Noun phrase complexity versus word retrieval fluency in sentence production

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randi C. Martin ◽  
Chin-lung Yang
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Word Retrieval ◽  
Retrieval Fluency

Non-inflectional plural in yucatec maya

2021 ◽  
pp. 484-496
Author(s):  
Lindsay Butler
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Linguistic Variation ◽  
Determiner Phrase ◽  
Yucatec Maya ◽  
Derivational Morphology ◽  
Production Experiment ◽  
Plural Marking ◽  
Additional Support

This chapter examines the morphosyntactic properties of optional, non-inflectional plural marking in Yucatec Maya. Evidence is presented that suggests that the non-inflectional plural in Yucatec Maya adjoins to the Determiner Phrase rather than heading the Number Phrase as in better-known languages. Plural marking cannot occur inside of compounds, derivational morphology, or on a prenominal adjective. Additionally, it can adjoin to the second linear noun of a conjoined noun phrase and modify either or both of the conjuncts. The results of a sentence production experiment with speakers of Yucatec Maya are summarized and provide additional support for the Determiner Phrase–adjoined hypothesis. The Yucatec Maya facts are discussed in the wider context of cross-linguistic variation in the typology of plural marking and the implications for linguistic theory and models of language processing.

The correspondence between sentence production and corpus frequencies in modifier attachment

2002 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 879-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Desmet ◽  
Marc Brysbaert ◽  
Constantijn De Baecke
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Syntactic Ambiguity ◽  
Attachment Preference ◽  
Attachment Sites ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Relative Clause Attachment

We examined the production of relative clauses in sentences with a complex noun phrase containing two possible attachment sites for the relative clause (e.g., “Someone shot the servant of the actress who was on the balcony.”). On the basis of two corpus analyses and two sentence continuation tasks, we conclude that much research about this specific syntactic ambiguity has used complex noun phrases that are quite uncommon. These noun phrases involve the relationship between two humans and, at least in Dutch, induce a different attachment preference from noun phrases referring to non-human entities. We provide evidence that the use of this type of complex noun phrase may have distorted the conclusions about the processes underlying relative clause attachment. In addition, it is shown that, notwithstanding some notable differences between sentence production in the continuation task and in coherent text writing, there seems to be a remarkable correspondence between the attachment patterns obtained with both modes of production.

An Aphasia Treatment for Verbs With Low Concreteness: A Pilot Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 299-318
Author(s):  
Dallin J. Bailey ◽  
Christina Nessler ◽  
Kiera N. Berggren ◽  
Julie L. Wambaugh
Keyword(s):  
Single Case ◽  
Treatment Phase ◽  
Semantic Networks ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Word Retrieval ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Functional Communication ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Aphasia Treatment

Purpose Verbs with low concreteness are frequent in discourse samples but rarely targeted in aphasia treatments for verbs. These verbs are an important part of functional communication, and recent studies have called for more research regarding aphasia and treatment stimuli with low concreteness. The aim of this study was to pilot the use of verbs with low concreteness in a novel sentence production intervention with persons with aphasia. Method The study took the form of a single-case experimental design with multiple baselines across behaviors and across participants. Three persons with chronic nonfluent aphasia and apraxia of speech participated in the study. Each participant received treatment designed to increase the semantic networks of verbs with high frequency and low concreteness. Sentence production was closely examined over the course of treatment for treated and untreated verbs of varying concreteness levels. Additional measures of language and cognitive functioning were also taken before and after treatment. Results Results indicated improved sentence production with target verbs attributable to the treatment in the 1st phase of 2 phases for 2 of the 3 participants. The increases corresponded with the application of treatment, despite the difference in number of baseline sessions for the participants. Where there were treatment effects, there was also considerable generalization to untreated sets of items during the 1st treatment phase. Word retrieval also improved for 2 participants. Conclusions The results suggest that the novel treatment may improve sentence production and word retrieval in persons with aphasia, even when using target verbs with low concreteness ratings. Future research is warranted into the use of low concreteness verbs. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.10870958

scholarly journals Advance planning in written and spoken sentence production

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Roeser ◽  
Mark Torrance ◽  
Thom Baguley
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Experimental Comparison ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Specific Requirement ◽  
Image Description ◽  
Lexical Priming ◽  
Response Onset ◽  
Advance Planning

Response onset latencies for spoken sentences that start with a conjoined noun phrase are typically longer than for sentences starting with a simple noun phrase. This is consistent with advance retrieval of syntactic frames independently of lexical retrieval. Alternatively, planning may be lexically driven and planning beyond the initial noun is merely a modality-specific requirement of speech. In three image-description experiments (Ns = 32) subjects produced sentences with simple and conjoined initial noun phrases in both speech and writing. Production onset latencies and participants' eye movements were recorded. Ease of lexical retrieval of sentences' second nouns was assessed by manipulating codability (Experiment 1) and by lexical priming (Experiments 2 and 3). Findings confirmed a modality-independent phrasal scope for advance planning but did not support obligatory lexical retrieval beyond the sentence-initial noun. This research represents the first direct experimental comparison of sentence planning in speech and writing.

scholarly journals Language control in bilingual production: Insights from error rate and error type in sentence production

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Clara D. Martin ◽  
Nazbanou Nozari
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Error Rate ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Control Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Demands ◽  
Error Type ◽  
Isolated Word ◽  
Language Control ◽  
High Control

Abstract Most research showing that cognates are named faster than non-cognates has focused on isolated word production which might not realistically reflect cognitive demands in sentence production. Here, we explored whether cognates elicit interference by examining error rates during sentence production, and how this interference is resolved by language control mechanisms. Twenty highly proficient Spanish–English bilinguals described visual scenes with sentence structures ‘NP1-verb-NP2’ (NP = noun-phrase). Half the nouns and half the verbs were cognates and two manipulations created high control demands. Both situations that demanded higher inhibitory control pushed the cognate effect from facilitation towards interference. These findings suggest that cognates, similar to phonologically similar words within a language, can induce not only facilitation but robust interference.

Anomia and Anomic Aphasia: Implications for Lexical Processing

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy M. Harnish
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Lexical Processing ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Word Retrieval ◽  
Lexical Retrieval ◽  
Auditory Comprehension ◽  
Primary Deficit ◽  
Processing Steps ◽  
Insight Into

Anomia is a term that describes the inability to retrieve a desired word, and is the most common deficit present across different aphasia syndromes. Anomic aphasia is a specific aphasia syndrome characterized by a primary deficit of word retrieval with relatively spared performance in other language domains, such as auditory comprehension and sentence production. Damage to a number of cognitive and motor systems can produce errors in word retrieval tasks, only subsets of which are language deficits. In the cognitive and neuropsychological underpinnings section, we discuss the major processing steps that occur in lexical retrieval and outline how deficits at each of the stages may produce anomia. The neuroanatomical correlates section will include a review of lesion and neuroimaging studies of language processing to examine anomia and anomia recovery in the acute and chronic stages. The assessment section will highlight how discrepancies in performance between tasks contrasting output modes and input modalities may provide insight into the locus of impairment in anomia. Finally, the treatment section will outline some of the rehabilitation techniques for forms of anomia, and take a closer look at the evidence base for different aspects of treatment.

scholarly journals Lexical Planning in People Who Stutter: A Defect in Lexical Encoding or the Planning Scope?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liming Zhao ◽  
Miaoqing Lian
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Semantic Category ◽  
Blocking Effect ◽  
Word Production ◽  
Word Retrieval ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Speech Planning ◽  
Developmental Stuttering ◽  
Naming Latencies ◽  
Shed Light

Developmental stuttering is a widely discussed speech fluency disorder. Research on its mechanism has focused on an atypical interface between the planning (PLAN) and execution (EX) processes, known collectively as the EXPLAN model. However, it remains unclear how this atypical interface influences people who stutter. A straightforward assumption is that stuttering speakers adopt a smaller scope of speech planning, whereas a defect in word retrieval can be confounding. To shed light on this issue, we took the semantic blocking effect as an index to examine lexical planning in word and phrase production. In Experiment 1, for word production, pictures from the same semantic category were combined to form homogeneous blocks, and pictures from different categories were combined to form heterogeneous blocks. A typical effect of semantic blocking showing longer naming latencies for homogeneous blocks than heterogeneous ones was observed for both stuttering and fluent speakers. However, this effect was smaller for stuttering speakers, when it was subject to lexical defects in stuttering. In Experiment 2, for a conjoined noun phrase production task, the pictures referring to the first noun were manipulated into homogeneous and heterogeneous conditions. The semantic blocking effect was also much smaller for stuttering speakers, indicating a smaller scope of lexical planning. Therefore, the results provided more evidence in support of the EXPLAN model and indicated that a smaller scope of lexical planning rather than lexical defects causes the atypical interface for stuttering. Moreover, a comparison between these two tasks showed that the study findings have implications for syntactic defects in stuttering.

Cognitive Load Affects Speech Motor Performance Differently in Older and Younger Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1258-1277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan K. MacPherson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Cognitive Load ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Incongruent Condition ◽  
Sentence Production ◽  
Movement Duration ◽  
Production Task ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Speech Motor

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the impact of cognitive load imposed by a speech production task on the speech motor performance of healthy older and younger adults. Response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory were the primary cognitive processes of interest.MethodTwelve healthy older and 12 healthy younger adults produced multiple repetitions of 4 sentences containing an embedded Stroop task in 2 cognitive load conditions: congruent and incongruent. The incongruent condition, which required participants to suppress orthographic information to say the font colors in which color words were written, represented an increase in cognitive load relative to the congruent condition in which word text and font color matched. Kinematic measures of articulatory coordination variability and movement duration as well as a behavioral measure of sentence production accuracy were compared between groups and conditions and across 3 sentence segments (pre-, during-, and post-Stroop).ResultsIncreased cognitive load in the incongruent condition was associated with increased articulatory coordination variability and movement duration, compared to the congruent Stroop condition, for both age groups. Overall, the effect of increased cognitive load was greater for older adults than younger adults and was greatest in the portion of the sentence in which cognitive load was manipulated (during-Stroop), followed by the pre-Stroop segment. Sentence production accuracy was reduced for older adults in the incongruent condition.ConclusionsIncreased cognitive load involving response inhibition, selective attention, and working memory processes within a speech production task disrupted both the stability and timing with which speech was produced by both age groups. Older adults' speech motor performance may have been more affected due to age-related changes in cognitive and motoric functions that result in altered motor cognition.

Abstract Semantic Associative Network Training: A Replication and Update of an Abstract Word Retrieval Therapy Program

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 1574-1595
Author(s):  
Chaleece W. Sandberg ◽  
Teresa Gray
Keyword(s):  
Concrete Word ◽  
Abstract Word ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
Word Retrieval ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Associative Network ◽  
Direct Training ◽  
Network Training ◽  
Abstract Words ◽  
Concrete Words

Purpose We report on a study that replicates previous treatment studies using Abstract Semantic Associative Network Training (AbSANT), which was developed to help persons with aphasia improve their ability to retrieve abstract words, as well as thematically related concrete words. We hypothesized that previous results would be replicated; that is, when abstract words are trained using this protocol, improvement would be observed for both abstract and concrete words in the same context-category, but when concrete words are trained, no improvement for abstract words would be observed. We then frame the results of this study with the results of previous studies that used AbSANT to provide better evidence for the utility of this therapeutic technique. We also discuss proposed mechanisms of AbSANT. Method Four persons with aphasia completed one phase of concrete word training and one phase of abstract word training using the AbSANT protocol. Effect sizes were calculated for each word type for each phase. Effect sizes for this study are compared with the effect sizes from previous studies. Results As predicted, training abstract words resulted in both direct training and generalization effects, whereas training concrete words resulted in only direct training effects. The reported results are consistent across studies. Furthermore, when the data are compared across studies, there is a distinct pattern of the added benefit of training abstract words using AbSANT. Conclusion Treatment for word retrieval in aphasia is most often aimed at concrete words, despite the usefulness and pervasiveness of abstract words in everyday conversation. We show the utility of AbSANT as a means of improving not only abstract word retrieval but also concrete word retrieval and hope this evidence will help foster its application in clinical practice.

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