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Computational Intelligence and... 2021Text-based multitype question answering is one of the research hotspots in the field of reading comprehension models. Multitype reading comprehension models have the...
Text-based multitype question answering is one of the research hotspots in the field of reading comprehension models. Multitype reading comprehension models have the characteristics of shorter time to propose, complex components of relevant corpus, and greater difficulty in model construction. There are relatively few research works in this field. Therefore, it is urgent to improve the model performance. In this paper, a text-based multitype question and answer reading comprehension model (MTQA) is proposed. The model is based on a multilayer transformer encoding and decoding structure. In the decoding structure, the headers of the answer type prediction decoding, fragment decoding, arithmetic decoding, counting decoding, and negation are added for the characteristics of multiple types of corpora. Meanwhile, high-performance ELECTRA checkpoints are employed, and secondary pretraining based on these checkpoints and an absolute loss function are designed to improve the model performance. The experimental results show that the performance of the proposed model on the DROP and QUOREF corpora is better than the best results of the current existing models, which proves that the proposed MTQA model has high feature extraction and relatively strong generalization capabilities.
Topics: Comprehension; Reading
PubMed: 33679967
DOI: 10.1155/2021/8810366 -
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) Mar 2022The neurobiology of sentence production has been largely understudied compared to the neurobiology of sentence comprehension, due to difficulties with experimental...
The neurobiology of sentence production has been largely understudied compared to the neurobiology of sentence comprehension, due to difficulties with experimental control and motion-related artifacts in neuroimaging. We studied the neural response to constituents of increasing size and specifically focused on the similarities and differences in the production and comprehension of the same stimuli. Participants had to either produce or listen to stimuli in a gradient of constituent size based on a visual prompt. Larger constituent sizes engaged the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) and middle temporal gyrus (LMTG) extending to inferior parietal areas in both production and comprehension, confirming that the neural resources for syntactic encoding and decoding are largely overlapping. An ROI analysis in LIFG and LMTG also showed that production elicited larger responses to constituent size than comprehension and that the LMTG was more engaged in comprehension than production, while the LIFG was more engaged in production than comprehension. Finally, increasing constituent size was characterized by later BOLD peaks in comprehension but earlier peaks in production. These results show that syntactic encoding and parsing engage overlapping areas, but there are asymmetries in the engagement of the language network due to the specific requirements of production and comprehension.
Topics: Brain; Brain Mapping; Comprehension; Humans; Language; Magnetic Resonance Imaging
PubMed: 34491301
DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab287 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Aug 2016The past decade has seen a surge of research examining mind-wandering, but most of this research has not considered the potential importance of distinguishing between... (Review)
Review
The past decade has seen a surge of research examining mind-wandering, but most of this research has not considered the potential importance of distinguishing between intentional and unintentional mind-wandering. However, a recent series of papers have demonstrated that mind-wandering reported in empirical investigations frequently occurs with and without intention, and, more crucially, that intentional and unintentional mind-wandering are dissociable. This emerging literature suggests that, to increase clarity in the literature, there is a need to reconsider the bulk of the mind-wandering literature with an eye toward deconvolving these two different cognitive experiences. In this review we highlight recent trends in investigations of the intentionality of mind-wandering, and we outline a novel theoretical framework regarding the mechanisms underlying intentional and unintentional mind-wandering.
Topics: Attention; Comprehension; Executive Function; Humans; Intention; Motivation; Thinking
PubMed: 27318437
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2016.05.010 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Apr 2020Visual narratives of sequential images - as found in comics, picture stories, and storyboards - are often thought to provide a fairly universal and transparent message... (Review)
Review
Visual narratives of sequential images - as found in comics, picture stories, and storyboards - are often thought to provide a fairly universal and transparent message that requires minimal learning to decode. This perceived transparency has led to frequent use of sequential images as experimental stimuli in the cognitive and psychological sciences to explore a wide range of topics. In addition, it underlines efforts to use visual narratives in science and health communication and as educational materials in both classroom settings and across developmental, clinical, and non-literate populations. Yet, combined with recent studies from the linguistic and cognitive sciences, decades of research suggest that visual narratives involve greater complexity and decoding than widely assumed. This review synthesizes observations from cross-cultural and developmental research on the comprehension and creation of visual narrative sequences, as well as findings from clinical psychology (e.g., autism, developmental language disorder, aphasia). Altogether, this work suggests that understanding the visual languages found in comics and visual narratives requires a fluency that is contingent on exposure and practice with a graphic system.
Topics: Comprehension; Humans; Narration; Pattern Recognition, Visual
PubMed: 31820277
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-019-01670-1 -
Frontiers in Public Health 2021Health literacy, a recently determined construct plays an important role in how individuals are able to manage their health. A useful approach for the assessment of...
Health literacy, a recently determined construct plays an important role in how individuals are able to manage their health. A useful approach for the assessment of health literacy is to measure the comprehension of available patient education materials (PEMs). We aimed at assessing the usefulness of PEMS available in Hungarian by testing comprehension of selected PEMs in different groups of users. Comprehension of patient education materials in the domain of healthcare was tested by selecting PEMs and creating questions based on their text in 3 dimensions of health literacy: understand, process/appraise, apply/use. Twenty questions were created that could be answered without pre-existing knowledge by reading the appropriate text taken from PEMs. Comprehension was examined in four groups: laypersons, non-professional healthcare workers, 1st year healthcare students, and 5th year medical students. Readability indices were calculated for the same texts to which questions were created. Laypersons answered <50% of the PEMs-based questions correctly. Non-professional healthcare workers performed better with 57% of right answers but significantly worse than healthcare students or medical students. Those with at least high school qualification (maturity exam) showed significantly higher comprehension compared to those with lower educational attainment. Persons in good or very good health also had significantly better comprehension than those in less favorable health. All readability indices showed that comprehension of the tested PEMs required at least 10 years of schooling or more. Therefore, these PEMS are difficult to understand for persons with less than high school level of education. Rephrasing of the investigated patient educational materials would be recommended so that they better fit the educational attainment of the Hungarian population. Evaluation of the readability and comprehensibility of other PEMs also seems warranted.
Topics: Comprehension; Educational Status; Health Literacy; Humans; Patient Education as Topic
PubMed: 34917569
DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2021.725840 -
Cortex; a Journal Devoted To the Study... Jul 2015Hermeneutics refers to interpretation and translation of text (typically ancient scriptures) but also applies to verbal and non-verbal communication. In a psychological... (Review)
Review
Hermeneutics refers to interpretation and translation of text (typically ancient scriptures) but also applies to verbal and non-verbal communication. In a psychological setting it nicely frames the problem of inferring the intended content of a communication. In this paper, we offer a solution to the problem of neural hermeneutics based upon active inference. In active inference, action fulfils predictions about how we will behave (e.g., predicting we will speak). Crucially, these predictions can be used to predict both self and others--during speaking and listening respectively. Active inference mandates the suppression of prediction errors by updating an internal model that generates predictions--both at fast timescales (through perceptual inference) and slower timescales (through perceptual learning). If two agents adopt the same model, then--in principle--they can predict each other and minimise their mutual prediction errors. Heuristically, this ensures they are singing from the same hymn sheet. This paper builds upon recent work on active inference and communication to illustrate perceptual learning using simulated birdsongs. Our focus here is the neural hermeneutics implicit in learning, where communication facilitates long-term changes in generative models that are trying to predict each other. In other words, communication induces perceptual learning and enables others to (literally) change our minds and vice versa.
Topics: Animals; Anticipation, Psychological; Birds; Communication; Comprehension; Hermeneutics; Humans; Learning; Reading; Vocalization, Animal
PubMed: 25957007
DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2015.03.025 -
Quarterly Journal of Experimental... Nov 2016Most theorists agree that sarcasm serves some communicative function that would not be achieved by speaking directly, such as eliciting a particular emotional response...
Most theorists agree that sarcasm serves some communicative function that would not be achieved by speaking directly, such as eliciting a particular emotional response in the recipient. One debate concerns whether this kind of language serves to enhance or mute the positive or negative nature of a message. The role of textual devices commonly used to accompany written sarcastic remarks is also unclear. The current research uses a rating task to investigate the influence of textual devices (emoticons and punctuation marks) on the comprehension of, and emotional responses to, sarcastic versus literal criticism and praise, for both unambiguous (Experiment 1) and ambiguous (Experiment 2) materials. Results showed that sarcastic criticism was rated as less negative than literal criticism, and sarcastic praise was rated as less positive than literal praise, suggesting that sarcasm serves to mute the positive or negative nature of the message. In terms of textual devices, results showed that emoticons had a larger influence on both comprehension and emotional impact than punctuation marks.
Topics: Adolescent; Comprehension; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Metaphor; Personal Construct Theory; Psycholinguistics; Reading; Social Behavior; Verbal Behavior; Young Adult
PubMed: 26513274
DOI: 10.1080/17470218.2015.1106566 -
The Journal of Pediatrics Jan 2017To assess language skills in children born preterm and full term by the use of a standardized language test and eye-tracking methods. (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
OBJECTIVE
To assess language skills in children born preterm and full term by the use of a standardized language test and eye-tracking methods.
STUDY DESIGN
Children born ≤32 weeks' gestation (n = 44) were matched on sex and socioeconomic status to children born full term (n = 44) and studied longitudinally. The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (BSID-III) were administered at 18 months (corrected for prematurity as applicable). The Looking-While-Listening Task (LWL) simultaneously presents 2 pictures and an auditory stimulus that directs the child's attention to one image. The pattern of eye movements reflects visual processing and the efficiency of language comprehension. Children born preterm were evaluated on LWL 3 times between 18 and 24 months. Children born full term were evaluated at ages corresponding to chronological and corrected ages of their preterm match. Results were compared between groups for the BSID-III and 2 LWL measures: accuracy (proportion of time looking at target) and reaction time (latency to shift gaze from distracter to target).
RESULTS
Children born preterm had lower BSID-III scores than children born full term. Children born preterm had poorer performance than children born full term on LWL measures for chronological age but similar performance for corrected age. Accuracy and reaction time at 18 months' corrected age displaced preterm-full term group membership as significant predictors of BSID-III scores.
CONCLUSIONS
Performance and rate of change on language comprehension measures were similar in children born preterm and full term compared at corrected age. Individual variation in language comprehension efficiency was a robust predictor of scores on a standardized language assessment in both groups.
Topics: Comprehension; Eye Movements; Female; Humans; Infant; Infant, Premature; Language; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Term Birth
PubMed: 27816220
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2016.10.004 -
Psychonomic Bulletin & Review Jun 2021We acquire a lot of information about the world through texts, which can be categorized at the broadest level into two primary genres: narratives and exposition. Stories... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
We acquire a lot of information about the world through texts, which can be categorized at the broadest level into two primary genres: narratives and exposition. Stories and essays differ across a variety of dimensions, including structure and content, with numerous theories hypothesizing that stories are easier to understand and recall than essays. However, empirical work in this area has yielded mixed results. To synthesize research in this area, we conducted a meta-analysis of experiments in which memory and/or comprehension of narrative and expository texts was investigated. Based on over 75 unique samples and data from more than 33,000 participants, we found that stories were more easily understood and better recalled than essays. Moreover, this result was robust, not influenced by the inclusion of a single effect-size or single study, and not moderated by various study characteristics. This finding has implications for any domain in which acquiring and retaining information is important.
Topics: Comprehension; Humans; Mental Recall; Narration; Reading
PubMed: 33410100
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-020-01853-1 -
Behavioural Neurology 2014This review paper presents converging evidence from studies of brain damage and longitudinal studies of language in aging which supports the following thesis: the neural... (Review)
Review
This review paper presents converging evidence from studies of brain damage and longitudinal studies of language in aging which supports the following thesis: the neural basis of language can best be understood by the concept of neural multifunctionality. In this paper the term "neural multifunctionality" refers to incorporation of nonlinguistic functions into language models of the intact brain, reflecting a multifunctional perspective whereby a constant and dynamic interaction exists among neural networks subserving cognitive, affective, and praxic functions with neural networks specialized for lexical retrieval, sentence comprehension, and discourse processing, giving rise to language as we know it. By way of example, we consider effects of executive system functions on aspects of semantic processing among persons with and without aphasia, as well as the interaction of executive and language functions among older adults. We conclude by indicating how this multifunctional view of brain-language relations extends to the realm of language recovery from aphasia, where evidence of the influence of nonlinguistic factors on the reshaping of neural circuitry for aphasia rehabilitation is clearly emerging.
Topics: Aphasia; Brain; Comprehension; Humans; Language; Models, Theoretical
PubMed: 25009368
DOI: 10.1155/2014/260381