scholarly journals The Role of Co‐Occurrence Statistics in Developing Semantic Knowledge

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Layla Unger ◽  
Catarina Vales ◽  
Anna V. Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Knowledge

scholarly journals Rapid, Experience-Related Changes in the Organization of Children’s Semantic Knowledge

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Layla Unger ◽  
Anna Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Organization ◽  
Control School ◽  
School Based ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Taxonomic Organization ◽  
Post Test

The organization of knowledge according to relations between concepts is crucially important for many cognitive processes, and its emergence during childhood is a key focus of cognitive development research. Prior evidence about the role of learning and experience in the development of knowledge organization primarily comes from studies investigating naturally-occurring group differenes (such as children from rural vs. ubran settings, or children who own a pet vs. children who don’t). However, we know little about whether knowledge organization can be relatively rapidly molded by shorter-term learning experiences (e.g., on a time-scale of days vs. months and years). The present study investigated whether learning experiences can drive rapid, measurable changes in knowledge organization in children by investigating the effects of a week-long Zoo summer camp (compared to a control school-based camp) on the degree to which 4- to 9-year-old children’s knowledge about animals was organized according to taxonomic relations. Although there were no differences in taxonomic organization between the Zoo and the school-based camp at pre-test, only children who participated in the Zoo camp showed increases in taxonomic organization at post-test. These findings provide novel evidence that experiences can drive rapid changes in knowledge organization.

scholarly journals Rapid, Experience-Related Changes in the Organization of Children’s Semantic Knowledge

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Layla Unger ◽  
Anna Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Learning Experiences ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Organization ◽  
Control School ◽  
School Based ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Rapid Changes ◽  
Taxonomic Organization ◽  
Post Test

The organization of knowledge according to relations between concepts is crucially important for many cognitive processes, and its emergence during childhood is a key focus of cognitive development research. Prior evidence about the role of learning and experience in the development of knowledge organization primarily comes from studies investigating naturally-occurring group differenes (such as children from rural vs. ubran settings, or children who own a pet vs. children who don’t). However, we know little about whether knowledge organization can be relatively rapidly molded by shorter-term learning experiences (e.g., on a time-scale of days vs. months and years). The present study investigated whether learning experiences can drive rapid, measurable changes in knowledge organization in children by investigating the effects of a week-long Zoo summer camp (compared to a control school-based camp) on the degree to which 4- to 9-year-old children’s knowledge about animals was organized according to taxonomic relations. Although there were no differences in taxonomic organization between the Zoo and the school-based camp at pre-test, only children who participated in the Zoo camp showed increases in taxonomic organization at post-test. These findings provide novel evidence that experiences can drive rapid changes in knowledge organization.

The hierarchical organization of semantic knowledge in stroke aphasia: The role of feature sharedness and executive function

2013 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 552-560 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Frederico Marques ◽  
Inês Mares ◽  
Maria Eugénia Martins ◽  
Isabel Pavão Martins
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Hierarchical Organization

The Role of Repetition and Associative Interference in New Semantic Learning in Amnesia: A Case Experiment

1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Gordon Hayman ◽  
Carol A. Macdonald ◽  
Endel Tulving
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Information ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Amnesic Patient ◽  
Factual Information ◽  
Associative Interference ◽  
Extensive Experiment ◽  
Semantic Learning ◽  
Control Subjects ◽  
Target Words

The question of whether globally amnesic subjects can learn new semantic (factual) information is controversial. Some students of amnesia believe that they can, others that they cannot. In this article we report an extensive experiment conducted with the amnesic patient K.C. in which we examined the role of repetition and associative interference in his learning of new semantic information. In the course of 8 study sessions distributed over 4 weeks, we taught K.C. novel, amusing definitions of 96 target words (e.g., “a talkative featherbrain—PARAKEET”). We varied systematically the degree of both pre-experimental and intraexperimental associative interference, as well as the amount of study. The results of the experiment showed that K.C. can learn new semantic knowledge, and retain it over a period as long as 30 months indistinguishably from control subjects. The results further showed that the efficacy of such learning depends critically on both repetition of the material and the absence, or minimization, of pre-experimental and intraexperimental associative interference. These findings suggest that the extent to which at least some amnesic patients can acquire and retain new semantic knowledge depends on the conditions under which learning occurs, and that unqualified statements regarding the deficiency or absence of such learning in amnesia are not justified.

The role of semantic knowledge in short-term memory

Neurocase ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-27
Author(s):  
E. M. E. Forde
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

The Role of Semantic Knowledge in Short-term Memory

Neurocase ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 8 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emer M. E. Forde ◽  
Glyn W. Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Term Memory

scholarly journals Mapping the clockworks: what does the Clock Drawing Test assess in normal and pathological aging?

2013 ◽  
Vol 71 (10) ◽  
pp. 763-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Jardim de Paula ◽  
Debora Marques de Miranda ◽  
Edgar Nunes de Moraes ◽  
Leandro Fernandes Malloy-Diniz
Keyword(s):  
Executive Functions ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Cognitive Status ◽  
Cognitive Screening ◽  
Clock Drawing Test ◽  
Clock Drawing ◽  
Cognitive Components ◽  
Drawing Test

The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is a cognitive screening tool used in clinical and research settings. Despite its role on the assessment of global cognitive functioning, the specific cognitive components required for test performance are still unclear. We aim to assess the role of executive functioning, global cognitive status, visuospatial abilities, and semantic knowledge on Shulman’s CDT performance. Fifty-three mild cognitive impairment, 60 Alzheimer’s dementia, and 57 normal elderly controls performed the CDT, the Frontal Assessment Battery, the Mini-Mental State Examination, the Stick Design Test, and a naming test (TN-LIN). An ordinal regression assessed specific neuropsychological influences on CDT performance. All the cognitive variables were related to the CDT, accounting for 53% of variance. The strongest association was between the CDT and executive functions, followed by global cognitive status, visuospatial processing, and semantic knowledge. Our result confirms the multidimensional nature of the test and the major role of executive functions on performance.

scholarly journals The Role of the Angular Gyrus in Semantic Cognition – A Synthesis of Five Functional Neuroimaging Studies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philipp Kuhnke ◽  
Curtiss A. Chapman ◽  
Vincent K.M. Cheung ◽  
Sabrina Turker ◽  
Astrid Graessner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Difficulty ◽  
Semantic Processing ◽  
Functional Neuroimaging ◽  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Angular Gyrus ◽  
Semantic Features ◽  
Semantic Cognition ◽  
Independent Effects

Abstract Semantic knowledge is central to human cognition. The angular gyrus (AG) is widely considered a key brain region for semantic cognition. However, the role of the AG in semantic processing is controversial. Key controversies concern response polarity (activation vs. deactivation) and its relation to task difficulty, lateralization (left vs. right AG), and functional-anatomical subdivision (PGa vs. PGp subregions). Here, we combined the fMRI data of five studies on semantic processing (n = 172) and analyzed the response profiles from the same anatomical regions-of-interest for left and right PGa and PGp. We found that the AG was consistently deactivated during non-semantic conditions, whereas response polarity during semantic conditions was inconsistent. However, the AG consistently showed relative response differences between semantic and non-semantic conditions, and between different semantic conditions. A combined analysis across all studies revealed that AG responses could be best explained by independent effects of both task difficulty and semantic processing demand. Task difficulty effects were stronger in PGa than PGp, regardless of hemisphere. Semantic effects were stronger in left than right AG, regardless of subregion. These results suggest that the AG is independently engaged in both domain-general task-difficulty-related processes and domain-specific semantic processes. In semantic processing, we propose that left AG acts as a “multimodal convergence zone” that binds different semantic features associated with the same concept, enabling efficient access to task-relevant features.

The role of semantic knowledge in relearning spellings: Evidence from deep dysgraphia

Aphasiology ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 489-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Viba Pavan Kumar ◽  
Glyn W. Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Knowledge

scholarly journals CATEGORIES IN THE MAKING: Assessing the role of semantics in the acquisition of noun and verb categories

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
CAROLINE ROSSI ◽  
CHRISTOPHE PARISSE
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Knowledge ◽  
Early Differentiation ◽  
Semantic Categories ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Competing Hypotheses ◽  
Verb Categories ◽  
Basic Semantic

ABSTRACTLittle is known about what guides children in their acquisition of grammatical categories. This paper investigates how semantic knowledge could be involved in discovering these categories, thus confronting two competing hypotheses: are semantic categories innate, or are they developed in a piecemeal fashion? We tested for regular associations between basic semantic dimensions and the development of the founding categories of noun and verb. Six perceptually based semantic dimensions (Parisse and Poulain, 2010), shared by nouns and verbs but potentially distinctive, are coded in the productions of three children aged 1;06 to 2;06. Our results suggest that semantic dimensions do not offer an entry into the early differentiation of noun and verb categories.

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