Research on the phonetic consistency effect in Chinese began in the 1980s. For nearly forty years, the consistency effect, as well as its implications for Chinese character recognition, has been frequently examined. This article presents the debate over the consistency effect in Chinese character recognition. While some research supported the…

Using eye-tracking, we examined whether overspecification hinders or facilitates referent selection and the extent to which this depends on the properties of the attribute mentioned in the referring expressions and the underpinning processing mode. Following spoken instructions, participants selected the referent in a visual display while their…

There are two broad views of children's theory of mind. The mentalist view is that it emerges in infancy and is possibly innate. The minimalist view is that it emerges more gradually in childhood and is heavily dependent on learning. According to minimalism, children initially understand behaviors rather than mental states, and they are assisted…

In light of the dramatic growth of Chinese learners worldwide and a need for a cross-linguistic research on Chinese literacy development, this study investigated (a) the effects of character properties (i.e., orthographic consistency and transparency) on character acquisition, and (b) the effects of individual learner differences (i.e.,…

The precise structure of speech sound representations is still a matter of debate. In the present neurobiological study, we compared predictions about differential sensitivity to speech contrasts between models that assume full specification of all phonological information in the mental lexicon with those assuming sparse representations (only…

In 6 experiments, the authors investigated the form of serial position functions for identification of letters, digits, and symbols presented in strings. The results replicated findings obtained with the target search paradigm, showing an interaction between the effects of serial position and type of stimulus, with symbols generating a distinct…

An ontology is an effective formal representation of knowledge used commonly in artificial intelligence, semantic web, software engineering, and information retrieval. In open and distance learning, ontologies are used as knowledge bases for e-learning supplements, educational recommenders, and question answering systems that support students with…

Psycholinguistic studies dealing with Alzheimer's disease (AD) commonly consider verbal aspects of language. In this article, we investigated both verbal and non-verbal aspects of speech production in AD. We used pauses and hesitations as markers of planning difficulties and hypothesized that AD patients show different patterns in the process of…

Noting that the naming of Chinese characters involves lexical access not present in alphabetic orthographies, this study sought to locate the frequency effects in lexical decisions and naming of Chinese characters. Results indicated that a clear frequency/regularity interaction exists in regular and lexical naming, but this interaction is…

According to recent neurolinguistic theories and research, language and other analytic functions are located on the left side of the brain, while spatial and configurational abilities are located on the right side. However, there is some evidence that while learning a language requires the use of both hemispheres of the brain, the right hemisphere…

This paper discusses the theoretical problem of matching and abstraction of concepts as the processes occur in human minds, and the structures used to represent these processes for use in automated, knowledge based systems. A basic premise of the paper is that hierarchies play a crucial role in structuring knowledge and in solving problems. Data…

The stochastic interactive activation and competition (SIAC) model of perception is presented and tested using several data sets from previous research. The asymptotic predictions of the SIAC model are compared with those of the fuzzy logical model of perception (FLMP). Evidence favoring the FLMP is reviewed. (SLD)

Human behavior shows a variety of serially ordered action sequences. This paper presents a theory of serial order which describes how sequences of actions might be learned and performed. In this theory, parallel interactions across time (coarticulation) and parallel interactions across space (dual-task interference) are viewed as two aspects of a…

Acknowledging a growing national awareness of the need for direct instruction in higher order thinking skills within public education, this paper describes an instructional model for reinforcing thinking skills in the classroom, kindergarten through grade 12. Following an introduction justifying the model's reliance on the processing of…

Investigates the relative influence of speech and pointing gesture information in the interpretation of referential acts among children averaging three and five years of age and adults. (HOD)