Top-down influences on lexical selection during spoken word production: A 4T fMRI investigation of refractory effects in picture naming

Spoken word production is assumed to involve stages of processing in which activation spreads through layers of units comprising lexical-conceptual knowledge and their corresponding phonological word forms. Using high-field (4T) functional magnetic resonance imagine (fMRI), we assessed whether the relationship between these stages is strictly serial or involves cascaded-interactive processing, and whether central (decision/control) processing mechanisms are involved in lexical selection. Participants performed the competitor priming paradigm in which distractor words, named from a definition and semantically related to a subsequently presented target picture, slow picture-naming latency compared to that with unrelated words. The paradigm intersperses two trials between the definition and the picture to be named, temporally separating activation in the word perception and production networks. Priming semantic competitors of target picture names significantly increased activation in the left posterior temporal cortex, and to a lesser extent the left middle temporal cortex, consistent with the predictions of cascaded-interactive models of lexical access. In addition, extensive activation was detected in the anterior cingulate and pars orbitalis of the inferior frontal gyrus. The findings indicate that lexical selection during competitor priming is biased by top-down mechanisms to reverse associations between primed distractor words and target pictures to select words that meet the current goal of speech.

A comparison of picture description abilities in individuals with vascular subcortical lesions and Huntington's Disease

The lexical-semantic and syntactic abilities of a group of individuals with chronic nonthalamic subcortical (NS) lesions following stroke (n = 6) were investigated using the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) picture description task [Kertesz, A. (1982). The Western aphasia battery. New York: Grune and Stratton] and compared with those of a group of subjects with Huntington's Disease (HD) (n = 6) and a nonneurologically impaired control group (n = 6) matched for age, sex, and educational level. The performance of the NS and HD subjects did not differ significantly from the well controls on measures of lexical-semantic abilities. NS and HD subjects provided as much information about the target picture as control subjects, but produced fewer action information units. Analysis of syntactic abilities revealed that the HD subjects produced significantly more grammatical errors than both the NS and control subjects and that the NS group performed in a similar manner to control subjects. These findings are considered in terms of current theories of subcortical language function Learning outcomes: As a result of this activity, the reader will obtain information about the debate surrounding the role of subcortical language mechanisms and be provided with new information on the comparative picture description abilities of individuals with known vascular and degenerative subcortical pathologies and healthy control participants. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Get the picture? The effects of iconicity on toddlers' reenactment from picture books

What do toddlers learn from everyday picture-book reading interactions? To date, there has been scant research exploring this question. In this study, the authors adapted a standard imitation procedure to examine 18- to 30-month-olds' ability to learn how to reenact a novel action sequence from a picture book. The results provide evidence that toddlers can imitate specific target actions on novel real-world objects on the basis of a picture-book interaction. Children's imitative performance after the reading interaction varied both as a function of age and the level of iconicity of the pictures in the book. These findings are discussed in terms of children's emerging symbolic capacity and the flexibility of the cognitive representation.

Relocation:a more complete picture

The idea that relocation can cause detriment in the lives of individuals is now relatively accepted in the management community, however much less attention has been devoted to studying the benefits of relocation. We present a more balanced picture by examining both positive and negative consequences of geographical transience in a sample of frequent movers. In total, 29 employees without families, 33 employees with families, 33 spouses, and 15 children participated in interviews for this research (N = 110). The research outlines 160 relocation consequences, including 53 positive outcomes not previously considered. Our findings confirm that relocation can bring about short- and long-term benefits for individuals including task performance, skill development, learning, growth, job satisfaction, continued development, attractive job assignments, career advancement and increased responsibility. In conclusion, findings suggest that, at least in terms of relocation, a more complete picture is actually also a more positive picture. So, whilst organisations should continue to aim to reduce or eliminate the negative consequences of relocation, they should also seek to maintain or enhance the positive outcomes of transience.

Picture this:researching child workers

Visual methods such as photography are under-used in the active process of sociological research. As rare as visual methods are, it is even rarer for the resultant images to be made by rather than of research participants. Primarily, the paper explores the challenges and contradictions of using photography within a multi-method approach. We consider processes for analysing visual data, different ways of utilising visual methods in sociological research, and the use of primary and secondary data, or, simple illustration versus active visual exploration of the social. The question of triangulation of visual data against text and testimony versus a stand-alone approach is explored in depth.

Quantization of the Inhomogeneous Bianchi I model:quasi-Heisenberg picture

The quantization scheme is suggested for a spatially inhomogeneous 1+1 Bianchi I model. The scheme consists in quantization of the equations of motion and gives the operator (so called quasi-Heisenberg) equations describing explicit evolution of a system. Some particular gauge suitable for quantization is proposed. The Wheeler-DeWitt equation is considered in the vicinity of zero scale factor and it is used to construct a space where the quasi-Heisenberg operators act. Spatial discretization as a UV regularization procedure is suggested for the equations of motion.

The Use of Picture Exchange Communication System to Reduce Screaming Behavior in a Child with Severe Autism

Using a multiple baseline across subject areas design, the effect of a package intervention consisting of the Picture Exchange Communication System and differential reinforcement of alternative behavior to decrease screaming behavior of a child with autism was examined. Results showed that the intervention decreased the screaming behavior of the participant.

Vocabulary learning through use of the picture-word inductive model for young English learners in China: A mixed methods examination using Cognitive Load Theory

English has been taught as a core and compulsory subject in China for decades. Recently, the demand for English in China has increased dramatically. China now has the world's largest English-learning population. The traditional English-teaching method cannot continue to be the only approach because it merely focuses on reading, grammar and translation, which cannot meet English learners and users' needs (i.e., communicative competence and skills in speaking and writing). ^ This study was conducted to investigate if the Picture-Word Inductive Model (PWIM), a new pedagogical method using pictures and inductive thinking, would benefit English learners in China in terms of potential higher output in speaking and writing. With the gauge of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), specifically, its redundancy effect, I investigated whether processing words and a picture concurrently would present a cognitive overload for English learners in China. ^ I conducted a mixed methods research study. A quasi-experiment (pretest, intervention for seven weeks, and posttest) was conducted using 234 students in four groups in Lianyungang, China (58 fourth graders and 57 seventh graders as an experimental group with PWIM and 59 fourth graders and 60 seventh graders as a control group with the traditional method). No significant difference in the effects of PWIM was found on vocabulary acquisition based on grade levels. Observations, questionnaires with open-ended questions, and interviews were deployed to answer the three remaining research questions. A few students felt cognitively overloaded when they encountered too many writing samples, too many new words at one time, repeated words, mismatches between words and pictures, and so on. Many students listed and exemplified numerous strengths of PWIM, but a few mentioned weaknesses of PWIM. The students expressed the idea that PWIM had a positive effect on their English teaching. ^ As integrated inferences, qualitative findings were used to explain the quantitative results that there were no significant differences of the effects of the PWIM between the experimental and control groups in both grade levels, from four contextual aspects: time constraints on PWIM implementation, teachers' resistance, how to use PWIM and PWIM implemented in a classroom over 55 students.^

Vocabulary Learning through Use of the Picture-Word Inductive Model for Young English Learners in China: A Mixed Methods Examination Using Cognitive Load Theory

English has been taught as a core and compulsory subject in China for decades. Recently, the demand for English in China has increased dramatically. China now has the world’s largest English-learning population. The traditional English-teaching method cannot continue to be the only approach because it merely focuses on reading, grammar and translation, which cannot meet English learners and users’ needs (i.e., communicative competence and skills in speaking and writing). This study was conducted to investigate if the Picture-Word Inductive Model (PWIM), a new pedagogical method using pictures and inductive thinking, would benefit English learners in China in terms of potential higher output in speaking and writing. With the gauge of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT), specifically, its redundancy effect, I investigated whether processing words and a picture concurrently would present a cognitive overload for English learners in China. I conducted a mixed methods research study. A quasi-experiment (pretest, intervention for seven weeks, and posttest) was conducted using 234 students in four groups in Lianyungang, China (58 fourth graders and 57 seventh graders as an experimental group with PWIM and 59 fourth graders and 60 seventh graders as a control group with the traditional method). No significant difference in the effects of PWIM was found on vocabulary acquisition based on grade levels. Observations, questionnaires with open-ended questions, and interviews were deployed to answer the three remaining research questions. A few students felt cognitively overloaded when they encountered too many writing samples, too many new words at one time, repeated words, mismatches between words and pictures, and so on. Many students listed and exemplified numerous strengths of PWIM, but a few mentioned weaknesses of PWIM. The students expressed the idea that PWIM had a positive effect on their English teaching. As integrated inferences, qualitative findings were used to explain the quantitative results that there were no significant differences of the effects of the PWIM between the experimental and control groups in both grade levels, from four contextual aspects: time constraints on PWIM implementation, teachers’ resistance, how to use PWIM and PWIM implemented in a classroom over 55 students.

Exploring Seventh Graders’ Perceptions of the Picture-word Inductive Model to their English Narrative Writing in China

In this exploratory study, the researcher interviewed 30 seventh graders in China about their perceptions of the newly tried method, Picture-word Inductive Model (PWIM), to their English narrative writing. Many student participants listed and exemplified positive influence of PWIM on their narrative writing in and from the PWIM trial.