Numbers are ubiquitous in life. At the same time, the symbols for numbers are highly abstract and their visual appearance does not carry any direct relation to their magnitude. This poses an important question for researchers interested in how numbers are mentally processed. Whereas research on numeric cognition suggests that culturally based…

While attentional models of SLA postulate attention as crucial for learning to take place (e.g., Robinson, 1995b; Schmidt, 1990, 2001; Tomlin & Villa, 1994), the role that awareness or lack thereof plays remains debatable. Indeed, the studies that have empirically addressed the construct of unawareness reveal conflicting results (e.g.,…

An ontology mapping neural network (OMNN) is proposed in order to learn and infer correspondences among ontologies. It extends the Identical Elements Neural Network (IENN)'s ability to represent and map complex relationships. The learning dynamics of simultaneous (interlaced) training of similar tasks interact at the shared connections of the…

This dissertation investigates the ways in which experience with lexical tone influences the perception of musical melody, and how musical training influences the perception of lexical tone. The central theoretical basis for the study is a model of perceptual learning, Reverse Hierarchy Theory (Ahissar et al., 2009), in which cognitive processes…