Pinch my wig or winch my pig: Spelling, spoonerisms and other language skills

Phonological processing skills have often been assumed to play a minimal role in skilled adult spelling despite evidence showing their importance in the development of spelling skills. The present study investigated the relationship between phonological awareness and spelling in adults. It was hypothesised that subjects demonstrating higher levels of spelling proficiency would also show superior phonological processing skills. This relationship was expected to be mediated by sound-spelling mapping knowledge. Given the irregularities of sound-spelling correspondences in English, it was also predicted that knowledge of orthographic conventions would be related to spelling competency. Two measures of each component skill were used on seventy three university students. As predicted, the importance of spelling-sound mapping skills in spelling were demonstrated, as was a relationship between phonological awareness and spelling-sound correspondences. In addition a moderate correlation was found between orthographic tasks and spelling performance. It was concluded that, among university students at least, phonological ability makes an important contribution to skilled adult spelling.

Target similarity effects: Support for the parallel distributed processing assumptions

Recent research has begun to provide support for the assumptions that memories are stored as a composite and are accessed in parallel (Tehan & Humphreys, 1998). New predictions derived from these assumptions and from the Chappell and Humphreys (1994) implementation of these assumptions were tested. In three experiments, subjects studied relatively short lists of words. Some of the Lists contained two similar targets (thief and theft) or two dissimilar targets (thief and steal) associated with the same cue (ROBBERY). AS predicted, target similarity affected performance in cued recall but not free association. Contrary to predictions, two spaced presentations of a target did not improve performance in free association. Two additional experiments confirmed and extended this finding. Several alternative explanations for the target similarity effect, which incorporate assumptions about separate representations and sequential search, are rejected. The importance of the finding that, in at least one implicit memory paradigm, repetition does not improve performance is also discussed.

Auditory lexical decisions in children with specific language impairment

This study examined spoken-word recognition in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and normally developing children matched separately for age and receptive language ability. Accuracy and reaction times on an auditory lexical decision task were compared. Children with SLI were less accurate than both control groups. Two subgroups of children with SLI, distinguished by performance accuracy only, were identified. One group performed within normal limits, while a second group was significantly less accurate. Children with SLI were not slower than the age-matched controls or language-matched controls. Further, the time taken to detect an auditory signal, make a decision, or initiate a verbal response did not account for the differences between the groups. The findings are interpreted as evidence for language-appropriate processing skills acting upon imprecise or underspecified stored representations.

Enhancing the phonological processing skills of children with specific reading disability

The present study evaluated the benefits of phonological processing skills training for children with persistent reading difficulties. Children aged between 9-14 years, identified as having a specific reading disability, participated in the study. In a series of three experiments, pedagogical issues related to length of training time, model of intervention and severity of readers' phonological processing skills deficit prior to intervention, were explored. The results indicated that improvement in poor readers' phonological processing skills led to a dramatic improvement in their reading accuracy and reading comprehension performance. Increasing the length of training time significantly improved transfer effects to the reading process. Children with particularly severe phonological processing skill deficits benefited from art extended training period, and both individual and group intervention models for phonological processing training proved successful. Implications for speech and language therapists are discussed.

Using a cartographic modeling language to manipulate spectral satellite imagery

Land related information about the Earth's surface is commonIJ found in two forms: (1) map infornlation and (2) satellite image da ta. Satellite imagery provides a good visual picture of what is on the ground but complex image processing is required to interpret features in an image scene. Increasingly, methods are being sought to integrate the knowledge embodied in mop information into the interpretation task, or, alternatively, to bypass interpretation and perform biophysical modeling directly on derived data sources. A cartographic modeling language, as a generic map analysis package, is suggested as a means to integrate geographical knowledge and imagery in a process-oriented view of the Earth. Specialized cartographic models may be developed by users, which incorporate mapping information in performing land classification. In addition, a cartographic modeling language may be enhanced with operators suited to processing remotely sensed imagery. We demonstrate the usefulness of a cartographic modeling language for pre-processing satellite imagery, and define two nerv cartographic operators that evaluate image neighborhoods as post-processing operations to interpret thematic map values. The language and operators are demonstrated with an example image classification task.

Incremental parsing in language-based editors: user needs and how to meet them

Incremental parsing has long been recognized as a technique of great utility in the construction of language-based editors, and correspondingly, the area currently enjoys a mature theory. Unfortunately, many practical considerations have been largely overlooked in previously published algorithms. Many user requirements for an editing system necessarily impact on the design of its incremental parser, but most approaches focus only on one: response time. This paper details an incremental parser based on LR parsing techniques and designed for use in a modeless syntax recognition editor. The nature of this editor places significant demands on the structure and quality of the document representation it uses, and hence, on the parser. The strategy presented here is novel in that both the parser and the representation it constructs are tolerant of the inevitable and frequent syntax errors that arise during editing. This is achieved by a method that differs from conventional error repair techniques, and that is more appropriate for use in an interactive context. Furthermore, the parser aims to minimize disturbance to this representation, not only to ensure other system components can operate incrementally, but also to avoid unfortunate consequences for certain user-oriented services. The algorithm is augmented with a limited form of predictive tree-building, and a technique is presented for the determination of valid symbols for menu-based insertion. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A role for the dominant thalamus in language? A linguistic comparison of two cases subsequent to unilateral thalamotomy procedures in the dominant and non-dominant hemispheres

Background: Thalamotomy has been reported to be successful in ameliorating the motor symptoms of tremor and/or rigidity in people with Parkinson's disease (PD), emphasising the bona fide contribution of this subcortical nucleus to the neural circuitry subserving motor function. Despite evidence of parallel yet segregated associative and motor cortico-subcortical-cortical circuits, comparatively few studies have investigated the effects of this procedure on cognitive functions. In particular, research pertaining to the impact of thalamotomy on linguistic processes is fundamentally lacking. Aims: The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of thalamotomy in the language dominant and non-dominant hemispheres on linguistic functioning, relative to operative theoretical models of subcortical participation in language. This paper compares the linguistic profiles of two males with PD, aged 75 years (10 years of formal education) and 62 years (22 years of formal education), subsequent to unilateral thalamotomy procedures within the language dominant and non-dominant hemispheres, respectively. Methods & Procedures: Comprehensive linguistic profiles comprising general and high-level linguistic abilities in addition to on-line semantic processing skills were compiled up to 1 month prior to surgery and 3 months post-operatively, within perceived on'' periods (i.e., when optimally medicated). Pre- and post-operative language performances were compared within-subjects to a group of 16 non-surgical Parkinson's controls (NSPD) and a group of 16 non-neurologically impaired adults (NC). Outcomes & Results: The findings of this research suggest a laterality effect with regard to the contribution of the thalamus to high-level linguistic abilities and, potentially, the temporal processing of semantic information. This outcome supports the application of high-level linguistic assessments and measures of semantic processing proficiency to the clinical management of individuals with dominant thalamic lesions. Conclusions: The results reported lend support to contemporary theories of dominant thalamic participation in language, serving to further elucidate our current understanding of the role of subcortical structures in mediating linguistic processes, relevant to cortical hemispheric dominance.