Lisa Smithson

Now you see it, now you don't: on emotion, context, and the algorithmic prediction of human imageability judgments.

Many studies have shown that behavioral measures are affected by manipulating the imageability of words. Though imageability is usually measured by human judgment, little is known about what factors underlie those judgments. We demonstrate that imageability judgments can be largely or entirely accounted for by two computable measures that have previously been associated with imageability, the size and density of a words context and the emotional associations of the word. We outline an algorithmic method for predicting imageability judgments using co-occurrence distances in a large corpus. Our computed judgments account for 58% of the variance in a set of nearly two thousand imageability judgments, for words that span the entire range of imageability. The two factors account for 43% of the variance in lexical decision reaction times (LDRTs) that is attributable to imageability in a large database of 3697 LDRTs spanning the range of imageability. We document variances in the distribution of our measures across the range of imageability that suggest that they will account for more variance at the extremes, from which most imageability-manipulating stimulus sets are drawn. The two predictors account for 100% of the variance that is attributable to imageability in newly-collected LDRTs using a previously-published stimulus set of 100 items. We argue that our model of imageability is neurobiologically plausible by showing it is consistent with brain imaging data. The evidence we present suggests that behavioral effects in the lexical decision task that are usually attributed to the abstract/concrete distinction between words can be wholly explained by objective characteristics of the word that are not directly related to the semantic distinction. We provide computed imageability estimates for over 29,000 words.

Bilingualism and receptive vocabulary achievement: Could sociocultural context make a difference?

The purpose of this study was to investigate receptive vocabulary achievement among French-English bilinguals in Canada. Standardized test scores of receptive vocabulary were measured in both languages from preschool, early-elementary, and late-elementary French-English bilingual children, and French-English bilingual adults. Mean vocabulary scores across all bilingual age groups were statistically equivalent to or above the standard mean in French and English with the exception of the early-elementary bilinguals who scored below the standard mean on the English vocabulary assessment. Mean vocabulary scores of the preschool and adult bilingual groups were not significantly different from those of their monolingual peers in either language. However, early-elementary and late-elementary bilingual children scored significantly lower than monolinguals on the English vocabulary assessment. The positive sociocultural context for French-English bilingualism in Canada as well as language input changes in school are discussed as underlying reasons for these findings.

Verbal memory resources predict iconic gesture use among monolinguals and bilinguals

Researchers have speculated that gesture use may be linked to working memory capacity. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the architectures of working memory differ among monolinguals and bilinguals, and to investigate whether individual differences in working memory predict gesture use. Participants relayed a narrative and their gesture production was assessed. Working memory capacity was tested using the Automated Working Memory Assessment (Alloway, 2007). The results provide evidence for different working memory architectures among monolinguals and bilinguals. Additionally, verbal memory significantly predicted iconic gesture use in both language groups, although in slightly different ways. These results are discussed with respect to the functional roles that working memory and gestures serve among monolingual and bilingual populations.

Cognitive Enhancement in Infants Associated with Increased Maternal Fruit Intake During Pregnancy: Results from a Birth Cohort Study with Validation in an Animal Model

In-utero nutrition is an under-studied aspect of cognitive development. Fruit has been an important dietary constituent for early hominins and humans. Among 808 eligible CHILD-Edmonton sub-cohort subjects, 688 (85%) had 1-year cognitive outcome data. We found that each maternal daily serving of fruit (sum of fruit plus 100% fruit juice) consumed during pregnancy was associated with a 2.38 point increase in 1-year cognitive development (95% CI 0.39, 4.37; p < 0.05). Consistent with this, we found 30% higher learning Performance index (PI) scores in Drosophila offspring from parents who consumed 30% fruit juice supplementation prenatally (PI: 85.7; SE 1.8; p < 0.05) compared to the offspring of standard diet parents (PI: 65.0 SE 3.4). Using the Drosophila model, we also show that the cyclic adenylate monophosphate (cAMP) pathway may be a major regulator of this effect, as prenatal fruit associated cognitive enhancement was blocked in Drosophila rutabaga mutants with reduced Ca2 +-Calmodulin-dependent adenylyl cyclase. Moreover, gestation is a critical time for this effect as postnatal fruit intake did not enhance cognitive performance in either humans or Drosophila. Our study supports increased fruit consumption during pregnancy with significant increases in infant cognitive performance. Validation in Drosophila helps control for potential participant bias or unmeasured confounders.

The effect of extroversion on communication

We compare peoples speech and gesture use when they can and cannot see their listener.We measure how extroverted-introverted speakers are.We find that people speak and more when they cannot see their listener.Extroversion affects how much speakers gesture but not how much they speak.These results suggest that extroversion affects how people interpret the nonverbal cues of their interlocutor. In this study we test how introversion-extroversion affects language and gesture use depending on whether the interlocutor is visible to the speaker. Adults described arrays of objects, half the time with a screen occluding their interlocutor and half the time with the interlocutor visible. When participants could not see their listener, they used more words, particularly concrete words and tended to gesture more. This difference was moderated by extroversion for gestures (i.e., extroverts gestured more when their interlocutor was occluded) but not for speech. We argue that visibility of a listener may influence how speakers use nonverbal feedback from their interlocutors differentially according to extroversion. In particular, visibility and personality may impact how speakers use gestures when they do not know whether their interlocutor has understood them.

French-English bilingual children's tense use and shift in narration

Bilingual children sometimes show delays relative to monolinguals on language tasks. In the present studies, we explored whether French–English bilinguals’ tense use and shift would show a developmental lag in the context of narration. In Study 1, we showed that both French and English monolinguals showed age-related changes in tense use, with preschoolers preferring the past and adults the present. A developmental lag among bilingual children could therefore take the form of prolonged use of the past tense through middle childhood. In Study 2, we observed tense use in the narratives of French–English bilingual children (8–10 years), as well as French and English monolinguals from the same age group. The bilinguals tended to use more present tense than the monolinguals. In qualitative analyses, bilinguals also used a multitude of expressive strategies, such as exclamations, repetitions and onomatopoeia, that made the stories more vivid. Taken together these results suggest that French–English bilinguals do not present developmental differences from monolinguals in tense use. Instead, they adopt an imagistic narrative style that differs from the monolinguals in multiple ways, including a greater use of the present tense. The adoption of this style might be linked to both bilingualism and a cultural preference among French–English bilinguals.

Visuospatial Working Memory Capacity Predicts Physiological Arousal in a Narrative Task

Abstract Physiological arousal that occurs during narrative production is thought to reflect emotional processing and cognitive effort (Bar-Haim et al. in Dev Psychobiol 44:238–249, 2004). The purpose of this study was to determine whether individual differences in visuospatial working memory and/or verbal working memory capacity predict physiological arousal in a narrative task. Visuospatial working memory was a significant predictor of skin conductance level (SCL); verbal working memory was not. When visuospatial working memory interference was imposed, visuospatial working memory was no longer a significant predictor of SCL. Visuospatial interference also resulted in a significant reduction in SCL. Furthermore, listener ratings of narrative quality were contingent upon the visuospatial working memory resources of the narrator. Potential implications for educators and clinical practitioners are discussed.