scholarly journals Salience-weighted agreement feature hierarchy modulates language comprehension

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Muralikrishnan ◽  
Ali Idrissi
Keyword(s):  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Positivity Effect ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Biphasic Effect ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Plural Subjects ◽  
The Brain

AbstractThe brain establishes relations between elements of an unfolding sentence in order to incrementally build a representation of who is doing what based on various linguistic cues. Many languages systematically mark the verb and/or its arguments to imply the manner in which they are related. A common mechanism to this end is subject-verb agreement, whereby the marking on the verb covaries with one or more of the features such as person, number and gender of the subject argument in a sentence. The cross-linguistic variability of these features would suggest that they may modulate language comprehension differentially based on their relative weightings in a given language. To test this, we investigated the processing of subject-verb agreement in simple intransitive Arabic sentences in a visual event-related brain potential (ERP) study. Specifically, we examined the differences, if any, that ensue in the processing of person, number and gender features during online comprehension, employing sentences in which the verb either showed full agreement with the subject noun (singular or plural) or did not agree in one of the features. ERP responses were measured at the post-nominal verb. Results showed a biphasic negativity−late-positivity effect when the verb did not agree with its subject noun in one of the features, in line with similar findings from other languages. Crucially however, the biphasic effect for agreement violations was systematically graded based on the feature that was violated, which is a novel finding in view of results from other languages. Furthermore, this graded effect was qualitatively different for singular and plural subjects based on the differing salience of the features for each subject-type. These results suggest that agreement features, varying in their salience due to their language-specific weightings, differentially modulate language comprehension. We postulate a Salience-weighted Feature Hierarchy based on our findings and argue that this parsimoniously accounts for the diversity of existing cross-linguistic neurophysiological results on verb agreement processing.

On the Language Specificity of the Brain Response to Syntactic Anomalies: Is the Syntactic Positive Shift a Member of the P300 Family?

1996 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 507-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Osterhout ◽  
Richard McKinnon ◽  
Michael Bersick ◽  
Vicka Corey
Keyword(s):  
Brain Response ◽  
Brain Potentials ◽  
Positive Shift ◽  
Scalp Distribution ◽  
Temporal Course ◽  
Grammatical Rule ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Brain ◽  
And Task

Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded from 13 scalp electrodes while subjects read sentences, some of which contained either a verb that disagreed in number with the subject noun (syntactic anomaly) or a word in uppercase letters (physical anomaly). Uppercase words elicited the P300 complex of positivities, whereas agreement violations elicited a late positive shift with an onset around 500 msec and a duration of several hundred msec. These effects differed in their morphology, temporal course, amplitude, and scalp distribution. Furthermore, manipulations of the probability-of-occurrence and task relevance of the anomalies had robust effects on the response to uppercase words, but not on the response to agreement violations. Finally, these anomalies had additive effects when agreement-violating uppercase (doubly anomalous) words were presented. These results are taken to be an initial indication that the positive shift elicited by agreement violations is distinct from the P300 response to unexpected, task-relevant anomalies that do not involve the violation of a grammatical rule.

scholarly journals Effect of the Interindividual Variability on Computational Modeling of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Parazzini ◽  
Serena Fiocchi ◽  
Ilaria Liorni ◽  
Paolo Ravazzani
Keyword(s):  
Direct Current ◽  
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Current Flow ◽  
Direct Current Stimulation ◽  
Human Models ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Spontaneous Neuronal Activity ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Brain

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulatory technique that delivers low intensity, direct current to cortical areas facilitating or inhibiting spontaneous neuronal activity. This paper investigates how normal variations in anatomy may affect the current flow through the brain. This was done by applying electromagnetic computational methods to human models of different age and gender and by comparing the electric field and current density amplitude distributions within the tissues. Results of this study showed that the general trend of the spatial distributions of the field amplitude shares some gross characteristics among the different human models for the same electrode montages. However, the physical dimension of the subject and his/her morphological and anatomical characteristics somehow influence the detailed field distributions such as the field values.

scholarly journals Training the Conductor of the Brainwave Symphony: In Search of a Common Mechanism of Action for All Methods of Neurofeedback

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jen A. Markovics
Keyword(s):  
Operant Conditioning ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Mechanisms Of Action ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Common Mechanism ◽  
Conditioning Paradigm ◽  
Conditioning Model ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Brain

There are several different methods of neurofeedback, most of which presume an operant conditioning model whereby the subject learns to control their brain activity in particular regions of the brain and/or at particular brainwave frequencies based on reinforcement. One method, however, called infra-low frequency [ILF] neurofeedback cannot be explained through this paradigm, yet it has profound effects on brain function. Like a conductor of a symphony, recent evidence demonstrates that the primary ILF (typically between 0.01–0.1 Hz), which correlates with the fluctuation of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in the brain, regulates all of the classic brainwave bands (i.e. alpha, theta, delta, beta, gamma). The success of ILF neurofeedback suggests that all forms of neurofeedback may work through a similar mechanism that does not fit the operant conditioning paradigm. This chapter focuses on the possible mechanisms of action for ILF neurofeedback, which may be generalized, based on current evidence.

From emergence to acquisition

1997 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fethi Mansouri
Keyword(s):  
Information Structures ◽  
Linguistic Complexity ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Processing Strategies ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Agreement Morphology ◽  
And Gender

Abstract This paper concerns the emergence and development of agreement marking in Arabic interlanguage. It investigates the effect of competing structures (pragmatics, semantics and morphosyntax) on the development of Arabic subject-verb agreement morphology. It is hypothesised that Arabic Interlanguage morphology is constrained by the availability of processing strategies (Clahsen, 1986) and competing information structures (Bates and McWhinney, 1981; 1987) especially when dealing with complex agreement patterns. The results show that linguistic complexity (a) influences the types of processing strategies employed and (b) determines the order of acquisition of different agreement patterns. It is also revealed that when the three information structures compete for interpretation of speech, morphosyntax emerges as the least influential eventhough it seems that S-V agreement in Arabic, at least on the surface, is essentially a transfer of morphosyntactic features (person, number and gender) from the subject onto the verb.

The interaction of notional number and morphophonology in subject–verb agreement: A role for working memory

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 890-900
Author(s):  
Heidi Lorimor ◽  
Carrie N Jackson ◽  
Janet G van Hell
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Sentence Completion ◽  
Verb Agreement ◽  
Subject Noun ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Impact

Research shows that cross-linguistically, subject–verb agreement with complex noun phrases (e.g., The label on the bottles) is influenced by notional number and the presence of homophony in case, gender, or number morphology. Less well-understood is whether notional number and morphophonology interact during speech production, and whether the relative impact of these two factors is influenced by working memory capacity. Using an auditory sentence completion task, we investigated the impact of notional number and morphophonology on agreement with complex subject noun phrases in Dutch. Results revealed main effects of notional number and morphophonology. Critically, there was also an interaction between morphophonology and notional number because participants showed greater notional effects when the determiners were homophonous and morphophonologically ambiguous. Furthermore, participants with higher working memory scores made fewer agreement errors when the subject noun phrase contained homophonous determiners, and this effect was greater when the subject noun phrase was notionally singular. These findings support the hypothesis that cue-based retrieval plays a role in agreement production, and suggests that the ability to correctly assign subject–verb agreement—especially in the presence of homophonous determiners—is modulated by working memory capacity.

SENSITIVITAS ETIS MAHASISWA ATAS PENGGELAPAN PAJAK

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-195
Author(s):  
Nurma Risa
Keyword(s):  
Tax Evasion ◽  
Female Students ◽  
T Test ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Political Sciences ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Management Students

This study aims to prove that there is a difference of perception about ethics on tax evasion in UNISMA Bekasi students, based on selected study program and gender. The sample of this research is the students who have fulfilled the subject of taxation, at the Faculty of Economics (FE) and Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP). Using independent t-test, the results showed that there was no significant difference of perception about tax evasion ethics between FE and FISIP students. But significant differences the perception of tax evasion ethics occur between accounting and management students at FE. Significant differences also did not occur between male and female students

Diaghilev and British Writing

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-92
Author(s):  
Susan Jones
Keyword(s):  
Visual Arts ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Literary Responses ◽  
Literary Aesthetics ◽  
Ballets Russes ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Opening Up

This article explores the diversity of British literary responses to Diaghilev's project, emphasising the way in which the subject matter and methodologies of Diaghilev's modernism were sometimes unexpectedly echoed in expressions of contemporary British writing. These discussions emerge both in writing about Diaghilev's work, and, more discretely, when references to the Russian Ballet find their way into the creative writing of the period, serving to anchor the texts in a particular cultural milieu or to suggest contemporary aesthetic problems in the domain of literary aesthetics developing in the period. Figures from disparate fields, including literature, music and the visual arts, brought to their criticism of the Ballets Russes their individual perspectives on its aesthetics, helping to consolidate the sense of its importance in contributing to the inter-disciplinary flavour of modernism across the arts. In the field of literature, not only did British writers evaluate the Ballets Russes in terms of their own poetics, their relationship to experimentation in the novel and in drama, they developed an increasing sense of the company's place in dance history, its choreographic innovations offering material for wider discussions, opening up the potential for literary modernism's interest in impersonality and in the ‘unsayable’, discussions of the body, primitivism and gender.

ADRENERGIC INPUTS TO THE AMYGDALA AND THE CONTROL OF GONADOTROPHIN RELEASE

1979 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Borrell ◽  
Flavio Piva ◽  
Luciano Martini
Keyword(s):  
Brain Stem ◽  
Dopamine Receptor ◽  
Serum Levels ◽  
Female Rats ◽  
Receptor Blocker ◽  
Dopaminergic Drug ◽  
Gonadotrophin Secretion ◽  
Biphasic Effect ◽  
Adrenergic Blocker ◽  
The Brain

ABSTRACT Drugs able to mimic or to antagonize the action of catecholamines have been implanted bilaterally into the basomedial region of the amygdala of adult castrated female rats. The animals were killed at different intervals after the implantation of the different drugs, and serum levels of LH and FSH were measured by radioimmunoassay. The results have shown that the intra-amygdalar implantation of the alpha-adrenergic blocker phenoxybenzamine induces a significant increase of the release both of LH and FSH. The implantation of the beta-adrenergic blocker propranolol brings about a rise of LH only. The dopamine receptor blocker pimozide stimulates the release of LH and exerts a biphasic effect (stimulation followed by inhibition) of FSH secretion. The alpha-receptor stimulant clonidine and the dopaminergic drug 2-Br-alpha-ergocryptine were without significant effects. From these observations it is suggested that the adrenergic signals reaching the basomedial area of the amygdala (possibly from the brain stem) may be involved in the modulation of gonadotrophin secretion.

Pronoun Processing during Language Comprehension: The Effects of Distance and Gender Stereotype

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 1279-1288
Author(s):  
Li-Jing QIU ◽  
Sui-Ping WANG ◽  
Hsuan-Chih CHEN
Keyword(s):  
Language Comprehension ◽  
Gender Stereotype ◽  
And Gender
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