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Computational Intelligence and... 2016We propose an efficient method for compressing Vietnamese text using -gram dictionaries. It has a significant compression ratio in comparison with those of...
We propose an efficient method for compressing Vietnamese text using -gram dictionaries. It has a significant compression ratio in comparison with those of state-of-the-art methods on the same dataset. Given a text, first, the proposed method splits it into -grams and then encodes them based on -gram dictionaries. In the encoding phase, we use a sliding window with a size that ranges from bigram to five grams to obtain the best encoding stream. Each -gram is encoded by two to four bytes accordingly based on its corresponding -gram dictionary. We collected 2.5 GB text corpus from some Vietnamese news agencies to build -gram dictionaries from unigram to five grams and achieve dictionaries with a size of 12 GB in total. In order to evaluate our method, we collected a testing set of 10 different text files with different sizes. The experimental results indicate that our method achieves compression ratio around 90% and outperforms state-of-the-art methods.
Topics: Algorithms; Asian People; Data Compression; Dictionaries as Topic; Humans; Vocabulary
PubMed: 27965708
DOI: 10.1155/2016/9483646 -
Infancy : the Official Journal of the... Jul 2022Although prior research has independently linked vocabulary development with toddlers' media usage, parental mental state talk (MST), and parent-child conversational...
Although prior research has independently linked vocabulary development with toddlers' media usage, parental mental state talk (MST), and parent-child conversational turn-taking (CTT), these variables have not been investigated within the same study. In this study, we focus on associations between these variables and 2-year-old's (N = 87) vocabulary. Child vocabulary and digital media use were measured through online questionnaires. We took a multimethod approach to measure parents' child-directed talk. First, we used a home sound environment recording (Language ENvironment Analysis technology) to estimate parents' talk (CTT). Second, parents narrated a picture book, the Frog story, to assess the parent's MST. There was a negative association between how much children watched video content and their vocabulary. However, parents reported that they frequently co-viewed and engaged with the child and media. The negative association first displayed between the amount of video content viewed and the child's developing vocabulary was fully mediated by the parents' qualitative and quantitative talk as measured by MST and CCT, respectively. We propose that the parent relative level of MST and CTT also occurs when parents engage with the child during media use.
Topics: Humans; Internet; Language Development; Parent-Child Relations; Parents; Vocabulary
PubMed: 35526265
DOI: 10.1111/infa.12476 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... Aug 2023Using a novel parent report measure, this study investigated whether asking parents to rate their certainty when reporting on child vocabulary skills provided additional...
PURPOSE
Using a novel parent report measure, this study investigated whether asking parents to rate their certainty when reporting on child vocabulary skills provided additional insight into parent report and emerging language abilities in young autistic children. Specifically, we investigated whether parent certainty varied based on whether the child was reported to understand, understand and say, or neither understand nor say the word and whether standardized measures of expressive and receptive language abilities and/or autistic traits predicted parent certainty. Lastly, we investigated whether certainty was associated with inconsistency in parent report of child word knowledge.
METHOD
Twenty-one parents and their autistic children ages 2-5 years participated. One parent per child completed the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MCDI) Words and Gestures form and a custom vocabulary checklist including 24 object nouns from the MCDI. Within the custom form, parents indicated whether their child understood, understood and said, or neither understood nor said 24 target nouns and reported how certain they were about their responses using a 5-point scale. Expressive language, receptive language, and autistic traits were measured via direct assessment using standardized measures.
RESULTS
Parent certainty varied widely and was higher for words the parents reported the children understood and said compared to that for words children either understood or neither understood nor said. Certainty ratings were higher when a child had higher standardized receptive and expressive language scores. Lastly, parent certainty was associated with reporting consistency, clarifying previous findings of inconsistencies in parent report of child vocabulary.
CONCLUSION
Findings from this study indicate that measuring parent certainty provides critical information when assessing early vocabulary skills in autistic children.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23671497.
Topics: Humans; Autistic Disorder; Checklist; Language; Language Development; Vocabulary; Child, Preschool
PubMed: 37467394
DOI: 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00623 -
Journal of Speech, Language, and... Dec 2021This study investigated within-language and between-language associations between phonological memory, vocabulary, and grammar in French-English ( = 43) and...
PURPOSE
This study investigated within-language and between-language associations between phonological memory, vocabulary, and grammar in French-English ( = 43) and Spanish-English ( = 25) bilingual children at 30, 36, and 48 months. It was predicted that phonological memory would display both within-language and between-language relations to language development and that these relations would be stronger at the youngest age.
METHOD
Bilingual children participated in free-play sessions in both of their languages at each age, from which vocabulary and grammatical information (number of different words and mean length of utterance) was extracted. Vocabulary information was also obtained from parent inventories completed when the children were 30 months and a standardized receptive vocabulary test administered at 36 and 48 months. The children were also administered nonword repetition tests in both of their languages at each age.
RESULTS
Mixed logistic regression indicated that phonological memory was associated with vocabulary and grammar within the same language and phonological memory in the other language. In two of the four statistical models, phonological memory exhibited positive between-language relations, and in one model, it exhibited negative between-language relations to language development. Results also indicated that within-language and between-languages effects remained constant, or between-language associations decreased during the age range studied.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the findings provide some support for cross-language associations between phonological memory and lexical and grammatical skills.
Topics: Child; Child Language; Humans; Language Development; Language Tests; Linguistics; Multilingualism; Vocabulary
PubMed: 34731575
DOI: 10.1044/2021_JSLHR-21-00176 -
Behavioural Neurology 2015Since the very beginning of the aphasia history it has been well established that there are two major aphasic syndromes (Wernicke's-type and Broca's-type aphasia); each... (Review)
Review
Since the very beginning of the aphasia history it has been well established that there are two major aphasic syndromes (Wernicke's-type and Broca's-type aphasia); each one of them is related to the disturbance at a specific linguistic level (lexical/semantic and grammatical) and associated with a particular brain damage localization (temporal and frontal-subcortical). It is proposed that three stages in language evolution could be distinguished: (a) primitive communication systems similar to those observed in other animals, including nonhuman primates; (b) initial communication systems using sound combinations (lexicon) but without relationships among the elements (grammar); and (c) advanced communication systems including word-combinations (grammar). It is proposed that grammar probably originated from the internal representation of actions, resulting in the creation of verbs; this is an ability that depends on the so-called Broca's area and related brain networks. It is suggested that grammar is the basic ability for the development of so-called metacognitive executive functions. It is concluded that while the lexical/semantic language system (vocabulary) probably appeared during human evolution long before the contemporary man (Homo sapiens sapiens), the grammatical language historically represents a recent acquisition and is correlated with the development of complex cognition (metacognitive executive functions).
Topics: Animals; Biological Evolution; Brain; Humans; Language; Linguistics; Semantics; Vocabulary
PubMed: 26124540
DOI: 10.1155/2015/872487 -
International Journal of Environmental... Jan 2022Diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are typically accompanied by atypical language development, which can be noticeable even before diagnosis. The siblings of... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
The Vocabulary of Infants with an Elevated Likelihood and Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Infant Language Studies Using the CDI and MSEL.
Diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are typically accompanied by atypical language development, which can be noticeable even before diagnosis. The siblings of children diagnosed with ASD are at elevated likelihood for ASD diagnosis and have been shown to have higher prevalence rates than the general population. In this paper, we systematically reviewed studies looking at the vocabulary size and development of infants with autism. One inclusion criterion was that infants were grouped either pre-diagnostically as elevated or typical likelihood or post-diagnostically as ASD or without ASD. This review focused on studies that tested infants up to 24 months of age and that assessed vocabulary either via the parent-completed MacArthur-Bates Communicative Developmental Inventory (CDI) or the clinician-administered Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL). Our systematic search yielded 76 studies. A meta-analysis was performed on these studies that compared the vocabulary scores of EL and TL infants pre-diagnostically and the scores of ASD and non-ASD infants post-diagnostically. Both pre- and post-diagnostically, it was found that the EL and ASD infants had smaller vocabularies than their TL and non-ASD peers, respectively. The effect sizes across studies were heterogenous, prompting additional moderator analyses of age and sub-group analyses of the language measure used (CDI or MSEL) as potential moderators of the effect size. Age was found to be a moderator both in the pre- and post-diagnostical groups, however, language measure was not a moderator in either diagnostic group. Interpretations and future research directions are discussed based on these findings.
Topics: Autism Spectrum Disorder; Child; Humans; Infant; Language; Language Development; Verbascum; Vocabulary
PubMed: 35162492
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031469 -
Developmental Science Nov 2020Mental imagery is a foundational human faculty that depends on active image construction and sensorimotor experiences. However, children now spend a significant...
Mental imagery is a foundational human faculty that depends on active image construction and sensorimotor experiences. However, children now spend a significant proportion of their day engaged with screen-media, which (a) provide them with ready-made mental images, and (b) constitute a sensory narrowing whereby input is typically focused on the visual and auditory modalities. Accordingly, we test the idea that screen-time influences the development of children's mental imagery with a focus on mental image generation and inspection from the visual and haptic domains. In a longitudinal cross-lagged panel design, children (n = 266) aged between 3 and 9 years were tested at two points in time, 10 months apart. Measures of screen-time and mental imagery were employed, alongside a host of control variables including working memory, vocabulary, demographics, device ownership, and age of exposure to screen-media. Findings indicate a statistically significant path from screen-time at time 1 to mental imagery at time 2, above and beyond the influence of the control variables. These unique findings are discussed in terms of the influence of screen-time on mental imagery.
Topics: Child; Humans; Imagination; Infant; Memory, Short-Term; Vocabulary
PubMed: 32353916
DOI: 10.1111/desc.12978 -
Neuropsychology Review Dec 2023Although attention and early associative learning in preverbal children is predominantly driven by rapid eye-movements in response to moving visual stimuli and... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
Although attention and early associative learning in preverbal children is predominantly driven by rapid eye-movements in response to moving visual stimuli and sounds/words (e.g., associating the word "bottle" with the object), the literature examining the role of visual attention and memory in ongoing vocabulary development across childhood is limited. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis examined the association between visual memory and vocabulary development, including moderators such as age and task selection, in neurotypical children aged 2-to-12 years, from the brain-based perspective of cognitive neuroscience. Visual memory tasks were classified according to the visual characteristics of the stimuli and the neural networks known to preferentially process such information, including consideration of the distinction between the ventral visual stream (processing more static visuo-perceptual details, such as form or colour) and the more dynamic dorsal visual stream (processing spatial temporal action-driven information). Final classifications included spatio-temporal span tasks, visuo-perceptual or spatial concurrent array tasks, and executive judgment tasks. Visuo-perceptual concurrent array tasks, reliant on ventral stream processing, were moderately associated with vocabulary, while tasks measuring spatio-temporal spans, associated with dorsal stream processing, and executive judgment tasks (central executive), showed only weak correlations with vocabulary. These findings have important implications for health professionals and researchers interested in language, as they advocate for the development of more targeted language learning interventions that include specific and relevant aspects of visual processing and memory, such as ventral stream visuo-perceptual details (i.e., shape or colour).
Topics: Child; Humans; Vocabulary; Memory; Visual Perception; Brain; Language
PubMed: 36136174
DOI: 10.1007/s11065-022-09561-4 -
Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews.... Jan 2017Vocabulary learning is deceptively hard, but toddlers often make it look easy. Prior theories proposed that children's rapid acquisition of words is based on... (Review)
Review
Vocabulary learning is deceptively hard, but toddlers often make it look easy. Prior theories proposed that children's rapid acquisition of words is based on language-specific knowledge and constraints. In contrast, more recent work converges on the view that word learning proceeds via domain-general processes that are tuned to richly structured-not impoverished-input. We argue that new theoretical insights, coupled with methodological tools, have pushed the field toward an appreciation of simple, content-free processes working together as a system to support the acquisition of words. We illustrate this by considering three central phenomena of early language development: referential ambiguity, fast-mapping, and the vocabulary spurt. WIREs Cogn Sci 2017, 8:e1421. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1421 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Topics: Child; Child Language; Child, Preschool; Humans; Infant; Language Development; Learning; Vocabulary
PubMed: 27911490
DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1421 -
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Jun 2023Using electroencephalography (EEG) to study the neural oscillations supporting language development is increasingly common; however, a clear understanding of the...
Using electroencephalography (EEG) to study the neural oscillations supporting language development is increasingly common; however, a clear understanding of the relationship between neural oscillations and traditional Event Related Potentials (ERPs) is needed to disentangle how maturation of language-related neural networks supports semantic processing throughout grade school. Theta and the N400 are both thought to index semantic retrieval but, in adults, are only weakly correlated with one another indicating they may measure somewhat unique aspects of retrieval. Here, we studied the relationship between the N400 amplitude and theta power during semantic retrieval with key indicators of language abilities including age, vocabulary, reading comprehension and phonological memory in 226 children ages 8-15 years. The N400 and theta responses were positively correlated over posterior areas, but negatively correlated over frontal areas. When controlling for the N400 amplitude, the amplitude of the theta response was predicted by age, but not by language measures. On the other hand, when controlling theta amplitude, the amplitude of the N400 was predicted by both vocabulary knowledge and age. These findings indicate that while there is a clear relationship between the N400 and theta responses, they may each index unique aspects of development related to semantic retrieval.
Topics: Adult; Child; Humans; Male; Female; Adolescent; Semantics; Vocabulary; Electroencephalography; Evoked Potentials; Comprehension
PubMed: 37141791
DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101251