Publications

Displaying 201 - 300 of 441
  • Koch, X., & Janse, E. (2016). Speech rate effects on the processing of conversational speech across the adult life span. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 139(4), 1618-1636. doi:10.1121/1.4944032.

    Abstract

    This study investigates the effect of speech rate on spoken word recognition across the adult life span. Contrary to previous studies, conversational materials with a natural variation in speech rate were used rather than lab-recorded stimuli that are subsequently artificially time-compressed. It was investigated whether older adults' speech recognition is more adversely affected by increased speech rate compared to younger and middle-aged adults, and which individual listener characteristics (e.g., hearing, fluid cognitive processing ability) predict the size of the speech rate effect on recognition performance. In an eye-tracking experiment, participants indicated with a mouse-click which visually presented words they recognized in a conversational fragment. Click response times, gaze, and pupil size data were analyzed. As expected, click response times and gaze behavior were affected by speech rate, indicating that word recognition is more difficult if speech rate is faster. Contrary to earlier findings, increased speech rate affected the age groups to the same extent. Fluid cognitive processing ability predicted general recognition performance, but did not modulate the speech rate effect. These findings emphasize that earlier results of age by speech rate interactions mainly obtained with artificially speeded materials may not generalize to speech rate variation as encountered in conversational speech.
  • Koch, X., Dingemanse, G., Goedegebure, A., & Janse, E. (2016). Type of speech material affects Acceptable Noise Level outcome. Frontiers in Psychology, 7: 186. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00186.

    Abstract

    The Acceptable Noise Level (ANL) test, in which individuals indicate what level of noise they are willing to put up with while following speech, has been used to guide hearing aid fitting decisions and has been found to relate to prospective hearing aid use. Unlike objective measures of speech perception ability, ANL outcome is not related to individual hearing loss or age, but rather reflects an individual's inherent acceptance of competing noise while listening to speech. As such, the measure may predict aspects of hearing aid success. Crucially, however, recent studies have questioned its repeatability (test-retest reliability). The first question for this study was whether the inconsistent results regarding the repeatability of the ANL test may be due to differences in speech material types used in previous studies. Second, it is unclear whether meaningfulness and semantic coherence of the speech modify ANL outcome. To investigate these questions, we compared ANLs obtained with three types of materials: the International Speech Test Signal (ISTS), which is non-meaningful and semantically non-coherent by definition, passages consisting of concatenated meaningful standard audiology sentences, and longer fragments taken from conversational speech. We included conversational speech as this type of speech material is most representative of everyday listening. Additionally, we investigated whether ANL outcomes, obtained with these three different speech materials, were associated with self-reported limitations due to hearing problems and listening effort in everyday life, as assessed by a questionnaire. ANL data were collected for 57 relatively good-hearing adult participants with an age range representative for hearing aid users. Results showed that meaningfulness, but not semantic coherence of the speech material affected ANL. Less noise was accepted for the non-meaningful ISTS signal than for the meaningful speech materials. ANL repeatability was comparable across the speech materials. Furthermore, ANL was found to be associated with the outcome of a hearing-related questionnaire. This suggests that ANL may predict activity limitations for listening to speech-in-noise in everyday situations. In conclusion, more natural speech materials can be used in a clinical setting as their repeatability is not reduced compared to more standard materials.
  • Kos, A., Wanke, K., Gioio, A., Martens, G. J., Kaplan, B. B., & Aschrafi, A. (2016). Monitoring mRNA Translation in Neuronal Processes Using Fluorescent Non-Canonical Amino Acid Tagging. Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, 64(5), 323-333. doi:10.1369/0022155416641604.

    Abstract

    A steady accumulation of experimental data argues that protein synthesis in neurons is not merely restricted to the somatic compartment, but also occurs in several discrete cellular micro-domains. Local protein synthesis is critical for the establishment of synaptic plasticity in mature dendrites and in directing the growth cones of immature axons, and has been associated with cognitive impairment in mice and humans. Although in recent years a number of important mechanisms governing this process have been described, it remains technically challenging to precisely monitor local protein synthesis in individual neuronal cell parts independent from the soma. This report presents the utility of employing microfluidic chambers for the isolation and treatment of single neuronal cellular compartments. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that a protein synthesis assay, based on fluorescent non-canonical amino acid tagging (FUNCAT), can be combined with this cell culture system to label nascent proteins within a discrete structural and functional domain of the neuron. Together, these techniques could be employed for the detection of protein synthesis within developing and mature neurites, offering an effective approach to elucidate novel mechanisms controlling synaptic maintenance and plasticity.
  • Kösem, A., Basirat, A., Azizi, L., & van Wassenhove, V. (2016). High frequency neural activity predicts word parsing in ambiguous speech streams. Journal of Neurophysiology, 116(6), 2497-2512. doi:10.1152/jn.00074.2016.

    Abstract

    During speech listening, the brain parses a continuous acoustic stream of information into computational units (e.g. syllables or words) necessary for speech comprehension. Recent neuroscientific hypotheses propose that neural oscillations contribute to speech parsing, but whether they do so on the basis of acoustic cues (bottom-up acoustic parsing) or as a function of available linguistic representations (top-down linguistic parsing) is unknown. In this magnetoencephalography study, we contrasted acoustic and linguistic parsing using bistable speech sequences. While listening to the speech sequences, participants were asked to maintain one of the two possible speech percepts through volitional control. We predicted that the tracking of speech dynamics by neural oscillations would not only follow the acoustic properties but also shift in time according to the participant’s conscious speech percept. Our results show that the latency of high-frequency activity (specifically, beta and gamma bands) varied as a function of the perceptual report. In contrast, the phase of low-frequency oscillations was not strongly affected by top-down control. While changes in low-frequency neural oscillations were compatible with the encoding of pre-lexical segmentation cues, high-frequency activity specifically informed on an individual’s conscious speech percept.

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  • Köster, O., Hess, M. M., Schiller, N. O., & Künzel, H. J. (1998). The correlation between auditory speech sensitivity and speaker recognition ability. Forensic Linguistics: The international Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 5, 22-32.

    Abstract

    In various applications of forensic phonetics the question arises as to how far aural-perceptual speaker recognition performance is reliable. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the relationship between speaker recognition results and human perception/production abilities like musicality or speech sensitivity. In this study, performance in a speaker recognition experiment and a speech sensitivity test are correlated. The results show a moderately significant positive correlation between the two tasks. Generally, performance in the speaker recognition task was better than in the speech sensitivity test. Professionals in speech and singing yielded a more homogeneous correlation than non-experts. Training in speech as well as choir-singing seems to have a positive effect on performance in speaker recognition. It may be concluded, firstly, that in cases where the reliability of voice line-up results or the credibility of a testimony have to be considered, the speech sensitivity test could be a useful indicator. Secondly, the speech sensitivity test might be integrated into the canon of possible procedures for the accreditation of forensic phoneticians. Both tests may also be used in combination.
  • De Kovel, C. G. F., Mulder, F., van Setten, J., van 't Slot, R., Al-Rubaish, A., Alshehri, A. M., Al Faraidy, K., Al-Ali, A., Al-Madan, M., Al Aqaili, I., Larbi, E., Al-Ali, R., Alzahrani, A., Asselbergs, F. W., Koeleman, B. P., & Al-Ali, A. (2016). Exome-Wide Association Analysis of Coronary Artery Disease in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Population. PLoS One, 11(2), e0146502. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0146502.

    Abstract

    Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Mortality rates associated with CAD have shown an exceptional increase particularly in fast developing economies like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Over the past twenty years, CAD has become the leading cause of death in KSA and has reached epidemic proportions. This rise is undoubtedly caused by fast urbanization that is associated with a life-style that promotes CAD. However, the question remains whether genetics play a significant role and whether genetic susceptibility is increased in KSA compared to the well-studied Western European populations. Therefore, we performed an Exome-wide association study (EWAS) in 832 patients and 1,076 controls of Saudi Arabian origin to test whether population specific, strong genetic risk factors for CAD exist, or whether the polygenic risk score for known genetic risk factors for CAD, lipids, and Type 2 Diabetes show evidence for an enriched genetic burden. Our results do not show significant associations for a single genetic locus. However, the heritability estimate for CAD for this population was high (h2 = 0.53, S.E. = 0.1, p = 4e-12) and we observed a significant association of the polygenic risk score for CAD that demonstrates that the population of KSA, at least in part, shares the genetic risk associated to CAD in Western populations.

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  • De Kovel, C. G. F., Brilstra, E. H., van Kempen, M. J., Van't Slot, R., Nijman, I. J., Afawi, Z., De Jonghe, P., Djemie, T., Guerrini, R., Hardies, K., Helbig, I., Hendrickx, R., Kanaan, M., Kramer, U., Lehesjoki, A. E., Lemke, J. R., Marini, C., Mei, D., Moller, R. S., Pendziwiat, M. and 4 moreDe Kovel, C. G. F., Brilstra, E. H., van Kempen, M. J., Van't Slot, R., Nijman, I. J., Afawi, Z., De Jonghe, P., Djemie, T., Guerrini, R., Hardies, K., Helbig, I., Hendrickx, R., Kanaan, M., Kramer, U., Lehesjoki, A. E., Lemke, J. R., Marini, C., Mei, D., Moller, R. S., Pendziwiat, M., Stamberger, H., Suls, A., Weckhuysen, S., & Koeleman, B. P. (2016). Targeted sequencing of 351 candidate genes for epileptic encephalopathy in a large cohort of patients. Molecular Genetics & Genomic Medicine, 4(5), 568-80. doi:10.1002/mgg3.235.

    Abstract

    Background Many genes are candidates for involvement in epileptic encephalopathy (EE) because one or a few possibly pathogenic variants have been found in patients, but insufficient genetic or functional evidence exists for a definite annotation. Methods To increase the number of validated EE genes, we sequenced 26 known and 351 candidate genes for EE in 360 patients. Variants in 25 genes known to be involved in EE or related phenotypes were followed up in 41 patients. We pri- oritized the candidate genes, and followed up 31 variants in this prioritized subset of candidate genes. Results Twenty-nine genotypes in known genes for EE (19) or related diseases (10), dominant as well as recessive or X-linked, were classified as likely pathogenic variants. Among those, likely pathogenic de novo variants were found in EE genes that act dominantly, including the recently identified genes EEF1A2, KCNB1 and the X-linked gene IQSEC2 .A de novo frameshift variant in candi- date gene HNRNPU was the only de novo variant found among the followed- up candidate genes, and the patient’s phenotype was similar to a few recent publication
  • Krämer, I. (1998). Children's interpretations of indefinite object noun phrases. Linguistics in the Netherlands, 1998, 163-174. doi:10.1075/avt.15.15kra.
  • Kroes, H. Y., Monroe, G. R., van der Zwaag, B., Duran, K. J., De Kovel, C. G. F., van Roosmalen, M. J., Harakalova, M., Nijman, I. J., Kloosterman, W. P., Giles, R. H., Knoers, N. V., & van Haaften, G. (2016). Joubert syndrome: genotyping a Northern European patient cohort. European Journal of Human Genetics, 24(2), 214-20. doi:10.1038/ejhg.2015.84.
  • Kuijpers, C. T., Coolen, R., Houston, D., & Cutler, A. (1998). Using the head-turning technique to explore cross-linguistic performance differences. In C. Rovee-Collier, L. Lipsitt, & H. Hayne (Eds.), Advances in infancy research: Vol. 12 (pp. 205-220). Stamford: Ablex.
  • Kulakova, E., & Nieuwland, M. S. (2016). Pragmatic skills predict online counterfactual comprehension: Evidence from the N400. Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, 16(5), 814-824. doi:10.3758/s13415-016-0433-4.

    Abstract

    Counterfactual thought allows people to consider alternative worlds they know to be false. Communicating these thoughts through language poses a social-communicative challenge because listeners typically expect a speaker to produce true utterances, but counterfactuals per definition convey information that is false. Listeners must therefore incorporate overt linguistic cues (subjunctive mood, such as in If I loved you then) in a rapid way to infer the intended counterfactual meaning. The present EEG study focused on the comprehension of such counterfactual antecedents and investigated if pragmatic ability—the ability to apply knowledge of the social-communicative use of language in daily life—predicts the online generation of counterfactual worlds. This yielded two novel findings: (1) Words that are consistent with factual knowledge incur a semantic processing cost, as reflected in larger N400 amplitude, in counterfactual antecedents compared to hypothetical antecedents (If sweets were/are made of sugar). We take this to suggest that counterfactuality is quickly incorporated during language comprehension and reduces online expectations based on factual knowledge. (2) Individual scores on the Autism Quotient Communication subscale modulated this effect, suggesting that individuals who are better at understanding the communicative intentions of other people are more likely to reduce knowledge-based expectations in counterfactuals. These results are the first demonstration of the real-time pragmatic processes involved in creating possible worlds.
  • Kulakova, E., & Nieuwland, M. S. (2016). Understanding Counterfactuality: A Review of Experimental Evidence for the Dual Meaning of Counterfactuals. Language and Linguistics Compass, 10(2), 49-65. doi:10.1111/lnc3.12175.

    Abstract

    Cognitive and linguistic theories of counterfactual language comprehension assume that counterfactuals convey a dual meaning. Subjunctive-counterfactual conditionals (e.g., ‘If Tom had studied hard, he would have passed the test’) express a supposition while implying the factual state of affairs (Tom has not studied hard and failed). The question of how counterfactual dual meaning plays out during language processing is currently gaining interest in psycholinguistics. Whereas numerous studies using offline measures of language processing consistently support counterfactual dual meaning, evidence coming from online studies is less conclusive. Here, we review the available studies that examine online counterfactual language comprehension through behavioural measurement (self-paced reading times, eye-tracking) and neuroimaging (electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging). While we argue that these studies do not offer direct evidence for the online computation of counterfactual dual meaning, they provide valuable information about the way counterfactual meaning unfolds in time and influences successive information processing. Further advances in research on counterfactual comprehension require more specific predictions about how counterfactual dual meaning impacts incremental sentence processing.
  • Kunert, R., Willems, R. M., & Hagoort, P. (2016). An independent psychometric evaluation of the PROMS measure of music perception skills. PLoS One, 11(7): e0159103. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0159103.

    Abstract

    The Profile of Music Perception Skills (PROMS) is a recently developed measure of perceptual music skills which has been shown to have promising psychometric properties. In this paper we extend the evaluation of its brief version to three kinds of validity using an individual difference approach. The brief PROMS displays good discriminant validity with working memory, given that it does not correlate with backward digit span (r = .04). Moreover, it shows promising criterion validity (association with musical training (r = .45), musicianship status (r = .48), and self-rated musical talent (r = .51)). Finally, its convergent validity, i.e. relation to an unrelated measure of music perception skills, was assessed by correlating the brief PROMS to harmonic closure judgment accuracy. Two independent samples point to good convergent validity of the brief PROMS (r = .36; r = .40). The same association is still significant in one of the samples when including self-reported music skill in a partial correlation (rpartial = .30; rpartial = .17). Overall, the results show that the brief version of the PROMS displays a very good pattern of construct validity. Especially its tuning subtest stands out as a valuable part for music skill evaluations in Western samples. We conclude by briefly discussing the choice faced by music cognition researchers between different musical aptitude measures of which the brief PROMS is a well evaluated example.
  • Kunert, R., Willems, R. M., & Hagoort, P. (2016). Language influences music harmony perception: effects of shared syntactic integration resources beyond attention. Royal Society Open Science, 3(2): 150685. doi:10.1098/rsos.150685.

    Abstract

    Many studies have revealed shared music–language processing resources by finding an influence of music harmony manipulations on concurrent language processing. However, the nature of the shared resources has remained ambiguous. They have been argued to be syntax specific and thus due to shared syntactic integration resources. An alternative view regards them as related to general attention and, thus, not specific to syntax. The present experiments evaluated these accounts by investigating the influence of language on music. Participants were asked to provide closure judgements on harmonic sequences in order to assess the appropriateness of sequence endings. At the same time participants read syntactic garden-path sentences. Closure judgements revealed a change in harmonic processing as the result of reading a syntactically challenging word. We found no influence of an arithmetic control manipulation (experiment 1) or semantic garden-path sentences (experiment 2). Our results provide behavioural evidence for a specific influence of linguistic syntax processing on musical harmony judgements. A closer look reveals that the shared resources appear to be needed to hold a harmonic key online in some form of syntactic working memory or unification workspace related to the integration of chords and words. Overall, our results support the syntax specificity of shared music–language processing resources.
  • Kunert, R. (2016). Internal conceptual replications do not increase independent replication success. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 23(5), 1631-1638. doi:10.3758/s13423-016-1030-9.

    Abstract

    Recently, many psychological effects have been surprisingly difficult to reproduce. This article asks why, and investigates whether conceptually replicating an effect in the original publication is related to the success of independent, direct replications. Two prominent accounts of low reproducibility make different predictions in this respect. One account suggests that psychological phenomena are dependent on unknown contexts that are not reproduced in independent replication attempts. By this account, internal replications indicate that a finding is more robust and, thus, that it is easier to independently replicate it. An alternative account suggests that researchers employ questionable research practices (QRPs), which increase false positive rates. By this account, the success of internal replications may just be the result of QRPs and, thus, internal replications are not predictive of independent replication success. The data of a large reproducibility project support the QRP account: replicating an effect in the original publication is not related to independent replication success. Additional analyses reveal that internally replicated and internally unreplicated effects are not very different in terms of variables associated with replication success. Moreover, social psychological effects in particular appear to lack any benefit from internal replications. Overall, these results indicate that, in this dataset at least, the influence of QRPs is at the heart of failures to replicate psychological findings, especially in social psychology. Variable, unknown contexts appear to play only a relatively minor role. I recommend practical solutions for how QRPs can be avoided.

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  • Lai, V. T., & Huettig, F. (2016). When prediction is fulfilled: Insight from emotion processing. Neuropsychologia, 85, 110-117. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.03.014.

    Abstract

    Research on prediction in language processing has focused predominantly on the function of predictive context and less on the potential contribution of the predicted word. The present study investigated how meaning that is not immediately prominent in the contents of predictions but is part of the predicted words influences sentence processing. We used emotional meaning to address this question. Participants read emotional and neutral words embedded in highly predictive and non-predictive sentential contexts, with the two sentential contexts rated similarly for their emotional ratings. Event Related Potential (ERP) effects of prediction and emotion both started at ~200 ms. Confirmed predictions elicited larger P200s than violated predictions when the target words were non-emotional (neutral), but such effect was absent when the target words were emotional. Likewise, emotional words elicited larger P200s than neutral words when the target words were non-predictive, but such effect were absent when the contexts were predictive. We conjecture that the prediction and emotion effects at ~200 ms may share similar neural process(es). We suggest that such process(es) could be affective, where confirmed predictions and word emotion give rise to ‘aha’ or reward feelings, and/or cognitive, where both prediction and word emotion quickly engage attention

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  • Lam, N. H. L., Schoffelen, J.-M., Udden, J., Hulten, A., & Hagoort, P. (2016). Neural activity during sentence processing as reflected in theta, alpha, beta and gamma oscillations. NeuroImage, 142(15), 43-54. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.03.007.

    Abstract

    We used magnetoencephalography (MEG) to explore the spatio-temporal dynamics of neural oscillations associated with sentence processing, in 102 participants. We quantified changes in oscillatory power as the sentence unfolded, and in response to individual words in the sentence. For words early in a sentence compared to those late in the same sentence, we observed differences in left temporal and frontal areas, and bilateral frontal and right parietal regions for the theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands. The neural response to words in a sentence differed from the response to words in scrambled sentences in left-lateralized theta, alpha, beta, and gamma. The theta band effects suggest that a sentential context facilitates lexical retrieval, and that this facilitation is stronger for words late in the sentence. Effects in the alpha and beta band may reflect the unification of semantic and syntactic information, and are suggestive of easier unification late in a sentence. The gamma oscillations are indicative of predicting the upcoming word during sentence processing. In conclusion, changes in oscillatory neuronal activity capture aspects of sentence processing. Our results support earlier claims that language (sentence) processing recruits areas distributed across both hemispheres, and extends beyond the classical language regions
  • de Lange, I. M., Helbig, K. L., Weckhuysen, S., Moller, R. S., Velinov, M., Dolzhanskaya, N., Marsh, E., Helbig, I., Devinsky, O., Tang, S., Mefford, H. C., Myers, C. T., van Paesschen, W., Striano, P., van Gassen, K., van Kempen, M., De Kovel, C. G. F., Piard, J., Minassian, B. A., Nezarati, M. M. and 12 morede Lange, I. M., Helbig, K. L., Weckhuysen, S., Moller, R. S., Velinov, M., Dolzhanskaya, N., Marsh, E., Helbig, I., Devinsky, O., Tang, S., Mefford, H. C., Myers, C. T., van Paesschen, W., Striano, P., van Gassen, K., van Kempen, M., De Kovel, C. G. F., Piard, J., Minassian, B. A., Nezarati, M. M., Pessoa, A., Jacquette, A., Maher, B., Balestrini, S., Sisodiya, S., Warde, M. T., De St Martin, A., Chelly, J., van 't Slot, R., Van Maldergem, L., Brilstra, E. H., & Koeleman, B. P. (2016). De novo mutations of KIAA2022 in females cause intellectual disability and intractable epilepsy. Journal of Medical Genetics, 53(12), 850-858. doi:10.1136/jmedgenet-2016-103909.

    Abstract

    Background Mutations in the KIAA2022 gene have been reported in male patients with X-linked intellectual disability, and related female carriers were unaffected. Here, we report 14 female patients who carry a heterozygous de novo KIAA2022 mutation and share a phenotype characterised by intellectual disability and epilepsy.

    Methods Reported females were selected for genetic testing because of substantial developmental problems and/or epilepsy. X-inactivation and expression studies were performed when possible.

    Results All mutations were predicted to result in a frameshift or premature stop. 12 out of 14 patients had intractable epilepsy with myoclonic and/or absence seizures, and generalised in 11. Thirteen patients had mild to severe intellectual disability. This female phenotype partially overlaps with the reported male phenotype which consists of more severe intellectual disability, microcephaly, growth retardation, facial dysmorphisms and, less frequently, epilepsy. One female patient showed completely skewed X-inactivation, complete absence of RNA expression in blood and a phenotype similar to male patients. In the six other tested patients, X-inactivation was random, confirmed by a non-significant twofold to threefold decrease of RNA expression in blood, consistent with the expected mosaicism between cells expressing mutant or normal KIAA2022 alleles.

    Conclusions Heterozygous loss of KIAA2022 expression is a cause of intellectual disability in females. Compared with its hemizygous male counterpart, the heterozygous female disease has less severe intellectual disability, but is more often associated with a severe and intractable myoclonic epilepsy.
  • Lattenkamp, E. Z., Mandák, M., & Scherz, M. D. (2016). The advertisement call of Stumpffia be Köhler, Vences, D'Cruze & Glaw, 2010 (Anura: Microhylidae: Cophylinae). Zootaxa, 4205(5), 483-485. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4205.5.7.

    Abstract

    We describe the calls of Stumpffia be Köhler, Vences, D’Cruze & Glaw, 2010. This is the first call description made for a species belonging to the large-bodied northern Madagascan radiation of Stumpffia Boettger, 1881. Stumpffia is a genus of small (~9–28 mm) microhylid frogs in the Madagascar-endemic subfamily Cophylinae Cope. Little is known about their reproductive strategies. Most species are assumed to lay their eggs in foam nests in the leaf litter of Madagascar’s humid and semi-humid forests (Glaw & Vences 1994; Klages et al. 2013). They exhibit some degree of parental care, with the males guarding the nest after eggs are laid (Klages et al. 2013). The bioacoustic repertoire of these frogs is thought to be limited, and there are two distinct call structures known for the genus: the advertisement call of the type species, S. psologlossa Boettger, 1881, is apparently unique in being a trill of notes repeated in short succession. All other species from which calls are known emit single, whistling or chirping notes (Vences & Glaw 1991; Vences et al. 2006).

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  • Lau, E., Weber, K., Gramfort, A., Hämäläinen, M., & Kuperberg, G. (2016). Spatiotemporal signatures of lexical–semantic prediction. Cerebral Cortex., 26(4), 1377-1387. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhu219.

    Abstract

    Although there is broad agreement that top-down expectations can facilitate lexical-semantic processing, the mechanisms driving these effects are still unclear. In particular, while previous electroencephalography (EEG) research has demonstrated a reduction in the N400 response to words in a supportive context, it is often challenging to dissociate facilitation due to bottom-up spreading activation from facilitation due to top-down expectations. The goal of the current study was to specifically determine the cortical areas associated with facilitation due to top-down prediction, using magnetoencephalography (MEG) recordings supplemented by EEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a semantic priming paradigm. In order to modulate expectation processes while holding context constant, we manipulated the proportion of related pairs across 2 blocks (10 and 50% related). Event-related potential results demonstrated a larger N400 reduction when a related word was predicted, and MEG source localization of activity in this time-window (350-450 ms) localized the differential responses to left anterior temporal cortex. fMRI data from the same participants support the MEG localization, showing contextual facilitation in left anterior superior temporal gyrus for the high expectation block only. Together, these results provide strong evidence that facilitatory effects of lexical-semantic prediction on the electrophysiological response 350-450 ms postonset reflect modulation of activity in left anterior temporal cortex.
  • Lausberg, H., & Sloetjes, H. (2016). The revised NEUROGES–ELAN system: An objective and reliable interdisciplinary analysis tool for nonverbal behavior and gesture. Behavior Research Methods, 48, 973-993. doi:10.3758/s13428-015-0622-z.

    Abstract

    As visual media spread to all domains of public and scientific life, nonverbal behavior is taking its place as an important form of communication alongside the written and spoken word. An objective and reliable method of analysis for hand movement behavior and gesture is therefore currently required in various scientific disciplines, including psychology, medicine, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, and computer science. However, no adequate common methodological standards have been developed thus far. Many behavioral gesture-coding systems lack objectivity and reliability, and automated methods that register specific movement parameters often fail to show validity with regard to psychological and social functions. To address these deficits, we have combined two methods, an elaborated behavioral coding system and an annotation tool for video and audio data. The NEUROGES–ELAN system is an effective and user-friendly research tool for the analysis of hand movement behavior, including gesture, self-touch, shifts, and actions. Since its first publication in 2009 in Behavior Research Methods, the tool has been used in interdisciplinary research projects to analyze a total of 467 individuals from different cultures, including subjects with mental disease and brain damage. Partly on the basis of new insights from these studies, the system has been revised methodologically and conceptually. The article presents the revised version of the system, including a detailed study of reliability. The improved reproducibility of the revised version makes NEUROGES–ELAN a suitable system for basic empirical research into the relation between hand movement behavior and gesture and cognitive, emotional, and interactive processes and for the development of automated movement behavior recognition methods.
  • Lemke, J. R., Geider, K., Helbig, K. L., Heyne, H. O., Schutz, H., Hentschel, J., Courage, C., Depienne, C., Nava, C., Heron, D., Moller, R. S., Hjalgrim, H., Lal, D., Neubauer, B. A., Nurnberg, P., Thiele, H., Kurlemann, G., Arnold, G. L., Bhambhani, V., Bartholdi, D. and 38 moreLemke, J. R., Geider, K., Helbig, K. L., Heyne, H. O., Schutz, H., Hentschel, J., Courage, C., Depienne, C., Nava, C., Heron, D., Moller, R. S., Hjalgrim, H., Lal, D., Neubauer, B. A., Nurnberg, P., Thiele, H., Kurlemann, G., Arnold, G. L., Bhambhani, V., Bartholdi, D., Pedurupillay, C. R., Misceo, D., Frengen, E., Stromme, P., Dlugos, D. J., Doherty, E. S., Bijlsma, E. K., Ruivenkamp, C. A., Hoffer, M. J., Goldstein, A., Rajan, D. S., Narayanan, V., Ramsey, K., Belnap, N., Schrauwen, I., Richholt, R., Koeleman, B. P., Sa, J., Mendonca, C., De Kovel, C. G. F., Weckhuysen, S., Hardies, K., De Jonghe, P., De Meirleir, L., Milh, M., Badens, C., Lebrun, M., Busa, T., Francannet, C., Piton, A., Riesch, E., Biskup, S., Vogt, H., Dorn, T., Helbig, I., Michaud, J. L., Laube, B., & Syrbe, S. (2016). Delineating the GRIN1 phenotypic spectrum: A distinct genetic NMDA receptor encephalopathy. Neurology, 86(23), 2171-2178. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000002740.
  • Leonard, M., Baud, M., Sjerps, M. J., & Chang, E. (2016). Perceptual restoration of masked speech in human cortex. Nature Communications, 7: 13619. doi:10.1038/ncomms13619.

    Abstract

    Humans are adept at understanding speech despite the fact that our natural listening environment is often filled with interference. An example of this capacity is phoneme restoration, in which part of a word is completely replaced by noise, yet listeners report hearing the whole word. The neurological basis for this unconscious fill-in phenomenon is unknown, despite being a fundamental characteristic of human hearing. Here, using direct cortical recordings in humans, we demonstrate that missing speech is restored at the acoustic-phonetic level in bilateral auditory cortex, in real-time. This restoration is preceded by specific neural activity patterns in a separate language area, left frontal cortex, which predicts the word that participants later report hearing. These results demonstrate that during speech perception, missing acoustic content is synthesized online from the integration of incoming sensory cues and the internal neural dynamics that bias word-level expectation and prediction.

    Additional information

    ncomms13619-s1.pdf
  • Lev-Ari, S., & Peperkamp, S. (2016). How the demographic make-up of our community influences speech perception. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 139(6), 3076-3087. doi:10.1121/1.4950811.

    Abstract

    Speech perception is known to be influenced by listeners’ expectations of the speaker. This paper tests whether the demographic makeup of individuals’ communities can influence their perception of foreign sounds by influencing their expectations of the language. Using online experiments with participants from all across the U.S. and matched census data on the proportion of Spanish and other foreign language speakers in participants’ communities, this paper shows that the demo- graphic makeup of individuals’ communities influences their expectations of foreign languages to have an alveolar trill versus a tap (Experiment 1), as well as their consequent perception of these sounds (Experiment 2). Thus, the paper shows that while individuals’ expectations of foreign lan- guage to have a trill occasionally lead them to misperceive a tap in a foreign language as a trill, a higher proportion of non-trill language speakers in one’s community decreases this likelihood. These results show that individuals’ environment can influence their perception by shaping their linguistic expectations
  • Lev-Ari, S. (2016). How the size of our social network influences our semantic skills. Cognitive Science, 40, 2050-2064. doi:10.1111/cogs.12317.

    Abstract

    People differ in the size of their social network, and thus in the properties of the linguistic input they receive. This article examines whether differences in social network size influence individuals’ linguistic skills in their native language, focusing on global comprehension of evaluative language. Study 1 exploits the natural variation in social network size and shows that individuals with larger social networks are better at understanding the valence of restaurant reviews. Study 2 manipulated social network size by randomly assigning participants to learn novel evaluative words as used by two (small network) versus eight (large network) speakers. It replicated the finding from Study 1, showing that those exposed to a larger social network were better at comprehending the valence of product reviews containing the novel words that were written by novel speakers. Together, these studies show that the size of one's social network can influence success at language comprehension. They thus open the door to research on how individuals’ lifestyle and the nature of their social interactions can influence linguistic skills.
  • Lev-Ari, S. (2016). Studying individual differences in the social environment to better understand language learning and processing. Linguistics Vanguard, 2(s1), 13-22. doi:10.1515/lingvan-2016-0015.
  • Lev-Ari, S. (2016). Selective grammatical convergence: Learning from desirable speakers. Discourse Processes, 53(8), 657-674. doi:10.1080/0163853X.2015.1094716.

    Abstract

    Models of language learning often assume that we learn from all the input we receive. This assumption is particularly strong in the domain of short-term and long-term grammatical convergence, where researchers argue that grammatical convergence is mostly an automatic process insulated from social factors. This paper shows that the degree to which individuals learn from grammatical input is modulated by social and contextual factors, such as the degree to which the speaker is liked and their social standing. Furthermore, such modulation is found in experiments that test generalized learning rather than convergence during the interaction. This paper thus shows the importance of the social context in grammatical learning, and indicates that the social context should be integrated into models of language learning.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (2016). Localism versus holism. Historical origins of studying language in the brain. In R. Rubens, & M. Van Dijk (Eds.), Sartoniana vol. 29 (pp. 37-60). Ghent: Ghent University.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (2016). The first golden age of psycholinguistics 1865-World War I. In R. Rubens, & M. Van Dyck (Eds.), Sartoniana vol. 29 (pp. 15-36). Ghent: Ghent University.
  • Levelt, W. J. M., & De Swaan, A. (2016). Levensbericht Nico Frijda. In Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (Ed.), Levensberichten en herdenkingen 2016 (pp. 16-25). Amsterdam: KNAW.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1993). Die konnektionistische Mode. In J. Engelkamp, & T. Pechmann (Eds.), Mentale Repräsentation (pp. 51-62). Bern: Huber Verlag.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1993). Accessing words in speech production: Stages, processes and representations. In W. J. M. Levelt (Ed.), Lexical access in speech production (pp. 1-22). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.

    Abstract

    Originally published in Cognition International Journal of Cognitive Science, Volume 42, Numbers 1-3, 1992 This paper introduces a special issue of Cognition 011 lexical access in speech production. Over the last quarter century, the psycholinguistic study of speaking, and in particular of accessing words in speech, received a major new impetus from the analysis of speech errors, dysfluencies and hesMions, from aphasiology, and from new paradigms in reaction time research. The emerging theoretical picture partitions the accessing process into two subprocesses, the selection of an appropriate lexical item (and "lemma") from the mental lexicon, and the phonological encoding of that item, that is, the computation of a phonetic program for the item in the context of utterance These two theoretical domains are successively introduced by outlining some core issues that have been or still have to be addressed. The final section discusses the controversial question whether phonological encoding can affect lexical selection. This partitioning is also followed in this special issue as a whole. There are, first, four papers on lexical selection, then three papers on phonological encoding, and finally one on the interaction between selection and phonological encoding.
  • Levelt, W. J. M., Praamstra, P., Meyer, A. S., Helenius, P., & Salmelin, R. (1998). An MEG study of picture naming. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 10(5), 553-567. doi:10.1162/089892998562960.

    Abstract

    The purpose of this study was to relate a psycholinguistic processing model of picture naming to the dynamics of cortical activation during picture naming. The activation was recorded from eight Dutch subjects with a whole-head neuromagnetometer. The processing model, based on extensive naming latency studies, is a stage model. In preparing a picture's name, the speaker performs a chain of specific operations. They are, in this order, computing the visual percept, activating an appropriate lexical concept, selecting the target word from the mental lexicon, phonological encoding, phonetic encoding, and initiation of articulation. The time windows for each of these operations are reasonably well known and could be related to the peak activity of dipole sources in the individual magnetic response patterns. The analyses showed a clear progression over these time windows from early occipital activation, via parietal and temporal to frontal activation. The major specific findings were that (1) a region in the left posterior temporal lobe, agreeing with the location of Wernicke's area, showed prominent activation starting about 200 msec after picture onset and peaking at about 350 msec, (i.e., within the stage of phonological encoding), and (2) a consistent activation was found in the right parietal cortex, peaking at about 230 msec after picture onset, thus preceding and partly overlapping with the left temporal response. An interpretation in terms of the management of visual attention is proposed.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1962). Motion breaking and the perception of causality. In A. Michotte (Ed.), Causalité, permanence et réalité phénoménales: Etudes de psychologie expérimentale (pp. 244-258). Louvain: Publications Universitaires.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1993). Lexical access in speech production. In E. Reuland, & W. Abraham (Eds.), Knowledge and language: Vol. 1. From Orwell's problem to Plato's problem (pp. 241-251). Dordrecht: Kluwer.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1993). Lexical selection, or how to bridge the major rift in language processing. In F. Beckmann, & G. Heyer (Eds.), Theorie und Praxis des Lexikons (pp. 164-172). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
  • Levelt, W. J. M., & Schiller, N. O. (1998). Is the syllable frame stored? [Commentary on the BBS target article 'The frame/content theory of evolution of speech production' by Peter F. McNeilage]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 520.

    Abstract

    This commentary discusses whether abstract metrical frames are stored. For stress-assigning languages (e.g., Dutch and English), which have a dominant stress pattern, metrical frames are stored only for words that deviate from the default stress pattern. The majority of the words in these languages are produced without retrieving any independent syllabic or metrical frame.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1993). The architecture of normal spoken language use. In G. Blanken, J. Dittman, H. Grimm, J. C. Marshall, & C.-W. Wallesch (Eds.), Linguistic disorders and pathologies: An international handbook (pp. 1-15). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1993). Spreken als vaardigheid. In C. Blankenstijn, & A. Scheper (Eds.), Taalvaardigheid (pp. 1-16). Dordrecht: ICG Publications.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1998). The genetic perspective in psycholinguistics, or: Where do spoken words come from? Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 27(2), 167-180. doi:10.1023/A:1023245931630.

    Abstract

    The core issue in the 19-century sources of psycholinguistics was the question, "Where does language come from?'' This genetic perspective unified the study of the ontogenesis, the phylogenesis, the microgenesis, and to some extent the neurogenesis of language. This paper makes the point that this original perspective is still a valid and attractive one. It is exemplified by a discussion of the genesis of spoken words.
  • Levelt, W. J. M. (1993). Timing in speech production with special reference to word form encoding. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 682, 283-295. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1993.tb22976.x.
  • Levinson, S. C., & Brown, P. (1993). Background to "Immanuel Kant among the Tenejapans". Anthropology Newsletter, 34(3), 22-23. doi:10.1111/an.1993.34.3.22.
  • Levinson, S. C. (1998). Deixis. In J. L. Mey (Ed.), Concise encyclopedia of pragmatics (pp. 200-204). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Levinson, S. C. (2016). “Process and perish” or multiple buffers with push-down stacks? [Commentary on Christiansen & Slater]. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 39: e81. doi:10.1017/S0140525X15000862.

    Abstract

    This commentary raises two issues: (1) Language processing is hastened not only by internal pressures but also externally by turntaking in language use; (2) the theory requires nested levels of processing, but linguistic levels do not fully nest; further, it would seem to require multiple memory buffers, otherwise there’s no obvious treatment for discontinuous structures, or for verbatim recall.
  • Levinson, S. C. (1998). Minimization and conversational inference. In A. Kasher (Ed.), Pragmatics: Vol. 4 Presupposition, implicature and indirect speech acts (pp. 545-612). London: Routledge.
  • Levinson, S. C. (2016). Language and mind: Let's get the issues straight! In S. D. Blum (Ed.), Making sense of language: Readings in culture and communication [3rd ed.] (pp. 68-80). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Levinson, S. C. (1993). Raumkonzeptionen mit absoluten Systemen. In Max Planck Gesellschaft Jahrbuch 1993 (pp. 297-299).
  • Levinson, S. C. (2016). The countable singulare tantum. In A. Reuneker, R. Boogaart, & S. Lensink (Eds.), Aries netwerk: Een constructicon (pp. 145-146). Leiden: Leiden University.
  • Levinson, S. C. (1998). Studying spatial conceptualization across cultures: Anthropology and cognitive science. Ethos, 26(1), 7-24. doi:10.1525/eth.1998.26.1.7.

    Abstract

    Philosophers, psychologists, and linguists have argued that spatial conception is pivotal to cognition in general, providing a general, egocentric, and universal framework for cognition as well as metaphors for conceptualizing many other domains. But in an aboriginal community in Northern Queensland, a system of cardinal directions informs not only language, but also memory for arbitrary spatial arrays and directions. This work suggests that fundamental cognitive parameters, like the system of coding spatial locations, can vary cross-culturally, in line with the language spoken by a community. This opens up the prospect of a fruitful dialogue between anthropology and the cognitive sciences on the complex interaction between cultural and universal factors in the constitution of mind.
  • Levinson, S. C. (2016). Turn-taking in human communication, origins, and implications for language processing. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(1), 6-14. doi:10.1016/j.tics.2015.10.010.

    Abstract

    Most language usage is interactive, involving rapid turn-taking. The turn-taking system has a number of striking properties: turns are short and responses are remarkably rapid, but turns are of varying length and often of very complex construction such that the underlying cognitive processing is highly compressed. Although neglected in cognitive science, the system has deep implications for language processing and acquisition that are only now becoming clear. Appearing earlier in ontogeny than linguistic competence, it is also found across all the major primate clades. This suggests a possible phylogenetic continuity, which may provide key insights into language evolution.
  • Levshina, N. (2016). When variables align: A Bayesian multinomial mixed-effects model of English permissive constructions. Cognitive Linguistics, 27(2), 235-268. doi:10.1515/cog-2015-0054.
  • Lewis, A. G., Schoffelen, J.-M., Schriefers, H., & Bastiaansen, M. C. M. (2016). A Predictive Coding Perspective on Beta Oscillations during Sentence-Level Language Comprehension. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10: 85. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00085.

    Abstract

    Oscillatory neural dynamics have been steadily receiving more attention as a robust and temporally precise signature of network activity related to language processing. We have recently proposed that oscillatory dynamics in the beta and gamma frequency ranges measured during sentence-level comprehension might be best explained from a predictive coding perspective. Under our proposal we related beta oscillations to both the maintenance/change of the neural network configuration responsible for the construction and representation of sentence-level meaning, and to top–down predictions about upcoming linguistic input based on that sentence-level meaning. Here we zoom in on these particular aspects of our proposal, and discuss both old and new supporting evidence. Finally, we present some preliminary magnetoencephalography data from an experiment comparing Dutch subject- and object-relative clauses that was specifically designed to test our predictive coding framework. Initial results support the first of the two suggested roles for beta oscillations in sentence-level language comprehension.
  • Lewis, A. G., Lemhӧfer, K., Schoffelen, J.-M., & Schriefers, H. (2016). Gender agreement violations modulate beta oscillatory dynamics during sentence comprehension: A comparison of second language learners and native speakers. Neuropsychologia, 89(1), 254-272. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.06.031.

    Abstract

    For native speakers, many studies suggest a link between oscillatory neural activity in the beta frequency range and syntactic processing. For late second language (L2) learners on the other hand, the extent to which the neural architecture supporting syntactic processing is similar to or different from that of native speakers is still unclear. In a series of four experiments, we used electroencephalography to investigate the link between beta oscillatory activity and the processing of grammatical gender agreement in Dutch determiner-noun pairs, for Dutch native speakers, and for German L2 learners of Dutch. In Experiment 1 we show that for native speakers, grammatical gender agreement violations are yet another among many syntactic factors that modulate beta oscillatory activity during sentence comprehension. Beta power is higher for grammatically acceptable target words than for those that mismatch in grammatical gender with their preceding determiner. In Experiment 2 we observed no such beta modulations for L2 learners, irrespective of whether trials were sorted according to objective or subjective syntactic correctness. Experiment 3 ruled out that the absence of a beta effect for the L2 learners in Experiment 2 was due to repetition of the target nouns in objectively correct and incorrect determiner-noun pairs. Finally, Experiment 4 showed that when L2 learners are required to explicitly focus on grammatical information, they show modulations of beta oscillatory activity, comparable to those of native speakers, but only when trials are sorted according to participants’ idiosyncratic lexical representations of the grammatical gender of target nouns. Together, these findings suggest that beta power in L2 learners is sensitive to violations of grammatical gender agreement, but only when the importance of grammatical information is highlighted, and only when participants' subjective lexical representations are taken into account.
  • Lockwood, G. (2016). Academic clickbait: Articles with positively-framed titles, interesting phrasing, and no wordplay get more attention online. The Winnower, 3: e146723.36330. doi:10.15200/winn.146723.36330.

    Abstract

    This article is about whether the factors which drive online sharing of non-scholarly content also apply to academic journal titles. It uses Altmetric scores as a measure of online attention to articles from Frontiers in Psychology published in 2013 and 2014. Article titles with result-oriented positive framing and more interesting phrasing receive higher Altmetric scores, i.e., get more online attention. Article titles with wordplay and longer article titles receive lower Altmetric scores. This suggests that the same factors that affect how widely non-scholarly content is shared extend to academia, which has implications for how academics can make their work more likely to have more impact.
  • Lockwood, G., Hagoort, P., & Dingemanse, M. (2016). How iconicity helps people learn new words: neural correlates and individual differences in sound-symbolic bootstrapping. Collabra, 2(1): 7. doi:10.1525/collabra.42.

    Abstract

    Sound symbolism is increasingly understood as involving iconicity, or perceptual analogies and cross-modal correspondences between form and meaning, but the search for its functional and neural correlates is ongoing. Here we study how people learn sound-symbolic words, using behavioural, electrophysiological and individual difference measures. Dutch participants learned Japanese ideophones —lexical sound-symbolic words— with a translation of either the real meaning (in which form and meaning show cross-modal correspondences) or the opposite meaning (in which form and meaning show cross-modal clashes). Participants were significantly better at identifying the words they learned in the real condition, correctly remembering the real word pairing 86.7% of the time, but the opposite word pairing only 71.3% of the time. Analysing event-related potentials (ERPs) during the test round showed that ideophones in the real condition elicited a greater P3 component and late positive complex than ideophones in the opposite condition. In a subsequent forced choice task, participants were asked to guess the real translation from two alternatives. They did this with 73.0% accuracy, well above chance level even for words they had encountered in the opposite condition, showing that people are generally sensitive to the sound-symbolic cues in ideophones. Individual difference measures showed that the ERP effect in the test round of the learning task was greater for participants who were more sensitive to sound symbolism in the forced choice task. The main driver of the difference was a lower amplitude of the P3 component in response to ideophones in the opposite condition, suggesting that people who are more sensitive to sound symbolism may have more difficulty to suppress conflicting cross-modal information. The findings provide new evidence that cross-modal correspondences between sound and meaning facilitate word learning, while cross-modal clashes make word learning harder, especially for people who are more sensitive to sound symbolism.

    Additional information

    https://osf.io/ema3t/
  • Lockwood, G., Dingemanse, M., & Hagoort, P. (2016). Sound-symbolism boosts novel word learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(8), 1274-1281. doi:10.1037/xlm0000235.

    Abstract

    The existence of sound-symbolism (or a non-arbitrary link between form and meaning) is well-attested. However, sound-symbolism has mostly been investigated with nonwords in forced choice tasks, neither of which are representative of natural language. This study uses ideophones, which are naturally occurring sound-symbolic words that depict sensory information, to investigate how sensitive Dutch speakers are to sound-symbolism in Japanese in a learning task. Participants were taught 2 sets of Japanese ideophones; 1 set with the ideophones’ real meanings in Dutch, the other set with their opposite meanings. In Experiment 1, participants learned the ideophones and their real meanings much better than the ideophones with their opposite meanings. Moreover, despite the learning rounds, participants were still able to guess the real meanings of the ideophones in a 2-alternative forced-choice test after they were informed of the manipulation. This shows that natural language sound-symbolism is robust beyond 2-alternative forced-choice paradigms and affects broader language processes such as word learning. In Experiment 2, participants learned regular Japanese adjectives with the same manipulation, and there was no difference between real and opposite conditions. This shows that natural language sound-symbolism is especially strong in ideophones, and that people learn words better when form and meaning match. The highlights of this study are as follows: (a) Dutch speakers learn real meanings of Japanese ideophones better than opposite meanings, (b) Dutch speakers accurately guess meanings of Japanese ideophones, (c) this sensitivity happens despite learning some opposite pairings, (d) no such learning effect exists for regular Japanese adjectives, and (e) this shows the importance of sound-symbolism in scaffolding language learning
  • Majid, A. (2016). The content of minds: Asifa Majid talks to Jon Sutton about language and thought. The psychologist, 29, 554-556.
  • Majid, A. (2016). Was wir von anderen Kulturen über den Geruchsinn lernen können. In Museum Tinguely (Ed.), Belle Haleine – Der Duft der Kunst. Interdisziplinäres Symposium (pp. 73-79). Heidelberg: Kehrer.
  • Majid, A. (2016). What other cultures can tell us about the sense of smell. In Museum Tinguely (Ed.), Belle haleine - the scent of art: interdisciplinary symposium (pp. 72-77). Heidelberg: Kehrer.
  • Mani, N., Daum, M., & Huettig, F. (2016). “Pro-active” in many ways: Developmental evidence for a dynamic pluralistic approach to prediction. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(11), 2189-2201. doi:10.1080/17470218.2015.1111395.

    Abstract

    The anticipation of the forthcoming behaviour of social interaction partners is a useful ability supporting interaction and communication between social partners. Associations and prediction based on the production system (in line with views that listeners use the production system covertly to anticipate what the other person might be likely to say) are two potential factors, which have been proposed to be involved in anticipatory language processing. We examined the influence of both factors on the degree to which listeners predict upcoming linguistic input. Are listeners more likely to predict book as an appropriate continuation of the sentence “The boy reads a”, based on the strength of the association between the words read and book (strong association) and read and letter (weak association)? Do more proficient producers predict more? What is the interplay of these two influences on prediction? The results suggest that associations influence language-mediated anticipatory eye gaze in two-year-olds and adults only when two thematically appropriate target objects compete for overt attention but not when these objects are presented separately. Furthermore, children’s prediction abilities are strongly related to their language production skills when appropriate target objects are presented separately but not when presented together. Both influences on prediction in language processing thus appear to be context-dependent. We conclude that multiple factors simultaneously influence listeners’ anticipation of upcoming linguistic input and that only such a dynamic approach to prediction can capture listeners’ prowess at predictive language processing.
  • Manrique, E. (2016). Other-initiated repair in Argentine Sign Language. Open Linguistics, 2, 1-34. doi:10.1515/opli-2016-0001.

    Abstract

    Other-initiated repair is an essential interactional practice to secure mutual understanding in everyday interaction. This article presents evidence from a large conversational corpus of a sign language, showing that signers of Argentine Sign Language (Lengua de Señas Argentina or ‘LSA’), like users of spoken languages, use a systematic set of linguistic formats and practices to indicate troubles of signing, seeing and understanding. The general aim of this article is to provide a general overview of the different visual-gestural linguistic patterns of other-initiated repair sequences in LSA. It also describes the quantitative distribution of other-initiated repair formats based on a collection of 213 cases. It describes the multimodal components of open and restricted types of repair initiators, and reports a previously undescribed implicit practice to initiate repair in LSA in comparison to explicitly produced formats. Part of a special issue presenting repair systems across a range of languages, this article contributes to a better understanding of the phenomenon of other-initiated repair in terms of visual and gestural practices in human interaction in both signed and spoken languages
  • Martin, A. E. (2016). Language processing as cue integration: Grounding the psychology of language in perception and neurophysiology. Frontiers in Psychology, 7: 120. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00120.

    Abstract

    I argue that cue integration, a psychophysiological mechanism from vision and multisensory perception, offers a computational linking hypothesis between psycholinguistic theory and neurobiological models of language. I propose that this mechanism, which incorporates probabilistic estimates of a cue's reliability, might function in language processing from the perception of a phoneme to the comprehension of a phrase structure. I briefly consider the implications of the cue integration hypothesis for an integrated theory of language that includes acquisition, production, dialogue and bilingualism, while grounding the hypothesis in canonical neural computation.
  • Matić, D., Hammond, J., & Van Putten, S. (2016). Left-dislocation, sentences and clauses in Avatime, Tundra Yukaghir and Whitesands. In J. Fleischhauer, A. Latrouite, & R. Osswald (Eds.), Exploring the Syntax-Semantics Interface. Festschrift for Robert D. Van Valin, Jr. (pp. 339-367). Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf University Press.
  • Matić, D. (2016). Tag questions and focus markers: Evidence from the Tompo dialect of Even. In M. M. J. Fernandez-Vest, & R. D. Van Valin Jr. (Eds.), Information structure and spoken language in a cross-linguistic perspective (pp. 167-190). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • McDonough, L., Choi, S., Bowerman, M., & Mandler, J. M. (1998). The use of preferential looking as a measure of semantic development. In C. Rovee-Collier, L. P. Lipsitt, & H. Hayne (Eds.), Advances in Infancy Research. Volume 12. (pp. 336-354). Stamford, CT: Ablex Publishing.
  • McQueen, J. M., Eisner, F., & Norris, D. (2016). When brain regions talk to each other during speech processing, what are they talking about? Commentary on Gow and Olson (2015). Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31(7), 860-863. doi:10.1080/23273798.2016.1154975.

    Abstract

    This commentary on Gow and Olson [2015. Sentential influences on acoustic-phonetic processing: A Granger causality analysis of multimodal imaging data. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience. doi:10.1080/23273798.2015.1029498] questions in three ways their conclusion that speech perception is based on interactive processing. First, it is not clear that the data presented by Gow and Olson reflect normal speech recognition. Second, Gow and Olson's conclusion depends on still-debated assumptions about the functions performed by specific brain regions. Third, the results are compatible with feedforward models of speech perception and appear inconsistent with models in which there are online interactions about phonological content. We suggest that progress in the neuroscience of speech perception requires the generation of testable hypotheses about the function(s) performed by inter-regional connections
  • McQueen, J. M., & Cutler, A. (1998). Morphology in word recognition. In A. M. Zwicky, & A. Spencer (Eds.), The handbook of morphology (pp. 406-427). Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Meyer, A. S., Huettig, F., & Levelt, W. J. M. (2016). Same, different, or closely related: What is the relationship between language production and comprehension? Journal of Memory and Language, 89, 1-7. doi:10.1016/j.jml.2016.03.002.
  • Meyer, A. S., Sleiderink, A. M., & Levelt, W. J. M. (1998). Viewing and naming objects: Eye movements during noun phrase production. Cognition, 66(2), B25-B33. doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(98)00009-2.

    Abstract

    Eye movements have been shown to reflect word recognition and language comprehension processes occurring during reading and auditory language comprehension. The present study examines whether the eye movements speakers make during object naming similarly reflect speech planning processes. In Experiment 1, speakers named object pairs saying, for instance, 'scooter and hat'. The objects were presented as ordinary line drawings or with partly dele:ed contours and had high or low frequency names. Contour type and frequency both significantly affected the mean naming latencies and the mean time spent looking at the objects. The frequency effects disappeared in Experiment 2, in which the participants categorized the objects instead of naming them. This suggests that the frequency effects of Experiment 1 arose during lexical retrieval. We conclude that eye movements during object naming indeed reflect linguistic planning processes and that the speakers' decision to move their eyes from one object to the next is contingent upon the retrieval of the phonological form of the object names.
  • Michalareas, G., Vezoli, J., Van Pelt, S., Schoffelen, J.-M., Kennedy, H., & Fries, P. (2016). Alpha-Beta and Gamma Rhythms Subserve Feedback and Feedforward Influences among Human Visual Cortical Areas. Neuron, 82(2), 384-397. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2015.12.018.

    Abstract

    Primate visual cortex is hierarchically organized. Bottom-up and top-down influences are exerted through distinct frequency channels, as was recently revealed in macaques by correlating inter-areal influences with laminar anatomical projection patterns. Because this anatomical data cannot be obtained in human subjects, we selected seven homologous macaque and human visual areas, and we correlated the macaque laminar projection patterns to human inter-areal directed influences as measured with magnetoencephalography. We show that influences along feedforward projections predominate in the gamma band, whereas influences along feedback projections predominate in the alpha-beta band. Rhythmic inter-areal influences constrain a functional hierarchy of the seven homologous human visual areas that is in close agreement with the respective macaque anatomical hierarchy. Rhythmic influences allow an extension of the hierarchy to 26 human visual areas including uniquely human brain areas. Hierarchical levels of ventral- and dorsal-stream visual areas are differentially affected by inter-areal influences in the alpha-beta band.
  • Middeldorp, C. M., Hammerschlag, A. R., Ouwens, K. G., Groen-Blokhuis, M. M., St Pourcain, B., Greven, C. U., Pappa, I., Tiesler, C. M. T., Ang, W., Nolte, I. M., Vilor-Tejedor, N., Bacelis, J., Ebejer, J. L., Zhao, H., Davies, G. E., Ehli, E. A., Evans, D. M., Fedko, I. O., Guxens, M., Hottenga, J.-J. and 31 moreMiddeldorp, C. M., Hammerschlag, A. R., Ouwens, K. G., Groen-Blokhuis, M. M., St Pourcain, B., Greven, C. U., Pappa, I., Tiesler, C. M. T., Ang, W., Nolte, I. M., Vilor-Tejedor, N., Bacelis, J., Ebejer, J. L., Zhao, H., Davies, G. E., Ehli, E. A., Evans, D. M., Fedko, I. O., Guxens, M., Hottenga, J.-J., Hudziak, J. J., Jugessur, A., Kemp, J. P., Krapohl, E., Martin, N. G., Murcia, M., Myhre, R., Ormel, J., Ring, S. M., Standl, M., Stergiakouli, E., Stoltenberg, C., Thiering, E., Timpson, N. J., Trzaskowski, M., van der Most, P. J., Wang, C., EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) Consortium, Psychiatric Genomics Consortium ADHD Working Group, Nyholt, D. R., Medland, S. E., Neale, B., Jacobsson, B., Sunyer, J., Hartman, C. A., Whitehouse, A. J. O., Pennell, C. E., Heinrich, J., Plomin, R., Smith, G. D., Tiemeier, H., Posthuma, D., & Boomsma, D. I. (2016). A Genome-Wide Association Meta-Analysis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms in Population-Based Paediatric Cohorts. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 55(10), 896-905. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2016.05.025.

    Abstract

    Objective To elucidate the influence of common genetic variants on childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, to identify genetic variants that explain its high heritability, and to investigate the genetic overlap of ADHD symptom scores with ADHD diagnosis. Method Within the EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortium, genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and ADHD symptom scores were available for 17,666 children (< 13 years) from nine population-based cohorts. SNP-based heritability was estimated in data from the three largest cohorts. Meta-analysis based on genome-wide association (GWA) analyses with SNPs was followed by gene-based association tests, and the overlap in results with a meta-analysis in the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) case-control ADHD study was investigated. Results SNP-based heritability ranged from 5% to 34%, indicating that variation in common genetic variants influences ADHD symptom scores. The meta-analysis did not detect genome-wide significant SNPs, but three genes, lying close to each other with SNPs in high linkage disequilibrium (LD), showed a gene-wide significant association (p values between 1.46×10-6 and 2.66×10-6). One gene, WASL, is involved in neuronal development. Both SNP- and gene-based analyses indicated overlap with the PGC meta-analysis results with the genetic correlation estimated at 0.96. Conclusion The SNP-based heritability for ADHD symptom scores indicates a polygenic architecture and genes involved in neurite outgrowth are possibly involved. Continuous and dichotomous measures of ADHD appear to assess a genetically common phenotype. A next step is to combine data from population-based and case-control cohorts in genetic association studies to increase sample size and improve statistical power for identifying genetic variants.
  • Montero-Melis, G., Jaeger, T. F., & Bylund, E. (2016). Thinking is modulated by recent linguistic experience: Second language priming affects perceived event similarity. Language Learning, 66(3), 636-665. doi:10.1111/lang.12172.

    Abstract

    Can recent second language (L2) exposure affect what we judge to be similar events? Using a priming paradigm, we manipulated whether native Swedish adult learners of L2 Spanish were primed to use path or manner during L2 descriptions of scenes depicting caused motion events (encoding phase). Subsequently, participants engaged in a nonverbal task, arranging events on the screen according to similarity (test phase). Path versus manner priming affected how participants judged event similarity during the test phase. The effects we find support the hypotheses that (a) speakers create or select ad hoc conceptual categories that are based on linguistic knowledge to carry out nonverbal tasks, and that (b) short-term, recent L2 experience can affect this ad hoc process. These findings further suggest that cognition can flexibly draw on linguistic categories that have been implicitly highlighted during recent exposure.
  • Morgan, A., Fisher, S. E., Scheffer, I., & Hildebrand, M. (2016). FOXP2-related speech and language disorders. In R. A. Pagon, M. P. Adam, H. H. Ardinger, S. E. Wallace, A. Amemiya, L. J. Bean, T. D. Bird, C.-T. Fong, H. C. Mefford, R. J. Smith, & K. Stephens (Eds.), GeneReviews® [internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK368474/.
  • Li, S., Morley, M., Lu, M., Zhou, S., Stewart, K., French, C. A., Tucker, H. O., Fisher, S. E., & Morrisey, E. E. (2016). Foxp transcription factors suppress a non-pulmonary gene expression program to permit proper lung development. Developmental Biology, 416(2), 338-346. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2016.06.020.

    Abstract

    The inhibitory mechanisms that prevent gene expression programs from one tissue to be expressed in another are poorly understood. Foxp1/2/4 are forkhead transcription factors that repress gene expression and are individually important for endoderm development. We show that combined loss of all three Foxp1/2/4 family members in the developing anterior foregut endoderm leads to a loss of lung endoderm lineage commitment and subsequent development. Foxp1/2/4 deficient lungs express high levels of transcriptional regulators not normally expressed in the developing lung, including Pax2, Pax8, Pax9 and the Hoxa9-13 cluster. Ectopic expression of these transcriptional regulators is accompanied by decreased expression of lung restricted transcription factors including Nkx2-1, Sox2, and Sox9. Foxp1 binds to conserved forkhead DNA binding sites within the Hoxa9-13 cluster, indicating a direct repression mechanism. Thus, Foxp1/2/4 are essential for promoting lung endoderm development by repressing expression of non-pulmonary transcription factors
  • Muntendam, A., & Torreira, F. (2016). Focus and prosody in Spanish and Quechua: Insights from an interactive task. In M. E. Armstrong, N. Hendriksen, & M. Del Mar Vanrell (Eds.), Intonational Grammar in Ibero-Romance: Approaches across linguistic subfields (pp. 69-90). Amsterdam: Benjmanins.

    Abstract

    This paper reports the results of a study on the prosodic marking of broad and contrastive focus in three language varieties of which two are in contact: bilingual Peruvian Spanish, Quechua and Peninsular Spanish. An interactive communicative task revealed that the prosodic marking of contrastive focus was limited in all three language varieties. No systematic correspondence was observed between specific contour/accent types and focus, and the phonetic marking of contrastive focus was weak and restricted to phrase-final position. Interestingly, we identified two contours for bilingual Peruvian Spanish that were present in Quechua, but not in Peninsular Spanish, providing evidence for a prosodic transfer from Quechua to Spanish in Quechua-Spanish bilinguals.
  • Murakami, S., Verdonschot, R. G., Kataoka, M., Kakimoto, N., Shimamoto, H., & Kreiborg, S. (2016). A standardized evaluation of artefacts from metallic compounds during fast MR imaging. Dentomaxillofacial Radiology, 45(8): 20160094. doi:10.1259/dmfr.20160094.

    Abstract

    Objectives: Metallic compounds present in the oral and maxillofacial regions (OMRs) cause large artefacts during MR scanning. We quantitatively assessed these artefacts embedded within a phantom according to standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM).
    Methods: Seven metallic dental materials (each of which was a 10-mm(3) cube embedded within a phantom) were scanned [i.e. aluminium (Al), silver alloy (Ag), type IV gold alloy (Au), gold-palladium-silver alloy (Au-Pd-Ag), titanium (Ti), nickel-chromium alloy (NC) and cobalt-chromium alloy (CC)] and compared with a reference image. Sequences included gradient echo (GRE), fast spin echo (FSE), gradient recalled acquisition in steady state (GRASS), a spoiled GRASS (SPGR), a fast SPGR (FSPGR), fast imaging employing steady state (FIESTA) and echo planar imaging (EPI; axial/sagittal planes). Artefact areas were determined according to the ASTM-F2119 standard, and artefact volumes were assessed using OsiriX MD software (Pixmeo, Geneva, Switzerland).
    Results: Tukey-Kramer post hoc tests were used for statistical comparisons. For most materials, scanning sequences eliciting artefact volumes in the following (ascending) order FSE-T-1/FSE-T-2 < FSPGR/SPGR < GRASS/GRE < FIESTA < EPI. For all scanning sequences, artefact volumes containing Au, Al, Ag and Au-Pd-Ag were significantly smaller than other materials (in which artefact volume size increased, respectively, from Ti < NC < CC). The artefact-specific shape (elicited by the cubic sample) depended on the scanning plane (i.e. a circular pattern for the axial plane and a "clover-like" pattern for the sagittal plane).
    Conclusions: The availability of standardized information on artefact size and configuration during MRI will enhance diagnosis when faced with metallic compounds in the OMR.
  • Murakami, S., Verdonschot, R. G., Kakimoto, N., Sumida, I., Fujiwara, M., Ogawa, K., & Furukawa, S. (2016). Preventing complications from high-dose rate brachytherapy when treating mobile tongue cancer via the application of a modular lead-lined spacer. PLoS One, 11(4): e0154226. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0154226.

    Abstract

    Purpose
    To point out the advantages and drawbacks of high-dose rate brachytherapy in the treatment of mobile tongue cancer and indicate the clinical importance of modular lead-lined spacers when applying this technique to patients.
    Methods
    First, all basic steps to construct the modular spacer are shown. Second, we simulate and evaluate the dose rate reduction for a wide range of spacer configurations.
    Results
    With increasing distance to the source absorbed doses dropped considerably. Significantly more shielding was obtained when lead was added to the spacer and this effect was most pronounced on shorter (i.e. more clinically relevant) distances to the source.
    Conclusions
    The modular spacer represents an important addition to the planning and treatment stages of mobile tongue cancer using HDR-ISBT.

    Additional information

    tables
  • Nakayama, M., Kinoshita, S., & Verdonschot, R. G. (2016). The emergence of a phoneme-sized unit in L2 speech production: Evidence from Japanese-English bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology, 7: 175. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00175.

    Abstract

    Recent research has revealed that the way phonology is constructed during word production differs across languages. Dutch and English native speakers are suggested to incrementally insert phonemes into a metrical frame, whereas Mandarin Chinese speakers use syllables and Japanese speakers use a unit called the mora (often a CV cluster such as "ka" or "ki"). The present study is concerned with the question how bilinguals construct phonology in their L2 when the phonological unit size differs from the unit in their L1. Japanese English bilinguals of varying proficiency read aloud English words preceded by masked primes that overlapped in just the onset (e.g., bark-BENCH) or the onset plus vowel corresponding to the mora-sized unit (e.g., bell-BENCH). Low proficient Japanese English bilinguals showed CV priming but did not show onset priming, indicating that they use their L1 phonological unit when reading L2 English words. In contrast, high-proficient Japanese English bilinguals showed significant onset priming. The size of the onset priming effect was correlated with the length of time spent in English-speaking countries, which suggests that extensive exposure to L2 phonology may play a key role in the emergence of a language-specific phonological unit in L2 word production.
  • Nieuwland, M. S. (2016). Quantification, prediction, and the online impact of sentence truth-value: Evidence from event-related potentials. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 42(2), 316-334. doi:10.1037/xlm0000173.

    Abstract

    Do negative quantifiers like “few” reduce people’s ability to rapidly evaluate incoming language with respect to world knowledge? Previous research has addressed this question by examining whether online measures of quantifier comprehension match the “final” interpretation reflected in verification judgments. However, these studies confounded quantifier valence with its impact on the unfolding expectations for upcoming words, yielding mixed results. In the current event-related potentials study, participants read negative and positive quantifier sentences matched on cloze probability and on truth-value (e.g., “Most/Few gardeners plant their flowers during the spring/winter for best results”). Regardless of whether participants explicitly verified the sentences or not, true-positive quantifier sentences elicited reduced N400s compared with false-positive quantifier sentences, reflecting the facilitated semantic retrieval of words that render a sentence true. No such facilitation was seen in negative quantifier sentences. However, mixed-effects model analyses (with cloze value and truth-value as continuous predictors) revealed that decreasing cloze values were associated with an interaction pattern between truth-value and quantifier, whereas increasing cloze values were associated with more similar truth-value effects regardless of quantifier. Quantifier sentences are thus understood neither always in 2 sequential stages, nor always in a partial-incremental fashion, nor always in a maximally incremental fashion. Instead, and in accordance with prediction-based views of sentence comprehension, quantifier sentence comprehension depends on incorporation of quantifier meaning into an online, knowledge-based prediction for upcoming words. Fully incremental quantifier interpretation occurs when quantifiers are incorporated into sufficiently strong online predictions for upcoming words. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)
  • Nix, A. J., Mehta, G., Dye, J., & Cutler, A. (1993). Phoneme detection as a tool for comparing perception of natural and synthetic speech. Computer Speech and Language, 7, 211-228. doi:10.1006/csla.1993.1011.

    Abstract

    On simple intelligibility measures, high-quality synthesiser output now scores almost as well as natural speech. Nevertheless, it is widely agreed that perception of synthetic speech is a harder task for listeners than perception of natural speech; in particular, it has been hypothesized that listeners have difficulty identifying phonemes in synthetic speech. If so, a simple measure of the speed with which a phoneme can be identified should prove a useful tool for comparing perception of synthetic and natural speech. The phoneme detection task was here used in three experiments comparing perception of natural and synthetic speech. In the first, response times to synthetic and natural targets were not significantly different, but in the second and third experiments response times to synthetic targets were significantly slower than to natural targets. A speed-accuracy tradeoff in the third experiment suggests that an important factor in this task is the response criterion adopted by subjects. It is concluded that the phoneme detection task is a useful tool for investigating phonetic processing of synthetic speech input, but subjects must be encouraged to adopt a response criterion which emphasizes rapid responding. When this is the case, significantly longer response times for synthetic targets can indicate a processing disadvantage for synthetic speech at an early level of phonetic analysis.
  • De Nooijer, J. A., & Willems, R. M. (2016). What can we learn about cognition from studying handedness? Insights from cognitive neuroscience. In F. Loffing, N. Hagemann, B. Strauss, & C. MacMahon (Eds.), Laterality in sports: Theories and applications (pp. 135-153). Amsterdam: Elsevier.

    Abstract

    Can studying left- and right-handers inform us about cognition? In this chapter, we give an overview of research showing that studying left- and right-handers is informative for understanding the way the brain is organized (i.e., lateralized), as there appear to be differences between left- and right-handers in this respect, but also on the behavioral level handedness studies can provide new insights. According to theories of embodied cognition, our body can influence cognition. Given that left- and right-handers use their bodies differently, this might reflect their performance on an array of cognitive tasks. Indeed, handedness can have an influence on, for instance, what side of space we judge as more positive, the way we gesture, how we remember things, and how we learn new words. Laterality research can, therefore, provide valuable information as to how we act and why
  • Noordman, L. G., & Vonk, W. (1998). Discourse comprehension. In A. D. Friederici (Ed.), Language comprehension: a biological perspective (pp. 229-262). Berlin: Springer.

    Abstract

    The human language processor is conceived as a system that consists of several interrelated subsystems. Each subsystem performs a specific task in the complex process of language comprehension and production. A subsystem receives a particular input, performs certain specific operations on this input and yields a particular output. The subsystems can be characterized in terms of the transformations that relate the input representations to the output representations. An important issue in describing the language processing system is to identify the subsystems and to specify the relations between the subsystems. These relations can be conceived in two different ways. In one conception the subsystems are autonomous. They are related to each other only by the input-output channels. The operations in one subsystem are not affected by another system. The subsystems are modular, that is they are independent. In the other conception, the different subsystems influence each other. A subsystem affects the processes in another subsystem. In this conception there is an interaction between the subsystems.
  • Noordman, L. G. M., & Vonk, W. (1998). Memory-based processing in understanding causal information. Discourse Processes, 191-212. doi:10.1080/01638539809545044.

    Abstract

    The reading process depends both on the text and on the reader. When we read a text, propositions in the current input are matched to propositions in the memory representation of the previous discourse but also to knowledge structures in long‐term memory. Therefore, memory‐based text processing refers both to the bottom‐up processing of the text and to the top‐down activation of the reader's knowledge. In this article, we focus on the role of cognitive structures in the reader's knowledge. We argue that causality is an important category in structuring human knowledge and that this property has consequences for text processing. Some research is discussed that illustrates that the more the information in the text reflects causal categories, the more easily the information is processed.
  • Norcliffe, E., & Jaeger, T. F. (2016). Predicting head-marking variability in Yucatec Maya relative clause production. Language and Cognition, 8(2), 167-205. doi:10.1017/langcog.2014.39.

    Abstract

    Recent proposals hold that the cognitive systems underlying language production exhibit computational properties that facilitate communicative efficiency, i.e., an efficient trade-off between production ease and robust information transmission. We contribute to the cross-linguistic evaluation of the communicative efficiency hypothesis by investigating speakers’ preferences in the production of a typologically rare head-marking alternation that occurs in relative clause constructions in Yucatec Maya. In a sentence recall study, we find that speakers of Yucatec Maya prefer to use reduced forms of relative clause verbs when the relative clause is more contextually expected. This result is consistent with communicative efficiency and thus supports its typological generalizability. We compare two types of cue to the presence of a relative clause, pragmatic cues previously investigated in other languages and a highly predictive morphosyntactic cue specific to Yucatec. We find that Yucatec speakers’ preferences for a reduced verb form are primarily conditioned on the more informative cue. This demonstrates the role of both general principles of language production and their language-specific realizations.
  • Norris, D., McQueen, J. M., & Cutler, A. (2016). Prediction, Bayesian inference and feedback in speech recognition. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 31(1), 4-18. doi:10.1080/23273798.2015.1081703.

    Abstract

    Speech perception involves prediction, but how is that prediction implemented? In cognitive models prediction has often been taken to imply that there is feedback of activation from lexical to pre-lexical processes as implemented in interactive-activation models (IAMs). We show that simple activation feedback does not actually improve speech recognition. However, other forms of feedback can be beneficial. In particular, feedback can enable the listener to adapt to changing input, and can potentially help the listener to recognise unusual input, or recognise speech in the presence of competing sounds. The common feature of these helpful forms of feedback is that they are all ways of optimising the performance of speech recognition using Bayesian inference. That is, listeners make predictions about speech because speech recognition is optimal in the sense captured in Bayesian models.
  • O'Brien, D. P., & Bowerman, M. (1998). Martin D. S. Braine (1926–1996): Obituary. American Psychologist, 53, 563. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.53.5.563.

    Abstract

    Memorializes Martin D. S. Braine, whose research on child language acquisition and on both child and adult thinking and reasoning had a major influence on modern cognitive psychology. Addressing meaning as well as position, Braine argued that children start acquiring language by learning narrow-scope positional formulas that map components of meaning to positions in the utterance. These proposals were critical in starting discussions of the possible universality of the pivot-grammar stage and of the role of syntax, semantics,and pragmatics in children's early grammar and were pivotal to the rise of approaches in which cognitive development in language acquisition is stressed.
  • Okbay, A., Beauchamp, J. P., Fontana, M. A., Lee, J. J., Pers, T. H., Rietveld, C. A., Turley, P., Chen, G. B., Emilsson, V., Meddens, S. F. W., Oskarsson, S., Pickrell, J. K., Thom, K., Timshel, P., De Vlaming, R., Abdellaoui, A., Ahluwalia, T. S., Bacelis, J., Baumbach, C., Bjornsdottir, G. and 236 moreOkbay, A., Beauchamp, J. P., Fontana, M. A., Lee, J. J., Pers, T. H., Rietveld, C. A., Turley, P., Chen, G. B., Emilsson, V., Meddens, S. F. W., Oskarsson, S., Pickrell, J. K., Thom, K., Timshel, P., De Vlaming, R., Abdellaoui, A., Ahluwalia, T. S., Bacelis, J., Baumbach, C., Bjornsdottir, G., Brandsma, J., Pina Concas, M., Derringer, J., Furlotte, N. A., Galesloot, T. E., Girotto, G., Gupta, R., Hall, L. M., Harris, S. E., Hofer, E., Horikoshi, M., Huffman, J. E., Kaasik, K., Kalafati, I. P., Karlsson, R., Kong, A., Lahti, J., Lee, S. J. V. D., DeLeeuw, C., Lind, P. A., Lindgren, K.-.-O., Liu, T., Mangino, M., Marten, J., Mihailov, E., Miller, M. B., Van der Most, P. J., Oldmeadow, C., Payton, A., Pervjakova, N., Peyrot, W. J., Qian, Y., Raitakari, O., Rueedi, R., Salvi, E., Schmidt, B., Schraut, K. E., Shi, J., Smith, A. V., Poot, R. A., St Pourcain, B., Teumer, A., Thorleifsson, G., Verweij, N., Vuckovic, D., Wellmann, J., Westra, H.-.-J., Yang, J., Zhao, W., Zhu, Z., Alizadeh, B. Z., Amin, N., Bakshi, A., Baumeister, S. E., Biino, G., Bønnelykke, K., Boyle, P. A., Campbell, H., Cappuccio, F. P., Davies, G., De Neve, J.-.-E., Deloukas, P., Demuth, I., Ding, J., Eibich, P., Eisele, L., Eklund, N., Evans, D. M., Faul, J. D., Feitosa, M. F., Forstner, A. J., Gandin, I., Gunnarsson, B., Halldórsson, B. V., Harris, T. B., Heath, A. C., Hocking, L. J., Holliday, E. G., Homuth, G., Horan, M. A., Hottenga, J.-.-J., De Jager, P. L., Joshi, P. K., Jugessur, A., Kaakinen, M. A., Kähönen, M., Kanoni, S., Keltigangas-Järvinen, L., Kiemeney, L. A. L. M., Kolcic, I., Koskinen, S., Kraja, A. T., Kroh, M., Kutalik, Z., Latvala, A., Launer, L. J., Lebreton, M. P., Levinson, D. F., Lichtenstein, P., Lichtner, P., Liewald, D. C. M., Cohert Study, L., Loukola, A., Madden, P. A., Mägi, R., Mäki-Opas, T., Marioni, R. E., Marques-Vidal, P., Meddens, G. A., McMahon, G., Meisinger, C., Meitinger, T., Milaneschi, Y., Milani, L., Montgomery, G. W., Myhre, R., Nelson, C. P., Nyholt, D. R., Ollier, W. E. R., Palotie, A., Paternoster, L., Pedersen, N. L., Petrovic, K. E., Porteous, D. J., Räikkönen, K., Ring, S. M., Robino, A., Rostapshova, O., Rudan, I., Rustichini, A., Salomaa, V., Sanders, A. R., Sarin, A.-.-P., Schmidt, H., Scott, R. J., Smith, B. H., Smith, J. A., Staessen, J. A., Steinhagen-Thiessen, E., Strauch, K., Terracciano, A., Tobin, M. D., Ulivi, S., Vaccargiu, S., Quaye, L., Van Rooij, F. J. A., Venturini, C., Vinkhuyzen, A. A. E., Völker, U., Völzke, H., Vonk, J. M., Vozzi, D., Waage, J., Ware, E. B., Willemsen, G., Attia, J. R., Bennett, D. A., Berger, K., Bertram, L., Bisgaard, H., Boomsma, D. I., Borecki, I. B., Bültmann, U., Chabris, C. F., Cucca, F., Cusi, D., Deary, I. J., Dedoussis, G. V., Van Duijn, C. M., Eriksson, J. G., Franke, B., Franke, L., Gasparini, P., Gejman, P. V., Gieger, C., Grabe, H.-.-J., Gratten, J., Groenen, P. J. F., Gudnason, V., Van der Harst, P., Hayward, C., Hinds, D. A., Hoffmann, W., Hyppönen, E., Iacono, W. G., Jacobsson, B., Järvelin, M.-.-R., Jöckel, K.-.-H., Kaprio, J., Kardia, S. L. R., Lehtimäki, T., Lehrer, S. F., Magnusson, P. K. E., Martin, N. G., McGue, M., Metspalu, A., Pendleton, N., Penninx, B. W. J. H., Perola, M., Pirastu, N., Pirastu, M., Polasek, O., Posthuma, D., Power, C., Province, M. A., Samani, N. J., Schlessinger, D., Schmidt, R., Sørensen, T. I. A., Spector, T. D., Stefansson, K., Thorsteinsdottir, U., Thurik, A. R., Timpson, N. J., Tiemeier, H., Tung, J. Y., Uitterlinden, A. G., Vitart, V., Vollenweider, P., Weir, D. R., Wilson, J. F., Wright, A. F., Conley, D. C., Krueger, R. F., Davey Smith, G., Hofman, A., Laibson, D. I., Medland, S. E., Meyer, M. N., Yang, J., Johannesson, M., Visscher, P. M., Esko, T., Koellinger, P. D., Cesarini, D., & Benjamin, D. J. (2016). Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment. Nature, 533, 539-542. doi:10.1038/nature17671.

    Abstract

    Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication study in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with the number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with educational attainment are disproportionately found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain. Candidate genes are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during the prenatal period, and enriched for biological pathways involved in neural development. Our findings demonstrate that, even for a behavioural phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because educational attainment is measured in large numbers of individuals, it will continue to be useful as a proxy phenotype in efforts to characterize the genetic influences of related phenotypes, including cognition and neuropsychiatric diseases
  • O'Meara, C., & Majid, A. (2016). How changing lifestyles impact Seri smellscapes and smell language. Anthropological Linguistics, 58(2), 107-131. doi:10.1353/anl.2016.0024.

    Abstract

    The sense of smell has widely been viewed as inferior to the other senses. This is reflected in the lack of treatment of olfaction in ethnographies and linguistic descriptions. We present novel data
    from the olfactory lexicon of Seri, a language isolate of Mexico, which sheds new light onto the possibilities for olfactory terminologies. We also present the Seri smellscape, highlighting the cultural significance of odors in Seri culture which, along with the olfactory language, is now
    under threat as globalization takes hold and traditional ways of life are transformed.
  • Ortega, G. (2016). Language acquisition and development. In G. Gertz (Ed.), The SAGE Deaf Studies Encyclopedia. Vol. 3 (pp. 547-551). London: SAGE Publications Inc.
  • Otake, T., Hatano, G., Cutler, A., & Mehler, J. (1993). Mora or syllable? Speech segmentation in Japanese. Journal of Memory and Language, 32, 258-278. doi:10.1006/jmla.1993.1014.

    Abstract

    Four experiments examined segmentation of spoken Japanese words by native and non-native listeners. Previous studies suggested that language rhythm determines the segmentation unit most natural to native listeners: French has syllabic rhythm, and French listeners use the syllable in segmentation, while English has stress rhythm, and segmentation by English listeners is based on stress. The rhythm of Japanese is based on a subsyllabic unit, the mora. In the present experiments Japanese listeners′ response patterns were consistent with moraic segmentation; acoustic artifacts could not have determined the results since nonnative (English and French) listeners showed different response patterns with the same materials. Predictions of a syllabic hypothesis were disconfirmed in the Japanese listeners′ results; in contrast, French listeners showed a pattern of responses consistent with the syllabic hypothesis. The results provide further evidence that listeners′ segmentation of spoken words relies on procedures determined by the characteristic phonology of their native language.
  • Pappa, I., St Pourcain, B., Benke, K., Cavadino, A., Hakulinen, C., Nivard, M. G., Nolte, I. M., Tiesler, C. M. T., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Davies, G. E., Evans, D. M., Geoffroy, M.-C., Grallert, H., Groen-Blokhuis, M. M., Hudziak, J. J., Kemp, J. P., Keltikangas-Järvinen, L., McMahon, G., Mileva-Seitz, V. R., Motazedi, E. and 23 morePappa, I., St Pourcain, B., Benke, K., Cavadino, A., Hakulinen, C., Nivard, M. G., Nolte, I. M., Tiesler, C. M. T., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., Davies, G. E., Evans, D. M., Geoffroy, M.-C., Grallert, H., Groen-Blokhuis, M. M., Hudziak, J. J., Kemp, J. P., Keltikangas-Järvinen, L., McMahon, G., Mileva-Seitz, V. R., Motazedi, E., Power, C., Raitakari, O. T., Ring, S. M., Rivadeneira, F., Rodriguez, A., Scheet, P. A., Seppälä, I., Snieder, H., Standl, M., Thiering, E., Timpson, N. J., Veenstra, R., Velders, F. P., Whitehouse, A. J. O., Smith, G. D., Heinrich, J., Hypponen, E., Lehtimäki, T., Middeldorp, C. M., Oldehinkel, A. J., Pennell, C. E., Boomsma, D. I., & Tiemeier, H. (2016). A genome-wide approach to children's aggressive behavior: The EAGLE consortium. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 171(5), 562-572. doi:10.1002/ajmg.b.32333.

    Abstract

    Individual differences in aggressive behavior emerge in early childhood and predict persisting behavioral problems and disorders. Studies of antisocial and severe aggression in adulthood indicate substantial underlying biology. However, little attention has been given to genome-wide approaches of aggressive behavior in children. We analyzed data from nine population-based studies and assessed aggressive behavior using well-validated parent-reported questionnaires. This is the largest sample exploring children's aggressive behavior to date (N = 18,988), with measures in two developmental stages (N = 15,668 early childhood and N = 16,311 middle childhood/early adolescence). First, we estimated the additive genetic variance of children's aggressive behavior based on genome-wide SNP information, using genome-wide complex trait analysis (GCTA). Second, genetic associations within each study were assessed using a quasi-Poisson regression approach, capturing the highly right-skewed distribution of aggressive behavior. Third, we performed meta-analyses of genome-wide associations for both the total age-mixed sample and the two developmental stages. Finally, we performed a gene-based test using the summary statistics of the total sample. GCTA quantified variance tagged by common SNPs (10–54%). The meta-analysis of the total sample identified one region in chromosome 2 (2p12) at near genome-wide significance (top SNP rs11126630, P = 5.30 × 10−8). The separate meta-analyses of the two developmental stages revealed suggestive evidence of association at the same locus. The gene-based analysis indicated association of variation within AVPR1A with aggressive behavior. We conclude that common variants at 2p12 show suggestive evidence for association with childhood aggression. Replication of these initial findings is needed, and further studies should clarify its biological meaning.
  • Pederson, E., Danziger, E., Wilkins, D. G., Levinson, S. C., Kita, S., & Senft, G. (1998). Semantic typology and spatial conceptualization. Language, 74(3), 557-589. doi:10.2307/417793.
  • Peeters, D., & Ozyurek, A. (2016). This and that revisited: A social and multimodal approach to spatial demonstratives. Frontiers in Psychology, 7: 222. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00222.
  • Perdue, C., & Klein, W. (Eds.). (1993). Concluding remarks. In Adult language acquisition: Cross-linguistic perspectives: Vol. 2 The results (pp. 253-272). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Petersson, K. M. (1998). Comments on a Monte Carlo approach to the analysis of functional neuroimaging data. NeuroImage, 8, 108-112.
  • Petras, K., Ten Oever, S., & Jansma, B. M. (2016). The effect of distance on moral engagement: Event related potentials and alpha power are sensitive to perspective in a virtual shooting task. Frontiers in Psychology, 6: 2008. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.02008.

    Abstract

    In a shooting video game we investigated whether increased distance reduces moral conflict. We measured and analyzed the event related potential (ERP), including the N2 component, which has previously been linked to cognitive conflict from competing decision tendencies. In a modified Go/No-go task designed to trigger moral conflict participants had to shoot suddenly appearing human like avatars in a virtual reality scene. The scene was seen either from an ego perspective with targets appearing directly in front of the participant or from a bird's view, where targets were seen from above and more distant. To control for low level visual features, we added a visually identical control condition, where the instruction to shoot was replaced by an instruction to detect. ERP waveforms showed differences between the two tasks as early as in the N1 time-range, with higher N1 amplitudes for the close perspective in the shoot task. Additionally, we found that pre-stimulus alpha power was significantly decreased in the ego, compared to the bird's view only for the shoot but not for the detect task. In the N2 time window, we observed main amplitude effects for response (No-go > Go) and distance (ego > bird perspective) but no interaction with task type (shoot vs. detect). We argue that the pre-stimulus and N1 effects can be explained by reduced attention and arousal in the distance condition when people are instructed to shoot. These results indicate a reduced moral engagement for increased distance. The lack of interaction in the N2 across tasks suggests that at that time point response execution dominates. We discuss potential implications for real life shooting situations, especially considering recent developments in drone shootings which are per definition of a distant view.
  • Pine, J. M., Lieven, E. V., & Rowland, C. F. (1998). Comparing different models of the development of the English verb category. Linguistics, 36(4), 807-830. doi:10.1515/ling.1998.36.4.807.

    Abstract

    In this study data from the first six months of 12 children s multiword speech were used to test the validity of Valian's (1991) syntactic perfor-mance-limitation account and Tomasello s (1992) verb-island account of early multiword speech with particular reference to the development of the English verb category. The results provide evidence for appropriate use of verb morphology, auxiliary verb structures, pronoun case marking, and SVO word order from quite early in development. However, they also demonstrate a great deal of lexical specificity in the children's use of these systems, evidenced by a lack of overlap in the verbs to which different morphological markers were applied, a lack of overlap in the verbs with which different auxiliary verbs were used, a disproportionate use of the first person singular nominative pronoun I, and a lack of overlap in the lexical items that served as the subjects and direct objects of transitive verbs. These findings raise problems for both a syntactic performance-limitation account and a strong verb-island account of the data and suggest the need to develop a more general lexiealist account of early multiword speech that explains why some words come to function as "islands" of organization in the child's grammar and others do not.
  • Poletiek, F. H., & Olfers, K. J. F. (2016). Authentication by the crowd: How lay students identify the style of a 17th century artist. CODART e-Zine, 8. Retrieved from http://ezine.codart.nl/17/issue/57/artikel/19-21-june-madrid/?id=349#!/page/3.
  • Poletiek, F. H. (1998). De geest van de jury. Psychologie en Maatschappij, 4, 376-378.
  • Poletiek, F. H., Fitz, H., & Bocanegra, B. R. (2016). What baboons can (not) tell us about natural language grammars. Cognition, 151, 108-112. doi:10.1016/j.cognition.2015.04.016.

    Abstract

    Rey et al. (2012) present data from a study with baboons that they interpret in support of the idea that center-embedded structures in human language have their origin in low level memory mechanisms and associative learning. Critically, the authors claim that the baboons showed a behavioral preference that is consistent with center-embedded sequences over other types of sequences. We argue that the baboons’ response patterns suggest that two mechanisms are involved: first, they can be trained to associate a particular response with a particular stimulus, and, second, when faced with two conditioned stimuli in a row, they respond to the most recent one first, copying behavior they had been rewarded for during training. Although Rey et al. (2012) ‘experiment shows that the baboons’ behavior is driven by low level mechanisms, it is not clear how the animal behavior reported, bears on the phenomenon of Center Embedded structures in human syntax. Hence, (1) natural language syntax may indeed have been shaped by low level mechanisms, and (2) the baboons’ behavior is driven by low level stimulus response learning, as Rey et al. propose. But is the second evidence for the first? We will discuss in what ways this study can and cannot give evidential value for explaining the origin of Center Embedded recursion in human grammar. More generally, their study provokes an interesting reflection on the use of animal studies in order to understand features of the human linguistic system.

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