Lucile Chanquoy

Olfactory Categorization: A Developmental Study.

This study examined the ability of children to classify fruit and flower odors. We asked four groups of children (4-11 years of age) and a group of adults to identify, categorize, and evaluate the edibility, liking, and typicality of 12 fruit and flower odors. Results showed an increase in interindividual agreement with age for the taxonomic (fruit/flower) and function-based (edible/nonedible) categories but not for the hedonic component. So, it seems that this hedonic component is not the explicit basis for this increase in interindividual agreement when categorizing an odor as a fruit/flower odor or as being edible or nonedible. An age-related trend was also observed on the typicality scores: The youngest group of children did not show a typicality gradient, but all of the other groups did. Blackcurrant and lemon were rated as the most typical fruit odors, whereas raspberry and peach were rated as the least typical. For flower odorants, results were not as clear, yet it seems that for all groups lavender was considered as quite typical.

Dynamics of the semantic priming shift: behavioral experiments and cortical network model

Multiple semantic priming processes between several related and/or unrelated words are at work during the processing of sequences of words. Multiple priming generates rich dynamics of effects depending on the relationship between the target word and the first and/or second prime previously presented. The experimental literature suggests that during the on-line processing of the primes, the activation can shift from associates to the first prime to associates to the second prime. Though the semantic priming shift is central to the on-line and rapid updating of word meanings in the working memory, its precise dynamics are still poorly understood and it is still a challenge to model how it functions in the cerebral cortex. Four multiple priming experiments are proposed that cross-manipulate delays and association strength between the primes and the target. Results show for the first time that association strength determines complex dynamics of the semantic priming shift, ranging from an absence of a shift to a complete shift. A cortical network model of spike frequency adaptive neuron populations is proposed to account for the non-continuous evolution of the priming shift over time. It allows linking the dynamics of the priming shift assessed at the behavioral level to the non-linear dynamics of the firing rates of neurons populations.

Early dynamics of the semantic priming shift

Semantic processing of sequences of words requires the cognitive system to keep several word meanings simultaneously activated in working memory with limited capacity. The real- time updating of the sequence of word meanings relies on dynamic changes in the associates to the words that are activated. Protocols involving two sequential primes report a semantic priming shift from larger priming of associates to the first prime to larger priming of associates to the second prime, in a range of long SOAs (stimulus-onset asynchronies) between the second prime and the target. However, the possibility for an early semantic priming shift is still to be tested, and its dynamics as a function of association strength remain unknown. Three multiple priming experiments are proposed that cross-manipulate association strength between each of two successive primes and a target, for different values of short SOAs and prime durations. Results show an early priming shift ranging from priming of associates to the first prime only to priming of strong associates to the first prime and all of the associates to the second prime. We investigated the neural basis of the early priming shift by using a network model of spike frequency adaptive cortical neurons (e.g., Deco & Rolls, 2005), able to code different association strengths between the primes and the target. The cortical network model provides a description of the early dynamics of the priming shift in terms of pro-active and retro-active interferences within populations of excitatory neurons regulated by fast and unselective inhibitory feedback.

The matrix of meaning: re-presenting meaning in mind prolegomena to a theoretical model

Understanding the role mental representations play within the process of meaning structure comes with the understanding of the relationship between verbal semantics and predicate argument structures. While fulfilling a specific linguistic function, predicate argument structures also allow for the organization of more general information of extra-linguistic and perceptual nature. Previous research suggests that the development of linguistic competence cannot happen without bringing into play such general world knowledge, given that concepts get linked to elements of the perceptive world. Our research studies the role mental representations play within the process of meaning structure. To trigger some food for thoughts on a new model of meaning structure we discuss the results of our experimental study on the inter-modality image-text and we analyze the collected data under the perspective of Vygotskys non-classical psychology, which implies a philosophical understanding of holography.

Chapter 11: Online Study of Word Spelling Production in Children’s Writing

We already know much about spelling skills, and the greatest part of this knowledge comes from off-line studies of spelling responses, mainly spelling errors. This chapter considers some issues regarding spelling management and spelling acquisition, the investigation of which requires online explorations of spelling production. It reports a temporal analysis of spelling production in children, which are carried out by the means of a digital tablet, to illustrate how the online study of spelling activity enlarges the understanding of spelling acquisition. The necessity of online study in spelling first arose with regard to skilled adult spellers. Studying temporal data at a sublexical level, namely pause duration and handwriting speed, would allow for investigating local strategy choices made by children while transcribing words. Keywords: childrens writing; handwriting speed; online study; spelling acquisition; words

Emotion and complex tasks: Writing abilities in young graders

Writing processes depend on the development and the capacity of working memory. Their execution is highly costly in cognitive resources. During writing, emotions are potentially present. According to Ellis and Ashbrook’s (1988) model, emotions are expected to cause interferences in working memory by creating extra cognitive load. Our main hypothesis was that emotions should be compared to a secondary task, overloading working memory capacities. Two experiments using emotional induction procedures were carried out on two different writing tasks (text production and dictation) with young graders. Results showed that emotional content interfered as cognitive overload within the limited working memory resources and had an impact on orthographic abilities. In terms of computational intelligence, as emotions seem to have an impact on the availability of cognitive resources, this could lead to important theoretical and practical implications for the elaboration of interactive scenarios or modeling learning and processing procedures.