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Vertex (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Jan 2024Reseña de la obra: Vocabulario de psicopatología, dirigida por José María Álvarez, Xoroi, 2023.
Reseña de la obra: Vocabulario de psicopatología, dirigida por José María Álvarez, Xoroi, 2023.
PubMed: 38197616
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of Autism and Developmental... Jul 2023Subgroups of children with different speech profiles have been described however, little is known about the trajectories of speech development or stability of subgroups...
Subgroups of children with different speech profiles have been described however, little is known about the trajectories of speech development or stability of subgroups over time. This longitudinal study described both speech trajectories and subgroup stability of 22 autistic children, aged 2;0-6;11 years, over 12 months. Independent and relational speech analyses, vocabulary size and nonverbal communication were used in clustering. Results suggest varied speech trajectories, particularly for children with 'low language and low speech' at Time 1. Receptive vocabulary and consonant inventory at Time 1 may predict speech outcomes after 12 months. A small subgroup of children (n = 3) present with low expressive vocabulary and speech but higher receptive vocabulary and use of gestures. This unique profile remained stable.
Topics: Humans; Child; Speech; Longitudinal Studies; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic Disorder; Child Development; Vocabulary; Language Development
PubMed: 35438437
DOI: 10.1007/s10803-022-05561-8 -
Developmental Science Jul 2023Child-directed language can support language learning, but how? We addressed two questions: (1) how caregivers prosodically modulated their speech as a function of word...
Child-directed language can support language learning, but how? We addressed two questions: (1) how caregivers prosodically modulated their speech as a function of word familiarity (known or unknown to the child) and accessibility of referent (visually present or absent from the immediate environment); (2) whether such modulations affect children's unknown word learning and vocabulary development. We used data from 38 English-speaking caregivers (from the ECOLANG corpus) talking about toys (both known and unknown to their children aged 3-4 years) both when the toys are present and when absent. We analyzed prosodic dimensions (i.e., speaking rate, pitch and intensity) of caregivers' productions of 6529 toy labels. We found that unknown labels were spoken with significantly slower speaking rate, wider pitch and intensity range than known labels, especially in the first mentions, suggesting that caregivers adjust their prosody based on children's lexical knowledge. Moreover, caregivers used slower speaking rate and larger intensity range to mark the first mentions of toys that were physically absent. After the first mentions, they talked about the referents louder with higher mean pitch when toys were present than when toys were absent. Crucially, caregivers' mean pitch of unknown words and the degree of mean pitch modulation for unknown words relative to known words (pitch ratio) predicted children's immediate word learning and vocabulary size 1 year later. In conclusion, caregivers modify their prosody when the learning situation is more demanding for children, and these helpful modulations assist children in word learning. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: In naturalistic interactions, caregivers use slower speaking rate, wider pitch and intensity range when introducing new labels to 3-4-year-old children, especially in first mentions. Compared to when toys are present, caregivers speak more slowly with larger intensity range to mark the first mentions of toys that are physically absent. Mean pitch to mark word familiarity predicts children's immediate word learning and future vocabulary size.
Topics: Humans; Child; Child, Preschool; Language Development; Vocabulary; Child Language; Verbal Learning; Language; Speech
PubMed: 36464779
DOI: 10.1111/desc.13357 -
Biological Psychiatry May 2024The number of words children produce (expressive vocabulary) and understand (receptive vocabulary) changes rapidly during early development, partially due to genetic... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
BACKGROUND
The number of words children produce (expressive vocabulary) and understand (receptive vocabulary) changes rapidly during early development, partially due to genetic factors. Here, we performed a meta-genome-wide association study of vocabulary acquisition and investigated polygenic overlap with literacy, cognition, developmental phenotypes, and neurodevelopmental conditions, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
METHODS
We studied 37,913 parent-reported vocabulary size measures (English, Dutch, Danish) for 17,298 children of European descent. Meta-analyses were performed for early-phase expressive (infancy, 15-18 months), late-phase expressive (toddlerhood, 24-38 months), and late-phase receptive (toddlerhood, 24-38 months) vocabulary. Subsequently, we estimated single nucleotide polymorphism-based heritability (SNP-h) and genetic correlations (r) and modeled underlying factor structures with multivariate models.
RESULTS
Early-life vocabulary size was modestly heritable (SNP-h = 0.08-0.24). Genetic overlap between infant expressive and toddler receptive vocabulary was negligible (r = 0.07), although each measure was moderately related to toddler expressive vocabulary (r = 0.69 and r = 0.67, respectively), suggesting a multifactorial genetic architecture. Both infant and toddler expressive vocabulary were genetically linked to literacy (e.g., spelling: r = 0.58 and r = 0.79, respectively), underlining genetic similarity. However, a genetic association of early-life vocabulary with educational attainment and intelligence emerged only during toddlerhood (e.g., receptive vocabulary and intelligence: r = 0.36). Increased ADHD risk was genetically associated with larger infant expressive vocabulary (r = 0.23). Multivariate genetic models in the ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) cohort confirmed this finding for ADHD symptoms (e.g., at age 13; r = 0.54) but showed that the association effect reversed for toddler receptive vocabulary (r = -0.74), highlighting developmental heterogeneity.
CONCLUSIONS
The genetic architecture of early-life vocabulary changes during development, shaping polygenic association patterns with later-life ADHD, literacy, and cognition-related traits.
Topics: Adolescent; Humans; Infant; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Cognition; Genome-Wide Association Study; Literacy; Longitudinal Studies; Phenotype; Vocabulary
PubMed: 38070845
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2023.11.025 -
Animals : An Open Access Journal From... Nov 2023Adult chimpanzees Tatu and Loulis lived at the Fauna Foundation sanctuary. They had acquired signs of American Sign Language (ASL) while young and continued to use them...
Adult chimpanzees Tatu and Loulis lived at the Fauna Foundation sanctuary. They had acquired signs of American Sign Language (ASL) while young and continued to use them as adults. Caregivers with proficiency in ASL maintained daily sign language records during interactions and passive observation. Sign checklists were records of daily vocabulary use. Sign logs were records of signed interactions with caregivers and other chimpanzees. This study reports sign use from eight years of these records. Tatu and Loulis used a majority of their base vocabularies consistently over the study period. They used signs that they had acquired decades earlier and new signs. Their utterances served a variety of communicative functions, including responses, conversational devices, requests, and descriptions. They signed to caregivers, other chimpanzees, including those who did not use signs, and to themselves privately. This indicates the importance of a stimulating and interactive environment to understand the scope of ape communication and, in particular, their use of sign language.
PubMed: 38003104
DOI: 10.3390/ani13223486 -
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research Dec 2023Vocabulary knowledge greatly affects writing performance (Stæhr in Lang Learn J 36:139-152, 2008; Johnson in Tesol J 7:700-715 2016), but little is known about the...
The Role of Receptive/Orthographic Vocabulary, Productive/Orthographic Vocabulary, Productive/Phonological Vocabulary and Depth of Vocabulary in Predicting Reading-to-Write Performance.
Vocabulary knowledge greatly affects writing performance (Stæhr in Lang Learn J 36:139-152, 2008; Johnson in Tesol J 7:700-715 2016), but little is known about the relative contribution of different dimensions of vocabulary knowledge to reading-to-write performance. The current study attempted to investigates the contribution of receptive/orthographic (RecOrth) vocabulary knowledge, productive/orthographic knowledge (ProOrth), productive/phonological (ProPhon) vocabulary knowledge and depth of vocabulary knowledge to reading-to-write scores. For this purpose, 154 Chinese English as foreign language (EFL) learners took a battery of vocabulary knowledge tests and a reading-to-write test. The extent to which vocabulary at different word frequencies predicted reading-to-write was also investigated. The results of regression indicated that ProOrth academic level, vocabulary depth, and RecOrth 2, 000 frequency level explained 40.2% of the reading-to-write score variance. Among the high-performing group, ProOrth academic and vocabulary depth were predictive of the reading-to-write score, while only ProOrth academic vocabulary explained the variance in the reading-to-write score for the low-performing group. The findings reveal the important relationship among dimensions of vocabulary knowledge and reading-to-write and stress the need for systematic vocabulary instruction.
Topics: Humans; Vocabulary; Reading; Phonetics; Language; Writing
PubMed: 37982924
DOI: 10.1007/s10936-023-10027-8 -
Infancy : the Official Journal of the... 2023We compared vocabulary sizes in comprehension and production between bilingual toddlers growing up in the United Kingdom (UK) and age-matched UK English monolinguals...
We compared vocabulary sizes in comprehension and production between bilingual toddlers growing up in the United Kingdom (UK) and age-matched UK English monolinguals (12-36 months old) using parent-report vocabulary questionnaires. We found that bilingual toddlers' vocabulary sizes in English were smaller than the vocabulary sizes of their monolingual peers. Notably, this vocabulary gap was not found when groups were compared on conceptual vocabulary in comprehension. Conceptual scoring also reduced the vocabulary gap in production but group differences were still significant. Bilingual toddlers knew more words than monolinguals when words across their two languages were added together, for both comprehension and production. This large total vocabulary size could be attributed to a high proportion of doublets (cross-linguistic word pairs with the same meaning) in bilinguals' vocabularies. These findings are discussed in relation to language exposure, facilitation from cross-linguistic overlap and maturation constraints on vocabulary size.
Topics: Humans; Child, Preschool; Infant; Vocabulary; Multilingualism; Language; Comprehension; Language Tests
PubMed: 37792587
DOI: 10.1111/infa.12562 -
Journal of Biomedical Semantics Dec 2023The FAIR principles recommend the use of controlled vocabularies, such as ontologies, to define data and metadata concepts. Ontologies are currently modelled following... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
The FAIR principles recommend the use of controlled vocabularies, such as ontologies, to define data and metadata concepts. Ontologies are currently modelled following different approaches, sometimes describing conflicting definitions of the same concepts, which can affect interoperability. To cope with that, prior literature suggests organising ontologies in levels, where domain specific (low-level) ontologies are grounded in domain independent high-level ontologies (i.e., foundational ontologies). In this level-based organisation, foundational ontologies work as translators of intended meaning, thus improving interoperability. Despite their considerable acceptance in biomedical research, there are very few studies testing foundational ontologies. This paper describes a systematic literature mapping that was conducted to understand how foundational ontologies are used in biomedical research and to find empirical evidence supporting their claimed (dis)advantages.
RESULTS
From a set of 79 selected papers, we identified that foundational ontologies are used for several purposes: ontology construction, repair, mapping, and ontology-based data analysis. Foundational ontologies are claimed to improve interoperability, enhance reasoning, speed up ontology development and facilitate maintainability. The complexity of using foundational ontologies is the most commonly cited downside. Despite being used for several purposes, there were hardly any experiments (1 paper) testing the claims for or against the use of foundational ontologies. In the subset of 49 papers that describe the development of an ontology, it was observed a low adherence to ontology construction (16 papers) and ontology evaluation formal methods (4 papers).
CONCLUSION
Our findings have two main implications. First, the lack of empirical evidence about the use of foundational ontologies indicates a need for evaluating the use of such artefacts in biomedical research. Second, the low adherence to formal methods illustrates how the field could benefit from a more systematic approach when dealing with the development and evaluation of ontologies. The understanding of how foundational ontologies are used in the biomedical field can drive future research towards the improvement of ontologies and, consequently, data FAIRness. The adoption of formal methods can impact the quality and sustainability of ontologies, and reusing these methods from other fields is encouraged.
Topics: Biological Ontologies; Vocabulary, Controlled; Biomedical Research
PubMed: 38082345
DOI: 10.1186/s13326-023-00300-z -
Cognition & Emotion May 2024Among children and adolescents, emotion understanding relates to academic achievement and higher well-being. This study investigates the role of general and...
Among children and adolescents, emotion understanding relates to academic achievement and higher well-being. This study investigates the role of general and emotion-specific language skills in children's and adolescents' emotion understanding, building on previous research highlighting the significance of domain-specific language skills in conceptual development. We employ a novel inventory (CEVVT) to assess emotion-specific vocabulary. The study involved 10-11-year-old children (= 29) and 16-17-year-old adolescents (= 28), examining their emotion recognition and knowledge of emotion regulation strategies. Results highlight the ongoing development of emotion-specific vocabulary across these age groups. Emotion recognition correlated with general vocabulary in the younger group. In the older age group, emotion recognition was related to emotion-specific vocabulary size, but this effect only became apparent when controlling for the depth of emotion-specific vocabulary. Against expectation, there were no significant contributions of general or emotion-specific vocabulary to knowledge of emotion regulation strategies in either age group. These findings enhance our comprehension of the nuanced interplay between language and emotion across developmental stages.
PubMed: 38712811
DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2024.2346745 -
Global Change Biology Feb 2024Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane (CH ) globally. Climate and land use change are expected to alter CH emissions but current and future wetland CH... (Review)
Review
Wetlands are the largest natural source of methane (CH ) globally. Climate and land use change are expected to alter CH emissions but current and future wetland CH budgets remain uncertain. One important predictor of wetland CH flux, plants, play an important role in providing substrates for CH -producing microbes, increasing CH consumption by oxygenating the rhizosphere, and transporting CH from soils to the atmosphere. Yet, there remain various mechanistic knowledge gaps regarding the extent to which plant root systems and their traits influence wetland CH emissions. Here, we present a novel conceptual framework of the relationships between a range of root traits and CH processes in wetlands. Based on a literature review, we propose four main CH -relevant categories of root function: gas transport, carbon substrate provision, physicochemical influences and root system architecture. Within these categories, we discuss how individual root traits influence CH production, consumption, and transport (PCT). Our findings reveal knowledge gaps concerning trait functions in physicochemical influences, and the role of mycorrhizae and temporal root dynamics in PCT. We also identify priority research needs such as integrating trait measurements from different root function categories, measuring root-CH linkages along environmental gradients, and following standardized root ecology protocols and vocabularies. Thus, our conceptual framework identifies relevant belowground plant traits that will help improve wetland CH predictions and reduce uncertainties in current and future wetland CH budgets.
Topics: Wetlands; Methane; Plants; Climate; Carbon Dioxide
PubMed: 38337165
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17127