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Acquiring verbal reference: The interplay of cognitive, linguistic, and general learning capacities.Infant Behavior & Development Nov 2021Verbal reference is the ability to use language to communicate about objects, events, or ideas, even if they are not witnessed directly, such as past events or faraway... (Review)
Review
Verbal reference is the ability to use language to communicate about objects, events, or ideas, even if they are not witnessed directly, such as past events or faraway places. It rests on a three-way link between words, their referents, and mental representations of those referents. A foundational human capacity, verbal reference extends the communicative power of language beyond the here-and-now, enabling access to language-mediated learning and thus fueling cognitive development. In the current review, we consider how and when verbal reference develops. The existing literature suggests that verbal reference emerges around infants' first birthdays and becomes increasingly robust by their second. In discussing the powerful developmental advantages of acquiring verbal reference we propose that this achievement requires a dynamic interplay among infants' cognitive and language development, fueled by general learning capacities. We close by describing new research directions, aimed at advancing our understanding of how verbal reference emerges.
Topics: Cognition; Communication; Humans; Infant; Language; Language Development; Linguistics; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34388367
DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2021.101624 -
Lipids in Health and Disease Nov 2022The relationship between remnant cholesterol (RC) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk has been given increasing attention in recent years. However, its association...
BACKGROUND
The relationship between remnant cholesterol (RC) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular risk has been given increasing attention in recent years. However, its association with verbal learning and memory performance has not been reported.
METHODS
Data were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014 database. Participants aged ≥60 years with available fasting lipid data were included. Verbal learning and memory performance were evaluated using the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Word List Memory Task (CERAD-WL) subtest. The CERAD total score was calculated as the mean of three immediate recalls and a delayed recall. RC was calculated as total cholesterol (TC) minus the sum of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Multivariate ordinal logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between RC, as well as its derived marker, the TC/RC ratio, and age-stratified quartiles of the CERAD total score.
RESULTS
A total of 1377 participants were analysed. On a continuous scale, per 1 mmol/L increase in RC and per 1 unit increase in the TC/RC ratio were associated with multivariable adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) of 0.74 (0.58-0.94) and 1.45 (1.13-1.87), respectively, for having a CERAD total score in a higher quartile. On a categorical scale, higher RC quartiles were associated with a CERAD total score in a lower quartile; in contrast, the higher TC/RC quartile was associated with a CERAD total score in a higher quartile (all P for trend < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
The current study suggests that lower RC levels and a higher TC/RC ratio are associated with better verbal learning and memory function, which indicates that lowering RC levels could be beneficial for preventing cognitive impairment in elderly individuals. Further research is needed to validate the causal roles of RC and the TC/RC ratio in cognition.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Nutrition Surveys; Verbal Learning; Cognition; Cognitive Dysfunction; Cholesterol
PubMed: 36376895
DOI: 10.1186/s12944-022-01729-4 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Jun 2022We examine the conceptual development of kinship through the lens of program induction. We present a computational model for the acquisition of kinship term concepts,... (Review)
Review
We examine the conceptual development of kinship through the lens of program induction. We present a computational model for the acquisition of kinship term concepts, resulting in the first computational model of kinship learning that is closely tied to developmental phenomena. We demonstrate that our model can learn several kinship systems of varying complexity using cross-linguistic data from English, Pukapuka, Turkish, and Yanomamö. More importantly, the behavioral patterns observed in children learning kinship terms, under-extension and over-generalization, fall out naturally from our learning model. We then conducted interviews to simulate realistic learning environments and demonstrate that the characteristic-to-defining shift is a consequence of our learning model in naturalistic contexts containing abstract and concrete features. We use model simulations to understand the influence of logical simplicity and children's learning environment on the order of acquisition of kinship terms, providing novel predictions for the learning trajectories of these words. We conclude with a discussion of how this model framework generalizes beyond kinship terms, as well as a discussion of its limitations.
Topics: Child; Concept Formation; Humans; Language Development; Learning; Linguistics; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34918269
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-021-02017-5 -
Experimental Psychology May 2023According to the instance-based approach, each novel word encounter is encoded as an episodic trace, including different aspects of word knowledge (orthography,...
According to the instance-based approach, each novel word encounter is encoded as an episodic trace, including different aspects of word knowledge (orthography, semantics, phonology) and context. Experiencing the novel word again leads to reactivating the previous instances to support word identification. Accordingly, once a link between orthography and meaning is established through several instances of co-occurrence, presenting the novel word form enhances semantic learning even if the contexts are uninformative about the meaning (Eskenazi et al., 2018). Here, we investigated whether informative contexts enhance orthographic learning in the absence of the novel word form. Participants read pseudowords in three definition-like sentences, followed by three unrelated filler sentences (baseline condition), three uninformative sentences (orthographic condition), or three informative sentences with synonyms replacing the pseudoword (semantic condition). After reading, participants were better at spelling pseudowords exposed in the semantic than in the baseline condition and recalled more definitions of the pseudowords exposed in the orthographic than in the baseline condition. Such results indicate that both semantic and orthographic learning benefit from the contexts where the target information is absent. Overall, this supports the instance-based approach and contributes to the understanding of the interplay between orthography and semantics in contextual word learning.
Topics: Humans; Learning; Language; Semantics; Verbal Learning; Reading; Phonetics
PubMed: 37830768
DOI: 10.1027/1618-3169/a000587 -
Quarterly Journal of Experimental... Jun 2023Temporary feature bindings can be learned under specific experimental conditions. However, how this learning occurs and how it is forgotten over long intervals is...
Temporary feature bindings can be learned under specific experimental conditions. However, how this learning occurs and how it is forgotten over long intervals is unclear. We addressed this question with repeated presentation of an array of coloured shapes followed by verbal free recall after delays of 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month. A total of 120 participants viewed 24 repetitions of the same study array of six objects each with two features (shape and colour). After 24 trials, 61 participants reported becoming aware of the repetition while 59 reported being unaware. Memory performance improved across trials, with aware participants showing faster learning than unaware participants whose performance appeared to reflect the capacity of short-term visual memory across all repetitions. Both aware and unaware participants recalled some of the array after their allocated delay, showing that learning had occurred during repetition trials, even for unaware participants who showed little or no improvement across 24 repetition trials. Memory for binding showed no change after 1 day compared with performance on the 24th repetition trial, was significantly lower for participants tested after 1 week, and was lower still for those tested after 1 month. Findings are interpreted as consistent with both a short-term, limited capacity visual cache that supports performance during early repetition trials, before learning can have occurred, and gradual strengthening across trials of an episodic long-term memory trace that supports learning. If the episodic trace exceeds the threshold of awareness, this accelerates learning.
Topics: Humans; Learning; Mental Recall; Memory, Short-Term; Memory, Long-Term; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 35726913
DOI: 10.1177/17470218221111343 -
Ear and Hearing 2022This study examined the performance of a group of adult cochlear implant (CI) candidates (CIC) on visual tasks of verbal learning and memory. Preoperative verbal...
OBJECTIVES
This study examined the performance of a group of adult cochlear implant (CI) candidates (CIC) on visual tasks of verbal learning and memory. Preoperative verbal learning and memory abilities of the CIC group were compared with a group of older normal-hearing (ONH) control participants. Relations between preoperative verbal learning and memory measures and speech recognition outcomes after 6 mo of CI use were also investigated for a subgroup of the CICs.
DESIGN
A group of 80 older adult participants completed a visually presented multitrial free recall task. Measures of word recall, repetition learning, and the use of self-generated organizational strategies were collected from a group of 49 CICs, before cochlear implantation, and a group of 31 ONH controls. Speech recognition outcomes were also collected from a subgroup of 32 of the CIC participants who returned for testing 6 mo after CI activation.
RESULTS
CICs demonstrated poorer verbal learning performance compared with the group of ONH control participants. Among the preoperative verbal learning and memory measures, repetition learning slope and measures of self-generated organizational clustering strategies were the strongest predictors of post-CI speech recognition outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS
Older adult CI candidates present with verbal learning and memory deficits compared with older adults without hearing loss, even on visual tasks that are independent from the direct effects of audibility. Preoperative verbal learning and memory processes reflecting repetition learning and self-generated organizational strategies in free recall were associated with speech recognition outcomes 6 months after implantation. The pattern of results suggests that visual measures of verbal learning may be a useful predictor of outcomes in postlingual adult CICs.
Topics: Aged; Cochlear Implantation; Cochlear Implants; Deafness; Humans; Speech; Speech Perception; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 35319518
DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000001155 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Sep 2021We examine the beginning of the acquisition of the relative order of function and content words, a fundamental but cross-linguistically highly variable aspect of... (Review)
Review
We examine the beginning of the acquisition of the relative order of function and content words, a fundamental but cross-linguistically highly variable aspect of grammar. A review of the existing empirical literature shows that infants as young as 8 months of age can distinguish between functors and content words, and have a rudimentary knowledge of the order of these two universal lexical categories in their native language. Furthermore, human adults and non-human animals such as rodents process the same linguistic information differently from infants, emphasizing the developmental relevance of bootstrapping function/content word order from surface cues available in the input. We discuss the implications of these findings for a synergistic view of language acquisition, considering how grammar acquisition interacts with word learning.
Topics: Humans; Infant; Language; Language Development; Learning; Linguistics; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34052109
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.04.011 -
Journal of Affective Disorders Oct 2023Recent studies indicate accelerated ageing processes, shorter telomere length and poorer cognitive functioning in patients with bipolar disorder. The neurobiology...
INTRODUCTION
Recent studies indicate accelerated ageing processes, shorter telomere length and poorer cognitive functioning in patients with bipolar disorder. The neurobiology underlying cognitive function in bipolar disorder is yet to be established. We anticipated that accelerated ageing as indicated by shortened telomere length, would be associated with reduced cognitive performance in bipolar disorder, particularly for ageing sensitive functions such as memory and learning.
METHODS
The study consisted of 647 participants (bipolar disorder [n = 246] and healthy controls [n = 401]). All participants underwent a standardized neuropsychological test battery, including working memory, executive functioning, processing speed, verbal learning, and verbal memory. Leucocyte telomere length was measured via blood and determined by quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) providing a telomere to single copy ratio (T/S ratio). The T/S ratio was used as an estimate of the mean telomere length of each participant. All analyses were adjusted for medication, Daily Defined Dose (DDD), chronological age, sex, and ethnicity.
RESULTS
Patients had shorter telomere lengths than healthy controls (Cohen's d = 0.11, p = 0.01). Within patients', a positive association was observed for verbal learning and telomere length (β = 0.14, p = 0.025), along with a trend for verbal memory and telomere length (β = 0.11, p = 0.07). No other associations were observed for telomere length and cognitive functioning in the patient or the control group (p > 0.1).
CONCLUSION
Our study may suggest poorer brain health in bipolar disorder as indexed by shorter telomere length and reduced learning correlates. However, the role of telomere length on cognitive functioning in bipolar disorder seems limited.
Topics: Humans; Bipolar Disorder; Telomere Shortening; Telomere; Neuropsychological Tests; Memory, Short-Term; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 37459977
DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.07.087 -
Ideggyogyaszati Szemle May 2023
The decline of episodic memory is one of the earliest cognitive markers of mild cognitive impairment and various types of dementia. Until today, however, there is no...
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The decline of episodic memory is one of the earliest cognitive markers of mild cognitive impairment and various types of dementia. Until today, however, there is no standardized Hungarian episodic memory test that takes into account the characteristics of the Hungarian language. The study presents the structure and standardized use of a new memory test (Verbal Episodic Memory Test, VEMT) as well as normative data in Hungary.
.METHODS
The VEMT is suitable for the comprehensive examination of verbal learning abilities in a broader sense, and more specifically, for the neuropsychological measurement of verbal list learning abilities. In the present study, we constructed a normative database consisting of data from 385 participants.
.RESULTS
We showed that the VEMT is sensitive to demographic factors (e.g., age) which are linked to differences in episodic memory performance. Open access to the test is provided, and the normative scores are presented as well.
.CONCLUSION
The indicators of the test are suitable for drawing a learning curve, for showing the interaction of new and previously learned information (interference effects), and for measuring differences between free recall and cued recall. Furthermore, the test scores are appropriate for distinguishing the effects of different types of memory encoding forms (phonological, semantic, and episodic), for measuring the ability to reconstruct the presentation of a sequence (memory order information), for detecting the rate of forgetting, for measuring recognition abilities, and for detecting hippocampus-related mnemonic pattern separation and completion functions.
.Topics: Humans; Memory, Episodic; Neuropsychological Tests; Mental Recall; Learning; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 37294027
DOI: 10.18071/isz.76.0159 -
Cognitive Science Jul 2020Glossolalia ("speaking in tongues") is a rhythmic utterance of word-like strings of sounds, regularly occurring in religious mass gatherings or various forms of private...
Glossolalia ("speaking in tongues") is a rhythmic utterance of word-like strings of sounds, regularly occurring in religious mass gatherings or various forms of private religious practices (e.g., prayer and meditation). Although specific verbal learning capacities may characterize glossolalists, empirical evidence is lacking. We administered three statistical learning tasks (artificial grammar, phoneme sequence, and visual-response sequence) to 30 glossolalists and 30 matched control volunteers. In artificial grammar, participants decide whether pseudowords and sentences follow previously acquired implicit rules or not. In sequence learning, they gradually draw out rules from repeating regularities in sequences of speech sounds or motor responses. Results revealed enhanced artificial grammar and phoneme sequence learning performances in glossolalists compared to control volunteers. There were significant positive correlations between daily glossolalia activity and artificial grammar learning. These results indicate that glossolalists exhibit enhanced abilities to extract the statistical regularities of verbal information, which may be related to their unusual language abilities.
Topics: Cognition; Humans; Learning; Linguistics; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 32573809
DOI: 10.1111/cogs.12865