come' and 'Go' Questionnaire. In S. C. Levinson (Ed.), Cognition and space kit 1.0 (pp. 29-46). Nijmegen: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. doi:10.17617/2.3513125.

    Abstract

    The encoding of apparently ‘simple’ movement concepts such as ‘COME’ and ‘GO’ can differ widely across languages (e.g., in regard to specifying direction of motion relative to the speaker). This questionnaire is used to identify the range of use of basic motion verbs in a language, and investigate semantic parameters that are involved in high frequency ‘COME’ and ‘GO’-like terms.
  • Willems, R. M., & Jacobs, A. M. (2016). Caring about Dostoyevsky: The untapped potential of studying literature. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(4), 243-245. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.12.009.

    Abstract

    Should cognitive scientists and neuroscientists care about Dostoyevsky? Engaging with fiction is a natural and rich behavior, providing a unique window onto the mind and brain, particularly for mental simulation, emotion, empathy, and immersion. With advances in analysis techniques, it is time that cognitive scientists and neuroscientists embrace literature and fiction.
  • Willems, R. M., Frank, S. L., Nijhoff, A. D., Hagoort, P., & Van den Bosch, A. (2016). Prediction during natural language comprehension. Cerebral Cortex, 26(6), 2506-2516. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhv075.

    Abstract

    The notion of prediction is studied in cognitive neuroscience with increasing intensity. We investigated the neural basis of 2 distinct aspects of word prediction, derived from information theory, during story comprehension. We assessed the effect of entropy of next-word probability distributions as well as surprisal. A computational model determined entropy and surprisal for each word in 3 literary stories. Twenty-four healthy participants listened to the same 3 stories while their brain activation was measured using fMRI. Reversed speech fragments were presented as a control condition. Brain areas sensitive to entropy were left ventral premotor cortex, left middle frontal gyrus, right inferior frontal gyrus, left inferior parietal lobule, and left supplementary motor area. Areas sensitive to surprisal were left inferior temporal sulcus (“visual word form area”), bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right amygdala, bilateral anterior temporal poles, and right inferior frontal sulcus. We conclude that prediction during language comprehension can occur at several levels of processing, including at the level of word form. Our study exemplifies the power of combining computational linguistics with cognitive neuroscience, and additionally underlines the feasibility of studying continuous spoken language materials with fMRI.

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    Supplementary Material
  • Wilson, J. J., & Little, H. (2016). A Neo-Peircean framework for experimental semiotics. In Proceedings of the 2nd Conference of the International Association for Cognitive Semiotics (pp. 171-173).
  • Windhouwer, M., Kemps-Snijders, M., Trilsbeek, P., Moreira, A., Van der Veen, B., Silva, G., & Von Rhein, D. (2016). FLAT: Constructing a CLARIN Compatible Home for Language Resources. In K. Choukri, T. Declerck, S. Goggi, M. Grobelnik, B. Maegaard, J. Mariani, H. Mazo, & A. Moreno (Eds.), Proccedings of LREC 2016: 10th International Conference on Language Resources and Evalution (pp. 2478-2483). Paris: European Language Resources Association (ELRA).

    Abstract

    Language resources are valuable assets, both for institutions and researchers. To safeguard these resources requirements for repository systems and data management have been specified by various branch organizations, e.g., CLARIN and the Data Seal of Approval. This paper describes these and some additional ones posed by the authors’ home institutions. And it shows how they are met by FLAT, to provide a new home for language resources. The basis of FLAT is formed by the Fedora Commons repository system. This repository system can meet many of the requirements out-of-the box, but still additional configuration and some development work is needed to meet the remaining ones, e.g., to add support for Handles and Component Metadata. This paper describes design decisions taken in the construction of FLAT’s system architecture via a mix-and-match strategy, with a preference for the reuse of existing solutions. FLAT is developed and used by the a Institute and The Language Archive, but is also freely available for anyone in need of a CLARIN-compliant repository for their language resources.
  • Wittek, A. (1998). Learning verb meaning via adverbial modification: Change-of-state verbs in German and the adverb "wieder" again. In A. Greenhill, M. Hughes, H. Littlefield, & H. Walsh (Eds.), Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Boston University Conference on Language Development (pp. 779-790). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
  • Wnuk, E. (2016). Semantic specificity of perception verbs in Maniq. PhD Thesis, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen.
  • Wnuk, E. (2016). Specificity at the basic level in event taxonomies: The case of Maniq verbs of ingestion. In A. Papafragou, D. Grodner, D. Mirman, & J. Trueswell (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci 2016) (pp. 2687-2692). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.

    Abstract

    Previous research on basic-level object categories shows there is cross-cultural variation in basic-level concepts, arguing against the idea that the basic level reflects an objective reality. In this paper, I extend the investigation to the domain of events. More specifically, I present a case study of verbs of ingestion in Maniq illustrating a highly specific categorization of ingestion events at the basic level. A detailed analysis of these verbs reveals they tap into culturally salient notions. Yet, cultural salience alone cannot explain specificity of basic-level verbs, since ingestion is a domain of universal human experience. Further analysis reveals, however, that another key factor is the language itself. Maniq’s preference for encoding specific meaning in basic-level verbs is not a peculiarity of one domain, but a recurrent characteristic of its verb lexicon, pointing to the significant role of the language system in the structure of event concepts
  • Woo, Y. J., Wang, T., Guadalupe, T., Nebel, R. A., Vino, A., Del Bene, V. A., Molholm, S., Ross, L. A., Zwiers, M. P., Fisher, S. E., Foxe, J. J., & Abrahams, B. S. (2016). A Common CYFIP1 Variant at the 15q11.2 Disease Locus Is Associated with Structural Variation at the Language-Related Left Supramarginal Gyrus. PLoS One, 11(6): e0158036. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0158036.

    Abstract

    s Metrics Comments Related Content Abstract Introduction Materials and Methods Results Discussion Supporting Information Acknowledgments Author Contributions References Reader Comments (0) Media Coverage Figures Abstract Copy number variants (CNVs) at the Breakpoint 1 to Breakpoint 2 region at 15q11.2 (BP1-2) are associated with language-related difficulties and increased risk for developmental disorders in which language is compromised. Towards underlying mechanisms, we investigated relationships between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the region and quantitative measures of human brain structure obtained by magnetic resonance imaging of healthy subjects. We report an association between rs4778298, a common variant at CYFIP1, and inter-individual variation in surface area across the left supramarginal gyrus (lh.SMG), a cortical structure implicated in speech and language in independent discovery (n = 100) and validation cohorts (n = 2621). In silico analyses determined that this same variant, and others nearby, is also associated with differences in levels of CYFIP1 mRNA in human brain. One of these nearby polymorphisms is predicted to disrupt a consensus binding site for FOXP2, a transcription factor implicated in speech and language. Consistent with a model where FOXP2 regulates CYFIP1 levels and in turn influences lh.SMG surface area, analysis of publically available expression data identified a relationship between expression of FOXP2 and CYFIP1 mRNA in human brain. We propose that altered CYFIP1 dosage, through aberrant patterning of the lh.SMG, may contribute to language-related difficulties associated with BP1-2 CNVs. More generally, this approach may be useful in clarifying the contribution of individual genes at CNV risk loci.
  • Yang, Z., Zhen, Z., Huang, L., Kong, X., Wang, X., Song, Y., & Liu, J. (2016). Neural Univariate Activity and Multivariate Pattern in the Posterior Superior Temporal Sulcus Differentially Encode Facial Expression and Identity. Scientific Reports, 6: 23427. doi:10.1038/srep23427.

    Abstract

    Faces contain a variety of information such as one’s identity and expression. One prevailing model suggests a functional division of labor in processing faces that different aspects of facial information are processed in anatomically separated and functionally encapsulated brain regions. Here, we demonstrate that facial identity and expression can be processed in the same region, yet with different neural coding strategies. To this end, we employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine two types of coding schemes, namely univariate activity and multivariate pattern, in the posterior superior temporal cortex (pSTS) - a face-selective region that is traditionally viewed as being specialized for processing facial expression. With the individual difference approach, we found that participants with higher overall face selectivity in the right pSTS were better at differentiating facial expressions measured outside of the scanner. In contrast, individuals whose spatial pattern for faces in the right pSTS was less similar to that for objects were more accurate in identifying previously presented faces. The double dissociation of behavioral relevance between overall neural activity and spatial neural pattern suggests that the functional-division-of-labor model on face processing is over-simplified, and that coding strategies shall be incorporated in a revised model.
  • Yılmaz, O., Karadöller, D. Z., & Sofuoğlu, G. (2016). Analytic Thinking, Religion, and Prejudice: An Experimental Test of the Dual-Process Model of Mind. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 26(4), 360-369. doi:10.1080/10508619.2016.1151117.

    Abstract

    Dual-process models of the mind, as well as the relation between analytic thinking and religious belief, have aroused interest in recent years. However, few studies have examined this relation experimentally. We predicted that religious belief might be one of the causes of prejudice, while analytic thinking reduces both. The first experiment replicated, in a mostly Muslim sample, past research showing that analytic thinking promotes religious disbelief. The second experiment investigated the effect of Muslim religious priming and analytic priming on prejudice and showed that, although the former significantly increased the total prejudice score, the latter had an effect only on antigay prejudice. Thus, the findings partially support our proposed pattern of relationships in that analytic thinking might be one of the cognitive factors that prevents prejudice, whereas religious belief might be the one that increases it.

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  • Young, D., Altmann, G. T., Cutler, A., & Norris, D. (1993). Metrical structure and the perception of time-compressed speech. In Eurospeech 93: Vol. 2 (pp. 771-774).

    Abstract

    In the absence of explicitly marked cues to word boundaries, listeners tend to segment spoken English at the onset of strong syllables. This may suggest that under difficult listening conditions, speech should be easier to recognize where strong syllables are word-initial. We report two experiments in which listeners were presented with sentences which had been time-compressed to make listening difficult. The first study contrasted sentences in which all content words began with strong syllables with sentences in which all content words began with weak syllables. The intelligibility of the two groups of sentences did not differ significantly. Apparent rhythmic effects in the results prompted a second experiment; however, no significant effects of systematic rhythmic manipulation were observed. In both experiments, the strongest predictor of intelligibility was the rated plausibility of the sentences. We conclude that listeners' recognition responses to time-compressed speech may be strongly subject to experiential bias; effects of rhythmic structure are most likely to show up also as bias effects.
  • Zeidler, H., Herrmann, E., Haun, D. B. M., & Tomasello, M. (2016). Taking turns or not? Children’s approach to limited resource problems in three different cultures. Child Development, 87(3), 677-688. doi:10.1111/cdev.12505.

    Abstract

    Some problems of resource distribution can be solved on equal terms only by taking turns. We presented such a problem to 168 pairs of 5- to 10-year-old children from one Western and two non-Western societies (German, Samburu, Kikuyu). Almost all German pairs solved the problem by taking turns immediately, resulting in an equal distribution of resources throughout the game. In the other groups, one child usually monopolized the resource in Trial 1 and sometimes let the partner monopolize it in Trial 2, resulting in an equal distribution in only half the dyads. These results suggest that turn-taking is not a natural strategy uniformly across human cultures, but rather that different cultures use it to different degrees and in different contexts.

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  • Zhang, Y., & Yu, C. (2016). Examining referential uncertainty in naturalistic contexts from the child’s view: Evidence from an eye-tracking study with infants. In A. Papafragou, D. Grodner, D. Mirman, & J. Trueswell (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (CogSci 2016). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society (pp. 2027-2032). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society.

    Abstract

    Young Infants are prolific word learners even though they are facing the challenge of referential uncertainty (Quine, 1960). Many laboratory studies have shown that infants are skilled at inferring correct referents of words from ambiguous contexts (Swingley, 2009). However, little is known regarding how they visually attend to and select the target object among many other objects in view when parents name it during everyday interactions. By investigating the looking pattern of 12-month-old infants using naturalistic first-person images with varying degrees of referential ambiguity, we found that infants’ attention is selective and they only select a small subset of objects to attend to at each learning instance despite the complexity of the data in the real world. This work allows us to better understand how perceptual properties of objects in infants’ view influence their visual attention, which is also related to how they select candidate objects to build word-object mappings.
  • Zhang, M., Gao, X., Li, B., Yu, S., Gong, T., Jiang, T., Hu, Q., & Chen, Y. (2016). Spatial representation of ordinal information. Frontiers in Psychology, 7: 505. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00505.

    Abstract

    Right hand responds faster than left hand when shown larger numbers and vice-versa when shown smaller numbers (the SNARC effect). Accumulating evidence suggests that the SNARC effect may not be exclusive for numbers and can be extended to other ordinal sequences (e.g., months or letters in the alphabet) as well. In this study, we tested the SNARC effect with a non-numerically ordered sequence: the Chinese notations for the color spectrum (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet). Chinese color word sequence reserves relatively weak ordinal information, because each element color in the sequence normally appears in non-sequential contexts, making it ideal to test the spatial organization of sequential information that was stored in the long-term memory. This study found a reliable SNARC-like effect for Chinese color words (deciding whether the presented color word was before or after the reference color word “green”), suggesting that, without access to any quantitative information or exposure to any previous training, ordinal representation can still activate a sense of space. The results support that weak ordinal information without quantitative magnitude encoded in the long-term memory can activate spatial representation in a comparison task
  • Zhao, H., Eising, E., de Vries, B., Vijfhuizen, L. S., Anttila, V., Winswold, B. S., Kurth, T., Stefansson, H., Kallela, M., Malik, R., Stam, A. H., Afran Ikram, M., Ligthart, L., Freilinger, T., Alexander, M., Müller-Myhsok, B., Schreiber, S., Meilinger, T., Aromas, A., Eriksson, J. G. and 15 moreZhao, H., Eising, E., de Vries, B., Vijfhuizen, L. S., Anttila, V., Winswold, B. S., Kurth, T., Stefansson, H., Kallela, M., Malik, R., Stam, A. H., Afran Ikram, M., Ligthart, L., Freilinger, T., Alexander, M., Müller-Myhsok, B., Schreiber, S., Meilinger, T., Aromas, A., Eriksson, J. G., Boomsma, D. I., van Duijn, C. M., Anker Zwart, J., Quaye, L., Kubisch, C., Dichgans, M., Wessman, M., Stefansson, K., Chasman, D. I., Palotie, A., Martin, N. G., Montgomery, G. W., Ferrari, M. D., van den Maagdenberg, A. M., & Nyholt, D. R. (2016). Gene-based pleiotropy across migraine with aura and migraine without aura patient groups. Cephalalgia, 36(7), 648-657. doi:10.1177/0333102415591497.

    Abstract

    Introduction It is unclear whether patients diagnosed according to International Classification of Headache Disorders criteria for migraine with aura (MA) and migraine without aura (MO) experience distinct disorders or whether their migraine subtypes are genetically related. Aim Using a novel gene-based (statistical) approach, we aimed to identify individual genes and pathways associated both with MA and MO. Methods Gene-based tests were performed using genome-wide association summary statistic results from the most recent International Headache Genetics Consortium study comparing 4505 MA cases with 34,813 controls and 4038 MO cases with 40,294 controls. After accounting for non-independence of gene-based test results, we examined the significance of the proportion of shared genes associated with MA and MO. Results We found a significant overlap in genes associated with MA and MO. Of the total 1514 genes with a nominally significant gene-based p value (pgene-based ≤ 0.05) in the MA subgroup, 107 also produced pgene-based ≤ 0.05 in the MO subgroup. The proportion of overlapping genes is almost double the empirically derived null expectation, producing significant evidence of gene-based overlap (pleiotropy) (pbinomial-test = 1.5 × 10–4). Combining results across MA and MO, six genes produced genome-wide significant gene-based p values. Four of these genes (TRPM8, UFL1, FHL5 and LRP1) were located in close proximity to previously reported genome-wide significant SNPs for migraine, while two genes, TARBP2 and NPFF separated by just 259 bp on chromosome 12q13.13, represent a novel risk locus. The genes overlapping in both migraine types were enriched for functions related to inflammation, the cardiovascular system and connective tissue. Conclusions Our results provide novel insight into the likely genes and biological mechanisms that underlie both MA and MO, and when combined with previous data, highlight the neuropeptide FF-amide peptide encoding gene (NPFF) as a novel candidate risk gene for both types of migraine.
  • Zimmermann, M., Verhagen, L., De Lange, F., & Toni, I. (2016). The extrastriate body area computes desired goal states during action planning. eNeuro, 3(2): ENEURO.0020-16.2016. doi:10.1523/ENEURO.0020-16.2016.

    Abstract

    How do object perception and action interact at a neural level? Here we test the hypothesis that perceptual
    features, processed by the ventral visuoperceptual stream, are used as priors by the dorsal visuomotor stream to
    specify goal-directed grasping actions. We present three main findings, which were obtained by combining
    time-resolved transcranial magnetic stimulation and kinematic tracking of grasp-and-rotate object manipulations,
    in a group of healthy human participants (N 22). First, the extrastriate body area (EBA), in the ventral stream,
    provides an initial structure to motor plans, based on current and desired states of a grasped object and of the
    grasping hand. Second, the contributions of EBA are earlier in time than those of a caudal intraparietal region
    known to specify the action plan. Third, the contributions of EBA are particularly important when desired and
    current object configurations differ, and multiple courses of actions are possible. These findings specify the
    temporal and functional characteristics for a mechanism that integrates perceptual processing with motor
    planning.
  • Zinken, J., & Rossi, G. (2016). Assistance and other forms of cooperative engagement. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 49(1), 20-26. doi:10.1080/08351813.2016.1126439.

    Abstract

    In their analysis of methods that participants use to manage the realization of practical courses of action, Kendrick and Drew (2016/this issue) focus on cases of assistance, where the need to be addressed is Self’s, and Other lends a helping hand. In our commentary, we point to other forms of cooperative engagement that are ubiquitously recruited in interaction. Imperative requests characteristically expect compliance on the grounds of Other’s already established commitment to a wider and shared course of actions. Established commitments can also provide the engine behind recruitment sequences that proceed nonverbally. And forms of cooperative engagement that are well glossed as assistance can nevertheless be demonstrably oriented to established commitments. In sum, we find commitment to shared courses of action to be an important element in the design and progression of certain recruitment sequences, where the involvement of Other is best defined as contribution. The commentary highlights the importance of interdependent orientations in the organization of cooperation. Data are in German, Italian, and Polish.
  • Zora, H., Heldner, M., & Schwarz, I.-C. (2016). Perceptual Correlates of Turkish Word Stress and Their Contribution to Automatic Lexical Access: Evidence from Early ERP Components. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10: 7. doi:10.3389/fnins.2016.00007.

    Abstract

    Perceptual correlates of Turkish word stress and their contribution to lexical access were studied using the mismatch negativity (MMN) component in event-related potentials (ERPs). The MMN was expected to indicate if segmentally identical Turkish words were distinguished on the sole basis of prosodic features such as fundamental frequency (f0), spectral emphasis (SE), and duration. The salience of these features in lexical access was expected to be reflected in the amplitude of MMN responses. In a multi-deviant oddball paradigm, neural responses to changes in f0, SE, and duration individually, as well as to all three features combined, were recorded for words and pseudowords presented to 14 native speakers of Turkish. The word and pseudoword contrast was used to differentiate language-related effects from acoustic-change effects on the neural responses. First and in line with previous findings, the overall MMN was maximal over frontal and central scalp locations. Second, changes in prosodic features elicited neural responses both in words and pseudowords, confirming the brain's automatic response to any change in auditory input. However, there were processing differences between the prosodic features, most significantly in f0: While f0 manipulation elicited a slightly right-lateralized frontally-maximal MMN in words, it elicited a frontal P3a in pseudowords. Considering that P3a is associated with involuntary allocation of attention to salient changes, the manipulations of f0 in the absence of lexical processing lead to an intentional evaluation of pitch change. f0 is therefore claimed to be lexically specified in Turkish. Rather than combined features, individual prosodic features differentiate language-related effects from acoustic-change effects. The present study confirms that segmentally identical words can be distinguished on the basis of prosodic information alone, and establishes the salience of f0 in lexical access.
  • Zora, H., Riad, T., Schwarz, I.-C., & Heldner, M. (2016). Lexical specification of prosodic information in Swedish: Evidence from mismatch negativity. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10(NOV): 533. doi:10.3389/fnins.2016.00533.

    Abstract

    Like that of many other Germanic languages, the stress system of Swedish has mainly undergone phonological analysis. Recently, however, researchers have begun to recognize the central role of morphology in these systems. Similar to the lexical specification of tonal accent, the Swedish stress system is claimed to be morphologically determined and morphemes are thus categorized as prosodically specified and prosodically unspecified. Prosodically specified morphemes bear stress information as part of their lexical representations and are classified as tonic (i.e., lexically stressed), pretonic and posttonic, whereas prosodically unspecified morphemes receive stress through a phonological rule that is right-edge oriented, but is sensitive to prosodic specification at that edge. The presence of prosodic specification is inferred from vowel quality and vowel quantity; if stress moves elsewhere, vowel quality and quantity change radically in phonologically stressed morphemes, whereas traces of stress remain in lexically stressed morphemes. The present study is the first to investigate whether stress is a lexical property of Swedish morphemes by comparing mismatch negativity (MMN) responses to vowel quality and quantity changes in phonologically stressed and lexically stressed words. In a passive oddball paradigm, 15 native speakers of Swedish were presented with standards and deviants, which differed from the standards in formant frequency and duration. Given that vowel quality and quantity changes are associated with morphological derivations only in phonologically stressed words, MMN responses are expected to be greater in phonologically stressed words than in lexically stressed words that lack such an association. The results indicated that the processing differences between phonologically and lexically stressed words were reflected in the amplitude and topography of MMN responses. Confirming the expectation, MMN amplitude was greater for the phonologically stressed word than for the lexically stressed word and showed a more widespread topographic distribution. The brain did not only detect vowel quality and quantity changes but also used them to activate memory traces associated with derivations. The present study therefore implies that morphology is directly involved in the Swedish stress system and that changes in phonological shape due to stress shift cue upcoming stress and potential addition of a morpheme.

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