Across 3 different word recognition tasks, distributional analyses were used to examine the joint effects of stimulus quality and word frequency on underlying response time distributions. Consistent with the extant literature, stimulus quality and word frequency produced additive effects in lexical decision, not only in the means but also in the…

To investigate hemispheric differences in the timing of word priming, the modulation of event-related potentials by semantic word relationships was examined in each cerebral hemisphere. Primes and targets, either categorically (silk-wool) or associatively (needle-sewing) related, were presented to the left or right visual field in a go/no-go…

ONE HUNDRED CHILDREN IN EACH OF THE GRADES 2 THROUGH 6 WERE INCLUDED IN THIS STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEANING IN CHILDREN. BASED ON STUDIES WITH ADULTS BY OSGOOD ET AL, THIS RESEARCH EXAMINED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT THE "EVALUATIVE" SYSTEM OF AFFECTIVE MEANING DEVELOPS FIRST, FOLLOWED BY INCREASED USE OF THE "POTENCY" AND…

A series of eleven concepts, eight of which were presented in a teacher training course, were rated by 252 undergraduate education majors on 15 semantic differential scales at the beginning and end of the course in an attempt to assess changes in the factor structure of semantic space and changes in the connotative meanings of the concepts. Scales…

Results indicate that the troublesome scale/concept interaction which in past studies has lowered the internal validity of many investigations can be reduced by the simple expedient of controlling for homogeneity of domain of scales and concepts employed. (Authors)

This paper is intended as an introduction to a number of problems connected with the description of algorithms and algorithmic languages, particularly the syntaxes and semantics of algorithmic languages. The terms "letter, word, alphabet" are defined and described. The concept of the algorithm is defined and the relation between the algorithm and…

Visual masking studies are reviewed, and three new masking experiments (N=41) are described. Results indicate the presence of semantic activation at short target-mask stimulus onset asynchrony levels. For performance levels close to chance, semantic information extracted from briefly presented targets may be used to detect those targets. (TJH)

Addresses concerns about the kind and nature of the language used in curricula that determines what meanings our children develop during their schooling experiences. (JOW)

Discusses the definition of collocation, demonstrates that associative word combinations do form a continuum, and proposes some parameters to help delimit the scope of collocations in everyday contemporary French. (Author/VWL)

The "but you are free to accept or to refuse" technique is a compliance procedure in which someone is approached with a request by simply telling him/her that he/she is free to accept or to refuse the request. This semantic evocation leads to increased compliance with the request. Furthermore, in most of the studies in which this technique was…

In this paper, we discuss the construct of episodic future thinking. We have previously defined episodic future thinking as the ability to project oneself into the future to pre-experience an event (Atance & O'Neill, 2001). We distinguish this type of thinking about the future from that which is largely based on a script of how an event routinely…

In the Deese-Roediger-McDermott false-memory illusion, forward associative strength (FAS) is unrelated to the strength of the illusion; this is puzzling, because high-FAS lists ought to share more semantic features with critical unpresented words than should low-FAS lists. The authors show that this null result is probably a truncated range…

Computational models have played a central role in the debate over language learnability. This article discusses how they have been used in different "stances", from generative views to more recently introduced explanatory frameworks based on embodiment, cognitive development and cultural evolution. By digging into the details of certain specific…

Grice ("Syntax and semantics: Speech acts", 1975, pp. 41-58, Vol. 3) proposed that conversation is guided by a spirit of cooperation that involves adherence to several conversational maxims. Three types of maxims were explored in the current study: 1) Quality, to be truthful; 2) Relation, to say only what is relevant to a conversation; and 3)…

Memory in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterised by greater difficulties with recall rather than recognition and with a diminished use of semantic or associative relatedness in the aid of recall. Two experiments are reported that test the effects of item-context relatedness on recall and recognition in adults with high-functioning ASD…