Observes in a lexical decision task that polysemy effects were identical for high- and low-frequency katakana words; and that in a naming task, although no word frequency effect was observed, there was a significant polysemy effect which was identical for high- and low-frequency words. Discusses implications about the loci of such polysemy and…

Finds that words were named faster in kana than in kanji but were translated faster in kanji than in kana. Shows that semantic access takes places 10 to 19 msec earlier in kanji words than in kana words, whereas phonological access takes places 27 to 31 msec earlier in kana words than in kanji words. (SR)

Examines how type of referent (name versus pronoun) influences comprehension of short passages. Provides strong support for central predictions of centering theory: (1) using a repeated name to refer to the central entity of a discourse disrupts comprehension; and (2) this disruption interacts with whether there is a continuing or shifting…

Proposes the subsuming theory criterion for experiments on common ground in mutual knowledge (i.e., the design must keep common information constant and only vary whether or not it is common). Demonstrates how doing so makes stronger claims. Illustrates how experiments can be designed to satisfy the criterion by evaluating some earlier studies…

Presents a study in which 13 fifth-grade students were given an assignment to invent their own numeration systems following a unit on bases and a look at early events in the history of numbers. Offers an assessment of student understanding of numeration provided by analyses of the patterns embedded in their invented systems. Contains 13…

Investigates suitability of deploying speech technology in computer-based systems that can be used to teach foreign language skills. In reviewing the current state of speech recognition and speech processing technology and by examining a number of voice-interactive computer-assisted language learning applications, suggests how to create robust…

Discussion of natural language processing focuses on term weighting in information retrieval. Presents a new weighting method that depends on low frequency terms, called negative weighted inverse verb frequency, and discusses case frames, word similarity, similarity measurement, and recall and precision improvement. (LRW)

Investigates the relationship between phonological awareness and spelling in adults. Finds (1) spelling-sound mapping skills to be important; (2) a relationship between phonological awareness and spelling-sound correspondence; and (3) moderate correlation between orthographic tasks and spelling performance. (NH)

Presents recent investigations in idiomatic language processing, and advances new foci of research from the comprehension and interpretation of phrasal idioms. Concludes that the development of idiomatic competence can be enhanced by establishing the parameters of the comprehension and interpretation process of second language phrasal idioms.…

Students aged 10-12, with and without learning disabilities, acquired knowledge implicitly about pseudoword pronunciation governed by one of two phonics rules. They were then asked to verbalize explicitly about the acquired knowledge. Students did not differ significantly in implicit knowledge capabilities, but student with and without learning…

Reports on linguistic features and patterns of coherence in mild and advanced levels of discourse of Alzheimer's patients. Argues and demonstrates that, as the disease progresses, patients' discourse becomes "pregrammatical"--vocabulary-driven and reliant on meaning-based discourse features rather than grammatically based features.…

Reviews book on the current state of psychological semantics for researchers in language development. Notes points of agreement among contributors, including: study of semantics has been too oriented toward substance nouns; assigning novel words to real objects or events is more difficult using verbs than nouns; and syntax is more integrally…

Investigates an automatic method for Cross Language Information Retrieval (CLIR) that utilizes the multilingual Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) Metathesaurus to translate Spanish natural-language queries into English. Results indicate that for Spanish, the UMLS Metathesaurus-based CLIR method is at least equivalent to if not better than…

Investigated young children's ability to talk about representational aspects of pretense. Found that 5-year-olds, but very few 4-year-olds, can explain why certain actions should not be called pretending; young children discriminate between pictures of thinking and pretending based on a depiction of action; and preschoolers are less able than…

Tests two accounts of the role of gesture in speaking. Specifically, the study seeks to establish whether gesture is involved in the conceptual planning of messages, or whether it is involved only in the generation of the surface forms of utterances. To accomplish this goal, two tasks were developed that elicit comparable utterances but make…