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Psychological Review Jul 2022In the first year of life, infants' word learning is slow, laborious, and requires repeated exposure to word-referent co-occurrences. In contrast, by 14-18 months,... (Review)
Review
In the first year of life, infants' word learning is slow, laborious, and requires repeated exposure to word-referent co-occurrences. In contrast, by 14-18 months, infants learn words from just a few labeling events, use joint attention and eye gaze to decipher word meaning, and begin to use speech to communicate about absent things. We propose that this remarkable advancement in word learning results from attaining a -that words are linked to mental representations and used intentionally to communicate about real-world entities. We suggest that verbal reference is supported by codeveloping conceptual, social, representational, and statistical learning capacities. We also propose that infants' recognition of this tri-directional link between words, referents, and mental representations is enabled by their experience participating in and observing Understanding verbal reference signals a qualitative shift in infants' word learning. This shift enables infants to bootstrap word meanings from syntax and semantics, learn novel words and facts from nonostensive communication, and make inferences about speakers' epistemic competence based on their language production. In this paper, we review empirical findings across multiple facets of infant cognition and propose a novel developmental theory of verbal reference. Finally, we suggest new directions of empirical research that may provide stronger and more direct evidence for our theory and contribute to our understanding of the development of verbal reference and language-mediated learning in infancy and beyond. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Infant; Language; Language Development; Learning; Semantics; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34370496
DOI: 10.1037/rev0000320 -
Neuropsychologia Apr 2017Variability in drug responsivity has prompted the development of Personalized Medicine, which has shown great promise in utilizing genotypic information to develop safer... (Review)
Review
Variability in drug responsivity has prompted the development of Personalized Medicine, which has shown great promise in utilizing genotypic information to develop safer and more effective drug regimens for patients. Similarly, individual variability in learning outcomes has puzzled researchers who seek to create optimal learning environments for students. "Personalized Learning" seeks to identify genetic, neural and behavioral predictors of individual differences in learning and aims to use predictors to help create optimal teaching paradigms. Evidence for Personalized Learning can be observed by connecting research in pharmacogenomics, cognitive genetics and behavioral experiments across domains of learning, which provides a framework for conducting empirical studies from the laboratory to the classroom and holds promise for addressing learning effectiveness in the individual learners. Evidence can also be seen in the subdomain of speech learning, thus providing initial support for the applicability of Personalized Learning to language.
Topics: Genetic Association Studies; Humans; Individuality; Language; Precision Medicine; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 27720749
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.10.002 -
Addiction (Abingdon, England) Mar 2011Alcohol and marijuana are the most widely used intoxicants among adolescents, yet their potential unique and interactive influences on the developing brain are not well...
AIMS
Alcohol and marijuana are the most widely used intoxicants among adolescents, yet their potential unique and interactive influences on the developing brain are not well established. Brain regions subserving learning and memory undergo continued maturation during adolescence, and may be particularly susceptible to substance-related neurotoxic damage. In this study, we characterize brain response during verbal learning among adolescent users of alcohol and marijuana.
DESIGN
Participants performed a verbal paired associates encoding task during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning.
SETTING
Adolescent subjects were recruited from local public schools and imaged at a university-based fMRI center.
PARTICIPANTS
Participants were 74 16-18-year-olds, divided into four groups: (i) 22 controls with limited alcohol and marijuana experience, (ii) 16 binge drinkers, (iii) eight marijuana users and (iv) 28 binge drinking marijuana users.
MEASUREMENTS
Diagnostic interview ensured that all teens were free from neurological or psychiatric disorders; urine toxicology and breathalyzer verified abstinence for 22-28 days before scanning; a verbal paired associates task was administered during fMRI.
FINDINGS
Groups demonstrated no differences in performance on the verbal encoding task, yet exhibited different brain response patterns. A main effect of drinking pointed to decreased inferior frontal but increased dorsal frontal and parietal fMRI response among binge drinkers (corrected P < 0.05). There was no main effect of marijuana use. Binge drinking × marijuana interactions were found in bilateral frontal regions (corrected P < 0.05), where users of either alcohol or marijuana showed greater response than non-users, but users of both substances resembled non-users.
CONCLUSIONS
Adolescent substance users demonstrated altered fMRI response relative to non-using controls, yet binge drinking appeared to be associated with more differences in activation than marijuana use. Alcohol and marijuana may have interactive effects that alter these differences, particularly in prefrontal brain regions.
Topics: Adolescent; Adolescent Development; Adult; Alcohol Drinking; Case-Control Studies; Central Nervous System Depressants; Cerebral Cortex; Drug Interactions; Ethanol; Female; Hippocampus; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Marijuana Abuse; Memory, Short-Term; Oxygen; Paired-Associate Learning; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 21134014
DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03197.x -
Revista Medica de Chile Feb 2019There is concern about the cognitive consequences of marijuana consumption.
BACKGROUND
There is concern about the cognitive consequences of marijuana consumption.
AIM
To assess the influence of current and past marijuana use and frequency on verbal learning and memory in a sample of adults aged 21 years old.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Marijuana use was assessed using a clinician administered interview in 654 participants (56% females), who reported frequency of use, age of first use and whether its use led to problems in their lives. The CogState International Shopping List was administered to assess learning and memory.
RESULTS
Seventy percent reported ever using marijuana, 46% consuming during the past year and 27% during the past 30 days. The latter scored significantly lower on delayed recall. Current and frequent use were significantly associated with lower accuracy in verbal learning and memory.
CONCLUSIONS
In this cohort of adults aged 21 years old, marijuana use was prevalent and related to worse verbal memory.
Topics: Cannabinoids; Chile; Cognition Disorders; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Marijuana Abuse; Marijuana Use; Memory; Mental Recall; Neuropsychological Tests; Time Factors; Verbal Learning; Young Adult
PubMed: 31095169
DOI: 10.4067/s0034-98872019000200206 -
Adicciones Mar 2024Brain damage related to alcohol consumption is associated with impairments in cognitive functions, among which memory and verbal learning stand out. The main objective...
Brain damage related to alcohol consumption is associated with impairments in cognitive functions, among which memory and verbal learning stand out. The main objective is to evaluate memory and verbal learning in a sample of 111 patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) versus 78 with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 100 healthy controls. The evaluation included sociodemographic and clinical variables, the Hamilton Depression Scale (HDRS) and the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT). One-way ANOVA was used for comparisons between the 3 groups and two-way ANCOVAS including different covariates. The one-way ANOVA shows that patients with AUD and MDD had scores similar to each other and lower than those of the control group (p < 0.001), with the exception of the Cued CVLT (worse scores in MDD vs AUD, p < 0.001). After including age, sex and years of completed studies as covariates, the differences between the AUD and MDD groups persisted compared to the control group (p ≤ 0.003) in all indices except for the Immediate Free CVLT and the Cued CVLT (worse performance in MDD vs AUD, p = 0.022 and p = 0.035, respectively). In the second ANCOVA, after controlling for depression severity, differences were only detected between AUD patients and healthy controls (p ≤ 0.007). Patients with AUD present a significant impairment in learning and verbal memory when compared with patients with MDD and with healthy people.
Topics: Humans; Depressive Disorder, Major; Alcoholism; Alcohol Drinking; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 34882245
DOI: 10.20882/adicciones.1696 -
Journal of Communication Disorders 2011We report two sets of experiments showing that the large individual variability in language learning success in adults can be attributed to neurophysiological,... (Review)
Review
UNLABELLED
We report two sets of experiments showing that the large individual variability in language learning success in adults can be attributed to neurophysiological, neuroanatomical, cognitive, and perceptual factors. In the first set of experiments, native English-speaking adults learned to incorporate lexically meaningfully pitch patterns in words. We found those who were successful to have higher activation in bilateral auditory cortex, larger volume in Heschl's Gyrus, and more accurate pitch pattern perception. All of these measures were performed before training began. In the second set of experiments, native English-speaking adults learned a phonological grammatical system governing the formation of words of an artificial language. Again, neurophysiological, neuroanatomical, and cognitive factors predicted to an extent how well these adults learned. Taken together, these experiments suggest that neural and behavioral factors can be used to predict spoken language learning. These predictors can inform the redesign of existing training paradigms to maximize learning for learners with different learning profiles.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Readers will be able to: (a) understand the linguistic concepts of lexical tone and phonological grammar, (b) identify the brain regions associated with learning lexical tone and phonological grammar, and (c) identify the cognitive predictors for successful learning of a tone language and phonological rules.
Topics: Adult; Brain; Humans; Language; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Phonetics; Speech; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 21601868
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2011.04.003 -
International Journal of Radiation... Jul 2010The primary objective of this study was to determine whether children with localized ependymoma experience a decline in verbal or visual-auditory learning after...
PURPOSE
The primary objective of this study was to determine whether children with localized ependymoma experience a decline in verbal or visual-auditory learning after conformal radiation therapy (CRT). The secondary objective was to investigate the impact of age and select clinical factors on learning before and after treatment.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
Learning in a sample of 71 patients with localized ependymoma was assessed with the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT-C) and the Visual-Auditory Learning Test (VAL). Learning measures were administered before CRT, at 6 months, and then yearly for a total of 5 years.
RESULTS
There was no significant decline on measures of verbal or visual-auditory learning after CRT; however, younger age, more surgeries, and cerebrospinal fluid shunting did predict lower scores at baseline. There were significant longitudinal effects (improved learning scores after treatment) among older children on the CVLT-C and children that did not receive pre-CRT chemotherapy on the VAL.
CONCLUSION
There was no evidence of global decline in learning after CRT in children with localized ependymoma. Several important implications from the findings include the following: (1) identification of and differentiation among variables with transient vs. long-term effects on learning, (2) demonstration that children treated with chemotherapy before CRT had greater risk of adverse visual-auditory learning performance, and (3) establishment of baseline and serial assessment as critical in ascertaining necessary sensitivity and specificity for the detection of modest effects.
Topics: Adolescent; Age Factors; Analysis of Variance; Aptitude Tests; Brain Neoplasms; Child; Child, Preschool; Ependymoma; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Infant; Learning; Male; Memory; Radiotherapy, Conformal; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 19783376
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2009.06.003 -
European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Dec 2020Neurocognitive deficits are associated with impaired global functioning and psychotic symptoms. However, whether symptoms can mediate the relationship between...
Neurocognitive deficits are associated with impaired global functioning and psychotic symptoms. However, whether symptoms can mediate the relationship between neurocognition and global functioning in adolescent psychosis is unclear. Here, we investigated if symptoms assessed with the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), mediated the relationship between neurocognitive performance and global functioning in adolescents with non-affective early-onset psychotic disorders (EOP). Sixty-one adolescent EOP patients (age 12-18 years) from 2 Norwegian clinical cohorts were included. Linear regression models were applied to investigate associations between neurocognitive domains from the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) and global functioning. PANSS symptoms were analyzed using the Wallwork/Fortgang five-factor model. Using the INDIRECT macro for SPSS, mediation effects were tested using bootstrapping with 95% bias corrected confidence intervals. Verbal learning was positively associated with global functioning (P < 0.001) and negatively associated with the disorganized symptom factor (P = 0.002), controlling for age, sex and cohort. Testing of indirect effects, controlling for age, sex and cohort, showed that the Negative (point estimate = 1.56, 95% CI 0.22, 3.47) and Disorganized (point estimate = 1.24, 95% CI 0.05, 3.69) symptom factors significantly mediated the relationship between verbal learning and global functioning. We found that verbal learning, negative and disorganized symptoms influenced global functioning in adolescents with EOP, while reality-distorted positive symptoms did not. These results suggest that assessing these domains in EOP is helpful for planning treatment and rehabilitation programs focusing on functional outcome.
Topics: Adolescent; Child; Female; Humans; Male; Neuropsychological Tests; Psychotic Disorders; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 32036438
DOI: 10.1007/s00787-020-01479-7 -
Scientific Reports May 2023The current study set out to examine the underlying physiological mechanisms of and the emotional response associated with word learning success in young 3-year-old...
The current study set out to examine the underlying physiological mechanisms of and the emotional response associated with word learning success in young 3-year-old predominantly white children. In particular, we examined whether children's physiological arousal following a word learning task predicts their word learning success and whether successful learning in turn predicts children's subsequent positive emotions. We presented children (n = 50) with a cross-situational word learning task and measured their pupillary arousal following completion of the task, as well as changes to their upper body posture following completion of the task, as indices of children's emotions following task completion. Children who showed greater physiological arousal following the novel word recognition task (n = 40) showed improved subsequent word recognition performance. We found that children showed more elevated posture after completing a familiar word learning task compared to completing a novel word learning task (n = 33) but results on children's individual learning success and postural elevation were mixed. We discuss the findings with regards to children's affective involvement in word learning.
Topics: Humans; Child; Child, Preschool; Verbal Learning; Learning; Arousal; Emotions; Pupil
PubMed: 37147313
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-34049-3 -
NeuroImage Nov 2021Humans continuously learn new information. Here, we examined the temporal brain dynamics of explicit verbal associative learning between unfamiliar items. In the first...
Humans continuously learn new information. Here, we examined the temporal brain dynamics of explicit verbal associative learning between unfamiliar items. In the first experiment, 25 adults learned object-pseudoword associations during a 5-day training program allowing us to track the N400 dynamics across learning blocks within and across days. Successful learning was accompanied by an initial frontal N400 that decreased in amplitude across blocks during the first day and shifted to parietal sites during the last training day. In Experiment 2, we replicated our findings with 38 new participants randomly assigned to a consistent learning or an inconsistent learning group. The N400 amplitude modulations that we found, both within and between learning sessions, are taken to reflect the emergence of novel lexical traces even when learning concerns items for which no semantic information is provided. The shift in N400 topography suggests that different N400 neural generators may contribute to specific word learning steps through a balance between domain-general and language-specific mechanisms.
Topics: Adult; Brain Mapping; Electroencephalography; Evoked Potentials; Female; Humans; Language; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Reaction Time; Semantics; Verbal Learning; Vocabulary; Young Adult
PubMed: 34352392
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118443