Language-Specific Attention Treatment for Aphasia: Description and Preliminary Findings.

PubMed

Peach, Richard K; Nathan, Meghana R; Beck, Katherine M

2017-02-01

The need for a specific, language-based treatment approach to aphasic impairments associated with attentional deficits is well documented. We describe language-specific attention treatment, a specific skill-based approach for aphasia that exploits increasingly complex linguistic tasks that focus attention. The program consists of eight tasks, some with multiple phases, to assess and treat lexical and sentence processing. Validation results demonstrate that these tasks load on six attentional domains: (1) executive attention; (2) attentional switching; (3) visual selective attention/processing speed; (4) sustained attention; (5) auditory-verbal working memory; and (6) auditory processing speed. The program demonstrates excellent inter- and intrarater reliability and adequate test-retest reliability. Two of four people with aphasia exposed to this program demonstrated good language recovery whereas three of the four participants showed improvements in auditory-verbal working memory. The results provide support for this treatment program in patients with aphasia having no greater than a moderate degree of attentional impairment. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Character Reading Fluency, Word Segmentation Accuracy, and Reading Comprehension in L2 Chinese

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen, Helen H.; Jiang, Xin

2013-01-01

This study investigated the relationships between lower-level processing and general reading comprehension among adult L2 (second-language) beginning learners of Chinese, in both target and non-target language learning environments. Lower-level processing in Chinese reading includes the factors of character-naming accuracy, character-naming speed,…

Common data buffer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Byrne, F.

1981-01-01

Time-shared interface speeds data processing in distributed computer network. Two-level high-speed scanning approach routes information to buffer, portion of which is reserved for series of "first-in, first-out" memory stacks. Buffer address structure and memory are protected from noise or failed components by error correcting code. System is applicable to any computer or processing language.

Language Analysis Package (L.A.P.) Version I System Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porch, Ann

To permit researchers to use the speed and versatility of the computer to process natural language text as well as numerical data without undergoing special training in programing or computer operations, a language analysis package has been developed partially based on several existing programs. An overview of the design is provided and system…

Individual Differences in the Real-Time Comprehension of Children with ASD

PubMed Central

Venker, Courtney E.; Eernisse, Elizabeth R.; Saffran, Jenny R.; Weismer, Susan Ellis

2013-01-01

Lay Abstract Spoken language processing is related to language and cognitive skills in typically developing children, but very little is known about how children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) comprehend words in real time. Studying this area is important because it may help us understand why many children with autism have delayed language comprehension. Thirty-four children with ASD (3–6 years old) participated in this study. They took part in a language comprehension task that involved looking at pictures on a screen and listening to questions about familiar nouns (e.g., Where’s the shoe?). Children as a group understood the familiar words, but accuracy and processing speed varied considerably across children. The children who were more accurate were also faster to process the familiar words. Children’s language processing accuracy was related to processing speed and language comprehension on a standardized test; nonverbal cognition did not explain additional information after accounting for these factors. Additionally, lexical processing accuracy at age 5½ was related to children’s vocabulary comprehension three years earlier, at age 2½. Autism severity and years of maternal education were unrelated to language processing. Words typically acquired earlier in life were processed more quickly than words acquired later. These findings point to similarities in patterns of language development in typically developing children and children with ASD. Studying real-time comprehension in children with ASD may help us better understand mechanisms of language comprehension in this population. Future work may help explain why some children with ASD develop age-appropriate language skills, whereas others experience lasting deficits. Scientific Abstract Many children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) demonstrate deficits in language comprehension, but little is known about how they process spoken language as it unfolds. Real-time lexical comprehension is associated with language and cognition in children without ASD, suggesting that this may also be the case for children with ASD. This study adopted an individual differences approach to characterizing real-time comprehension of familiar words in a group of 34 three- to six-year-olds with ASD. The looking-while-listening paradigm was employed; it measures online accuracy and latency through language-mediated eye movements and has limited task demands. On average, children demonstrated comprehension of the familiar words, but considerable variability emerged. Children with better accuracy were faster to process the familiar words. In combination, processing speed and comprehension on a standardized language assessment explained 63% of the variance in online accuracy. Online accuracy was not correlated with autism severity or maternal education, and nonverbal cognition did not explain unique variance. Notably, online accuracy at age 5½ was related to vocabulary comprehension three years earlier. The words typically learned earliest in life were processed most quickly. Consistent with a dimensional view of language abilities, these findings point to similarities in patterns of language acquisition in typically developing children and those with ASD. Overall, our results emphasize the value of examining individual differences in real-time language comprehension in this population. We propose that the looking-while-listening paradigm is a sensitive and valuable methodological tool that can be applied across many areas of autism research. PMID:23696214

Impact of Timed Reading on Comprehension and Speed: A Study on Turkish EFL Learners

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armagan, Kiymet Selin; Genc, Zubeyde Sinem

2017-01-01

Reading process has always been one of the most significant and debatable topics in the area of learning and teaching languages. Reading process in mother tongue (L1) and in a foreign language (L2), the association of these processes, variables affecting reading and the qualities of good and poor readers in L1 and L2 have been investigated…

Early language processing efficiency predicts later receptive vocabulary outcomes in children born preterm.

PubMed

Marchman, Virginia A; Adams, Katherine A; Loi, Elizabeth C; Fernald, Anne; Feldman, Heidi M

2016-01-01

As rates of prematurity continue to rise, identifying which preterm children are at increased risk for learning disabilities is a public health imperative. Identifying continuities between early and later skills in this vulnerable population can also illuminate fundamental neuropsychological processes that support learning in all children. At 18 months adjusted age, we used socioeconomic status (SES), medical variables, parent-reported vocabulary, scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (third edition) language composite, and children's lexical processing speed in the looking-while-listening (LWL) task as predictor variables in a sample of 30 preterm children. Receptive vocabulary as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (fourth edition) at 36 months was the outcome. Receptive vocabulary was correlated with SES, but uncorrelated with degree of prematurity or a composite of medical risk. Importantly, lexical processing speed was the strongest predictor of receptive vocabulary (r = -.81), accounting for 30% unique variance. Individual differences in lexical processing efficiency may be able to serve as a marker for information processing skills that are critical for language learning.

Comparative Studies on the Roles of Linguistic Knowledge and Sentence Processing Speed in L2 Listening and Reading Comprehension in an EFL Tertiary Setting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oh, Eunjou

2016-01-01

The present study investigated the relative contributions of vocabulary knowledge, grammar knowledge, and processing speed to second language listening and reading comprehension. Seventy-five Korean university students participated in the study. Results showed the three tested components had a significant portion of shared variance in explaining…

The Interplay between Attentional Strategies and Language Processing in High-Functioning Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koolen, Sophieke; Vissers, Constance Th. W. M.; Hendriks, Angelique W. C. J.; Egger, Jos I. M.; Verhoeven, Ludo

2012-01-01

This study examined the hypothesis of an atypical interaction between attention and language in ASD. A dual-task experiment with three conditions was designed, in which sentences were presented that contained errors requiring attentional focus either at (a) low level, or (b) high level, or (c) both levels of language. Speed and accuracy for error…

Pathways From Toddler Information Processing to Adolescent Lexical Proficiency.

PubMed

Rose, Susan A; Feldman, Judith F; Jankowski, Jeffery J

2015-01-01

This study examined the relation of 3-year core information-processing abilities to lexical growth and development. The core abilities covered four domains-memory, representational competence (cross-modal transfer), processing speed, and attention. Lexical proficiency was assessed at 3 and 13 years with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and verbal fluency. The sample (N = 128) consisted of 43 preterms (< 1750 g) and 85 full-terms. Structural equation modeling indicated concurrent relations of toddler information processing and language proficiency and, independent of stability in language, direct predictive links between (a) 3-year cross-modal ability and 13-year PPVT and (b) 3-year processing speed and both 13-year measures, PPVT and verbal fluency. Thus, toddler information processing was related to growth in lexical proficiency from 3 to 13 years. © 2015 The Authors. Child Development © 2015 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Does input influence uptake? Links between maternal talk, processing speed and vocabulary size in Spanish-learning children

PubMed Central

Hurtado, Nereyda; Marchman, Virginia A.; Fernald, Anne

2010-01-01

It is well established that variation in caregivers' speech is associated with language outcomes, yet little is known about the learning principles that mediate these effects. This longitudinal study (n = 27) explores whether Spanish-learning children's early experiences with language predict efficiency in real-time comprehension and vocabulary learning. Measures of mothers' speech at 18 months were examined in relation to children's speech processing efficiency and reported vocabulary at 18 and 24 months. Children of mothers who provided more input at 18 months knew more words and were faster in word recognition at 24 months. Moreover, multiple regression analyses indicated that the influences of caregiver speech on speed of word recognition and vocabulary were largely overlapping. This study provides the first evidence that input shapes children's lexical processing efficiency and that vocabulary growth and increasing facility in spoken word comprehension work together to support the uptake of the information that rich input affords the young language learner. PMID:19046145

Article 7: Measures of digit span and verbal rehearsal speed in deaf children following more than 10 years of cochlear implantation

PubMed Central

Pisoni, David; Kronenberger, William; Roman, Adrienne; Geers, Ann

2011-01-01

Precis This paper reports results on the development of immediate memory capacity and verbal rehearsal speed in 112 children with more than ten years of CI use. We found less than half of the sample showed increases in both forward and backward digit spans suggesting disturbances in basic mechanisms related to storage or rehearsal of verbal information. Both spans and verbal rehearsal speeds in elementary school were found to be correlated with speech and language outcomes in high school. These developmental results provide new insights in the elementary neurocognitive information processes associated with high variability in speech and language outcomes. PMID:21832890

A functional language approach in high-speed digital simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ercegovac, M. D.; Lu, S.-L.

1983-01-01

A functional programming approach for a multi-microprocessor architecture is presented. The language, based on Backus FP, its intermediate form and the translation process are discussed and illustrated with an example. The approach allows performance analysis to be performed at a high level as an aid in program partitioning.

Is There a Cognate Advantage for Typically Developing Spanish-Speaking English-Language Learners?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kelley, Alaina; Kohnert, Kathryn

2012-01-01

Purpose: Cross-linguistic cognates are words that share form and meaning in two languages (e.g., "helicopter-helicoptero"); translation equivalents are words that share meaning but not form (e.g., "house-casa"). Research consistently demonstrates a performance speed and/or accuracy advantage for processing cognates versus noncognates in bilingual…

Apathy and Reduced Speed of Processing Underlie Decline in Verbal Fluency following DBS.

PubMed

Foley, Jennifer A; Foltynie, Tom; Zrinzo, Ludvic; Hyam, Jonathan A; Limousin, Patricia; Cipolotti, Lisa

2017-01-01

Objective . Reduced verbal fluency is a strikingly uniform finding following deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease (PD). The precise cognitive mechanism underlying this reduction remains unclear, but theories have suggested reduced motivation, linguistic skill, and/or executive function. It is of note, however, that previous reports have failed to consider the potential role of any changes in speed of processing. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine verbal fluency changes with a particular focus on the role of cognitive speed. Method . In this study, 28 patients with PD completed measures of verbal fluency, motivation, language, executive functioning, and speed of processing, before and after DBS. Results . As expected, there was a marked decline in verbal fluency but also in a timed test of executive functions and two measures of speed of processing. Verbal fluency decline was associated with markers of linguistic and executive functioning, but not after speed of processing was statistically controlled for. In contrast, greater decline in verbal fluency was associated with higher levels of apathy at baseline, which was not associated with changes in cognitive speed. Discussion . Reduced generativity and processing speed may account for the marked reduction in verbal fluency commonly observed following DBS.

Is Word-Problem Solving a Form of Text Comprehension?

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Lynn S.; Fuchs, Douglas; Compton, Donald L.; Hamlett, Carol L.; Wang, Amber Y.

2015-01-01

This study’s hypotheses were that (a) word-problem (WP) solving is a form of text comprehension that involves language comprehension processes, working memory, and reasoning, but (b) WP solving differs from other forms of text comprehension by requiring WP-specific language comprehension as well as general language comprehension. At the start of the 2nd grade, children (n = 206; on average, 7 years, 6 months) were assessed on general language comprehension, working memory, nonlinguistic reasoning, processing speed (a control variable), and foundational skill (arithmetic for WPs; word reading for text comprehension). In spring, they were assessed on WP-specific language comprehension, WPs, and text comprehension. Path analytic mediation analysis indicated that effects of general language comprehension on text comprehension were entirely direct, whereas effects of general language comprehension on WPs were partially mediated by WP-specific language. By contrast, effects of working memory and reasoning operated in parallel ways for both outcomes. PMID:25866461

Working memory influences processing speed and reading fluency in ADHD.

PubMed

Jacobson, Lisa A; Ryan, Matthew; Martin, Rebecca B; Ewen, Joshua; Mostofsky, Stewart H; Denckla, Martha B; Mahone, E Mark

2011-01-01

Processing-speed deficits affect reading efficiency, even among individuals who recognize and decode words accurately. Children with ADHD who decode words accurately can still have inefficient reading fluency, leading to a bottleneck in other cognitive processes. This "slowing" in ADHD is associated with deficits in fundamental components of executive function underlying processing speed, including response selection. The purpose of the present study was to deconstruct processing speed in order to determine which components of executive control best explain the "processing" speed deficits related to reading fluency in ADHD. Participants (41 ADHD, 21 controls), ages 9-14 years, screened for language disorders, word reading deficits, and psychiatric disorders, were administered measures of copying speed, processing speed, reading fluency, working memory, reaction time, inhibition, and auditory attention span. Compared to controls, children with ADHD showed reduced oral and silent reading fluency and reduced processing speed-driven primarily by deficits on WISC-IV Coding. In contrast, groups did not differ on copying speed. After controlling for copying speed, sex, severity of ADHD-related symptomatology, and GAI, slowed "processing" speed (i.e., Coding) was significantly associated with verbal span and measures of working memory but not with measures of response control/inhibition, lexical retrieval speed, reaction time, or intrasubject variability. Further, "processing" speed (i.e., Coding, residualized for copying speed) and working memory were significant predictors of oral reading fluency. Abnormalities in working memory and response selection (which are frontally mediated and enter into the output side of processing speed) may play an important role in deficits in reading fluency in ADHD, potentially more than posteriorally mediated problems with orienting of attention or perceiving the stimulus.

Executive Functions Contribute Uniquely to Reading Competence in Minority Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobson, Lisa A.; Koriakin, Taylor; Lipkin, Paul; Boada, Richard; Frijters, Jan C.; Lovett, Maureen W.; Hill, Dina; Willcutt, Erik; Gottwald, Stephanie; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R.; Mahone, E. Mark

2017-01-01

Competent reading requires various skills beyond those for basic word reading (i.e., core language skills, rapid naming, phonological processing). Contributing "higher-level" or domain-general processes include information processing speed and executive functions (working memory, strategic problem solving, attentional switching).…

Cognition in older patients with multiple sclerosis compared to patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and healthy older adults.

PubMed

Roth, Alexandra K; Denney, Douglas R; Burns, Jeffrey M; Lynch, Sharon G

2018-06-25

Progress in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) has resulted in larger numbers of patients living to an advanced age, but little is known about the cognitive status of these individuals. The primary purpose of this study was to identify differences in the cognitive performance between elderly individuals with MS and those with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Three groups ranging in age from 60 to 80 were compared: patients with MS (n = 64), patients with aMCI (n = 58), and healthy adults (n = 70). All participants completed a standard neuropsychological test battery that evaluated domains of attention, processing speed, executive function, memory, language, and visual spatial function. Compared to age- and gender-matched healthy controls, elderly MS patients exhibited a pattern of cognitive impairment centering on information processing speed and memory that was consistent with the deficits observed in other studies of MS patients regardless of age. Compared to aMCI patients, the MS patients exhibited worse performance on measures of processing speed, but better performance on a measure of memory under cued conditions (Selective Reminding Test), a nonspeeded measure of language (Boston Naming Test), and measures of executive function with processing speed statistically controlled (Trail Making Test, Stroop Test). Differences on neuropsychological measures can serve to distinguish aMCI from MS-related cognitive impairment in older patients, but it is essential that these measures control for the deficit in processing speed that is such a primary feature of MS. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

A direct-execution parallel architecture for the Advanced Continuous Simulation Language (ACSL)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carroll, Chester C.; Owen, Jeffrey E.

1988-01-01

A direct-execution parallel architecture for the Advanced Continuous Simulation Language (ACSL) is presented which overcomes the traditional disadvantages of simulations executed on a digital computer. The incorporation of parallel processing allows the mapping of simulations into a digital computer to be done in the same inherently parallel manner as they are currently mapped onto an analog computer. The direct-execution format maximizes the efficiency of the executed code since the need for a high level language compiler is eliminated. Resolution is greatly increased over that which is available with an analog computer without the sacrifice in execution speed normally expected with digitial computer simulations. Although this report covers all aspects of the new architecture, key emphasis is placed on the processing element configuration and the microprogramming of the ACLS constructs. The execution times for all ACLS constructs are computed using a model of a processing element based on the AMD 29000 CPU and the AMD 29027 FPU. The increase in execution speed provided by parallel processing is exemplified by comparing the derived execution times of two ACSL programs with the execution times for the same programs executed on a similar sequential architecture.

Word reading skill predicts anticipation of upcoming spoken language input: a study of children developing proficiency in reading.

PubMed

Mani, Nivedita; Huettig, Falk

2014-10-01

Despite the efficiency with which language users typically process spoken language, a growing body of research finds substantial individual differences in both the speed and accuracy of spoken language processing potentially attributable to participants' literacy skills. Against this background, the current study took a look at the role of word reading skill in listeners' anticipation of upcoming spoken language input in children at the cusp of learning to read; if reading skills affect predictive language processing, then children at this stage of literacy acquisition should be most susceptible to the effects of reading skills on spoken language processing. We tested 8-year-olds on their prediction of upcoming spoken language input in an eye-tracking task. Although children, like in previous studies to date, were successfully able to anticipate upcoming spoken language input, there was a strong positive correlation between children's word reading skills (but not their pseudo-word reading and meta-phonological awareness or their spoken word recognition skills) and their prediction skills. We suggest that these findings are most compatible with the notion that the process of learning orthographic representations during reading acquisition sharpens pre-existing lexical representations, which in turn also supports anticipation of upcoming spoken words. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Apathy and Reduced Speed of Processing Underlie Decline in Verbal Fluency following DBS

PubMed Central

Foltynie, Tom; Zrinzo, Ludvic; Hyam, Jonathan A.; Limousin, Patricia

2017-01-01

Objective. Reduced verbal fluency is a strikingly uniform finding following deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease (PD). The precise cognitive mechanism underlying this reduction remains unclear, but theories have suggested reduced motivation, linguistic skill, and/or executive function. It is of note, however, that previous reports have failed to consider the potential role of any changes in speed of processing. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine verbal fluency changes with a particular focus on the role of cognitive speed. Method. In this study, 28 patients with PD completed measures of verbal fluency, motivation, language, executive functioning, and speed of processing, before and after DBS. Results. As expected, there was a marked decline in verbal fluency but also in a timed test of executive functions and two measures of speed of processing. Verbal fluency decline was associated with markers of linguistic and executive functioning, but not after speed of processing was statistically controlled for. In contrast, greater decline in verbal fluency was associated with higher levels of apathy at baseline, which was not associated with changes in cognitive speed. Discussion. Reduced generativity and processing speed may account for the marked reduction in verbal fluency commonly observed following DBS. PMID:28408788

Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in the Adult Brain and Success in Second-Language Learning.

PubMed

Chai, Xiaoqian J; Berken, Jonathan A; Barbeau, Elise B; Soles, Jennika; Callahan, Megan; Chen, Jen-Kai; Klein, Denise

2016-01-20

There is considerable variability in an individual's ability to acquire a second language (L2) during adulthood. Using resting-state fMRI data acquired before training in English speakers who underwent a 12 week intensive French immersion training course, we investigated whether individual differences in intrinsic resting-state functional connectivity relate to a person's ability to acquire an L2. We focused on two key aspects of language processing--lexical retrieval in spontaneous speech and reading speed--and computed whole-brain functional connectivity from two regions of interest in the language network, namely the left anterior insula/frontal operculum (AI/FO) and the visual word form area (VWFA). Connectivity between the left AI/FO and left posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and between the left AI/FO and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex correlated positively with improvement in L2 lexical retrieval in spontaneous speech. Connectivity between the VWFA and left mid-STG correlated positively with improvement in L2 reading speed. These findings are consistent with the different language functions subserved by subcomponents of the language network and suggest that the human capacity to learn an L2 can be predicted by an individual's intrinsic functional connectivity within the language network. Significance statement: There is considerable variability in second-language learning abilities during adulthood. We investigated whether individual differences in intrinsic functional connectivity in the adult brain relate to success in second-language learning, using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in English speakers who underwent a 12 week intensive French immersion training course. We found that pretraining functional connectivity within two different language subnetworks correlated strongly with learning outcome in two different language skills: lexical retrieval in spontaneous speech and reading speed. Our results suggest that the human capacity to learn a second language can be predicted by an individual's intrinsic functional connectivity within the language network. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/360755-07$15.00/0.

Working Memory Influences Processing Speed and Reading Fluency in ADHD

PubMed Central

Jacobson, Lisa A.; Ryan, Matthew; Martin, Rebecca B.; Ewen, Joshua; Mostofsky, Stewart H.; Denckla, Martha B.; Mahone, E. Mark

2012-01-01

Processing speed deficits affect reading efficiency, even among individuals who recognize and decode words accurately. Children with ADHD who decode words accurately can still have inefficient reading fluency, leading to a bottleneck in other cognitive processes. This “slowing” in ADHD is associated with deficits in fundamental components of executive function underlying processing speed, including response selection. The purpose of the present study was to deconstruct processing speed in order to determine which components of executive control best explain the “processing” speed deficits related to reading fluency in ADHD. Participants (41 ADHD, 21 controls), ages 9-14, screened for language disorders, word reading deficits, and psychiatric disorders, were administered measures of copying speed, processing speed, reading fluency, working memory, reaction time, inhibition, and auditory attention span. Compared to controls, children with ADHD showed reduced oral and silent reading fluency, and reduced processing speed—driven primarily by deficits on WISC-IV Coding. In contrast, groups did not differ on copying speed. After controlling for copying speed, sex, severity of ADHD-related symptomatology, and GAI, slowed “processing” speed (i.e., Coding) was significantly associated with verbal span and measures of working memory, but not with measures of response control/inhibition, lexical retrieval speed, reaction time, or intra-subject variability. Further, “processing” speed (i.e., Coding, residualized for copying speed) and working memory were significant predictors of oral reading fluency. Abnormalities in working memory and response selection (which are frontally-mediated and enter into the output side of processing speed) may play an important role in deficits in reading fluency in ADHD, potentially more than posteriorally-mediated problems with orienting of attention or perceiving the stimulus. PMID:21287422

Verbal Processing Speed and Executive Functioning in Long-Term Cochlear Implant Users

PubMed Central

Pisoni, David B.; Kronenberger, William G.

2015-01-01

Purpose The purpose of this study was to report how verbal rehearsal speed (VRS), a form of covert speech used to maintain verbal information in working memory, and another verbal processing speed measure, perceptual encoding speed, are related to 3 domains of executive function (EF) at risk in cochlear implant (CI) users: verbal working memory, fluency-speed, and inhibition-concentration. Method EF, speech perception, and language outcome measures were obtained from 55 prelingually deaf, long-term CI users and matched controls with normal hearing (NH controls). Correlational analyses were used to assess relations between VRS (articulation rate), perceptual encoding speed (digit and color naming), and the outcomes in each sample. Results CI users displayed slower verbal processing speeds than NH controls. Verbal rehearsal speed was related to 2 EF domains in the NH sample but was unrelated to EF outcomes in CI users. Perceptual encoding speed was related to all EF domains in both groups. Conclusions Verbal rehearsal speed may be less influential for EF quality in CI users than for NH controls, whereas rapid automatized labeling skills and EF are closely related in both groups. CI users may develop processing strategies in EF tasks that differ from the covert speech strategies routinely employed by NH individuals. PMID:25320961

Inflectional morphology in high-functioning autism: Evidence for speeded grammatical processing

PubMed Central

Walenski, Matthew; Mostofsky, Stewart H.; Ullman, Michael T.

2014-01-01

Autism is characterized by language and communication deficits. We investigated grammatical and lexical processes in high-functioning autism by contrasting the production of regular and irregular past-tense forms. Boys with autism and typically-developing control boys did not differ in accuracy or error rates. However, boys with autism were significantly faster than controls at producing rule-governed past-tenses (slip-slipped, plim-plimmed, bring-bringed), though not lexically-dependent past-tenses (bring-brought, squeeze-squeezed, splim-splam). This pattern mirrors previous findings from Tourette syndrome attributed to abnormalities of frontal/basal-ganglia circuits that underlie grammar. We suggest a similar abnormality underlying language in autism. Importantly, even when children with autism show apparently normal language (e.g., in accuracy or with diagnostic instruments), processes and/or brain structures subserving language may be atypical in the disorder. PMID:25342962

Examining the locus of age effects on complex span tasks.

PubMed

McCabe, Jennifer; Hartman, Marilyn

2003-09-01

To investigate the locus of age effects on complex span tasks, the authors evaluated the contributions of working memory functions and processing speed. Age differences were found in measures of storage capacity, language processing speed, and lower level speed. Statistically controlling for each of these in hierarchical regressions substantially reduced, but did not eliminate, the complex span age effect. Accounting for lower level speed and storage, however, removed essentially the entire age effect, suggesting that both functions play important and independent roles. Additional evidence for the role of storage capacity was the absence of complex span age differences with span size calibrated to individual word span performance. Explanations for age differences based on inhibition and concurrent task performamce were not supported.

Language extinction and linguistic fronts

PubMed Central

Isern, Neus; Fort, Joaquim

2014-01-01

Language diversity has become greatly endangered in the past centuries owing to processes of language shift from indigenous languages to other languages that are seen as socially and economically more advantageous, resulting in the death or doom of minority languages. In this paper, we define a new language competition model that can describe the historical decline of minority languages in competition with more advantageous languages. We then implement this non-spatial model as an interaction term in a reaction–diffusion system to model the evolution of the two competing languages. We use the results to estimate the speed at which the more advantageous language spreads geographically, resulting in the shrinkage of the area of dominance of the minority language. We compare the results from our model with the observed retreat in the area of influence of the Welsh language in the UK, obtaining a good agreement between the model and the observed data. PMID:24598207

High-speed assembly language (80386/80387) programming for laser spectra scan control and data acquisition providing improved resolution water vapor spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Allen, Robert J.

1988-01-01

An assembly language program using the Intel 80386 CPU and 80387 math co-processor chips was written to increase the speed of data gathering and processing, and provide control of a scanning CW ring dye laser system. This laser system is used in high resolution (better than 0.001 cm-1) water vapor spectroscopy experiments. Laser beam power is sensed at the input and output of white cells and the output of a Fabry-Perot. The assembly language subroutine is called from Basic, acquires the data and performs various calculations at rates greater than 150 faster than could be performed by the higher level language. The width of output control pulses generated in assembly language are 3 to 4 microsecs as compared to 2 to 3.7 millisecs for those generated in Basic (about 500 to 1000 times faster). Included are a block diagram and brief description of the spectroscopy experiment, a flow diagram of the Basic and assembly language programs, listing of the programs, scope photographs of the computer generated 5-volt pulses used for control and timing analysis, and representative water spectrum curves obtained using these programs.

Information processing speed as a predictor of IQ in children with and without specific language impairment in grades 3 and 8.

PubMed

Park, Jisook; Mainela-Arnold, Elina; Miller, Carol A

2015-01-01

This study investigated (1) whether nonlinguistic processing speed predicts nonverbal IQ in TD children and children with SLI and (2) if the proposed relationship is different at two time points. The participants consisted of a subset of a longitudinal dataset, 55 typically developing children and 55 children with SLI. Children completed four nonverbal speed tasks and four subtests of the WISC-III. The WISC-III subtests requiring timed and untimed responses were examined separately. Linear mixed model analyses indicated that in both groups, processing speed predicted nonverbal IQ subtests that reward speedy responses, but not IQ subtests that do not. The relationships between processing speed and IQ with speed bonuses did not differ at grades 3 and 8, and these relationships also were not significantly different in children with SLI and their TD peers. The results suggest that the presence of processing speed limitations in many children with SLI raises questions about the utility of timed nonverbal IQ measures as tools for diagnosis of SLI. Future studies should investigate other cognitive assessments that could be used as inclusionary criteria for SLI. The reader will be able to (1) describe the relationship between processing speed and nonverbal IQ in children with TD and SLI and (2) discuss problems using an IQ criterion to diagnose children as having SLI. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Processing of Regular and Irregular Past-Tense Verb Forms in First and Second Language Reading Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Zeeuw, Marlies; Schreuder, Rob; Verhoeven, Ludo

2013-01-01

We investigated written word identification of regular and irregular past-tense verb forms by first (L1) and second language (L2) learners of Dutch in third and sixth grade. Using a lexical decision task, we measured speed and accuracy in the identification of regular and irregular past-tense verb forms by children from Turkish-speaking homes (L2…

Does Extensive Reading Promote Reading Speed?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

He, Mu

2014-01-01

Research has shown a wide range of learning benefits accruing from extensive reading. Not only is there improvement in reading, but also in a wide range of language uses and areas of language knowledge. However, few research studies have examined reading speed. The existing literature on reading speed focused on students' reading speed without…

Infant discrimination of rapid auditory cues predicts later language impairment.

PubMed

Benasich, April A; Tallal, Paula

2002-10-17

The etiology and mechanisms of specific language impairment (SLI) in children are unknown. Differences in basic auditory processing abilities have been suggested to underlie their language deficits. Studies suggest that the neuropathology, such as atypical patterns of cerebral lateralization and cortical cellular anomalies, implicated in such impairments likely occur early in life. Such anomalies may play a part in the rapid processing deficits seen in this disorder. However, prospective, longitudinal studies in infant populations that are critical to examining these hypotheses have not been done. In the study described, performance on brief, rapidly-presented, successive auditory processing and perceptual-cognitive tasks were assessed in two groups of infants: normal control infants with no family history of language disorders and infants from families with a positive family history for language impairment. Initial assessments were obtained when infants were 6-9 months of age (M=7.5 months) and the sample was then followed through age 36 months. At the first visit, infants' processing of rapid auditory cues as well as global processing speed and memory were assessed. Significant differences in mean thresholds were seen in infants born into families with a history of SLI as compared with controls. Examination of relations between infant processing abilities and emerging language through 24 months-of-age revealed that threshold for rapid auditory processing at 7.5 months was the single best predictor of language outcome. At age 3, rapid auditory processing threshold and being male, together predicted 39-41% of the variance in language outcome. Thus, early deficits in rapid auditory processing abilities both precede and predict subsequent language delays. These findings support an essential role for basic nonlinguistic, central auditory processes, particularly rapid spectrotemporal processing, in early language development. Further, these findings provide a temporal diagnostic window during which future language impairments may be addressed.

The Contributions of Domain-General and Numerical Factors to Third-Grade Arithmetic Skills and Mathematical Learning Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowan, Richard; Powell, Daisy

2014-01-01

Explanations of the marked individual differences in elementary school mathematical achievement and mathematical learning disability (MLD or dyscalculia) have involved domain-general factors (working memory, reasoning, processing speed, and oral language) and numerical factors that include single-digit processing efficiency and multidigit skills…

Word Recognition Processing Efficiency as a Component of Second Language Listening

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Joyce, Paul

2013-01-01

This study investigated the application of the speeded lexical decision task to L2 aural processing efficiency. One-hundred and twenty Japanese university students completed an aural word/nonword task. When the variation of lexical decision time (CV) was correlated with reaction time (RT), the results suggested that the single-word recognition…

Reading and Visual Processing in Greek Dyslexic Children: An Eye-Movement Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hatzidaki, Anna; Gianneli, Maria; Petrakis, Eftichis; Makaronas, Nikolaos; Aslanides, Ioannis M.

2011-01-01

We examined the impact of the effects of dyslexia on various processing and cognitive components (e.g., reading speed and accuracy) in a language with high phonological and orthographic consistency. Greek dyslexic children were compared with a chronological age-matched group on tasks that tested participants' phonological and orthographic…

Race and Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hoyles, Asher; Hoyles, Martin

2010-01-01

This article begins with a definition of dyslexia as genetic, involving language processing and phonological awareness. It goes beyond reading and writing difficulties to include, for example, sequencing, orientation, short-term memory, speed, circumlocution, organisational skills, visual thinking, self-esteem and anger. Dyslexia, though…

Gaining control: changing relations between executive control and processing speed and their relevance for mathematics achievement over course of the preschool period

PubMed Central

Clark, Caron A. C.; Nelson, Jennifer Mize; Garza, John; Sheffield, Tiffany D.; Wiebe, Sandra A.; Espy, Kimberly Andrews

2014-01-01

Early executive control (EC) predicts a range of academic outcomes and shows particularly strong associations with children's mathematics achievement. Nonetheless, a major challenge for EC research lies in distinguishing EC from related cognitive constructs that also are linked to achievement outcomes. Developmental cascade models suggest that children's information processing speed is a driving mechanism in cognitive development that supports gains in working memory, inhibitory control and associated cognitive abilities. Accordingly, individual differences in early executive task performance and their relation to mathematics may reflect, at least in part, underlying variation in children's processing speed. The aims of this study were to: (1) examine the degree of overlap between EC and processing speed at different preschool age points; and (2) determine whether EC uniquely predicts children's mathematics achievement after accounting for individual differences in processing speed. As part of a longitudinal, cohort-sequential study, 388 children (50% boys; 44% from low income households) completed the same battery of EC tasks at ages 3, 3.75, 4.5, and 5.25 years. Several of the tasks incorporated baseline speeded naming conditions with minimal EC demands. Multidimensional latent models were used to isolate the variance in executive task performance that did not overlap with baseline processing speed, covarying for child language proficiency. Models for separate age points showed that, while EC did not form a coherent latent factor independent of processing speed at age 3 years, it did emerge as a distinct factor by age 5.25. Although EC at age 3 showed no distinct relation with mathematics achievement independent of processing speed, EC at ages 3.75, 4.5, and 5.25 showed independent, prospective links with mathematics achievement. Findings suggest that EC and processing speed are tightly intertwined in early childhood. As EC becomes progressively decoupled from processing speed with age, it begins to take on unique, discriminative importance for children's mathematics achievement. PMID:24596563

Incorporating advanced language models into the P300 speller using particle filtering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Speier, W.; Arnold, C. W.; Deshpande, A.; Knall, J.; Pouratian, N.

2015-08-01

Objective. The P300 speller is a common brain-computer interface (BCI) application designed to communicate language by detecting event related potentials in a subject’s electroencephalogram signal. Information about the structure of natural language can be valuable for BCI communication, but attempts to use this information have thus far been limited to rudimentary n-gram models. While more sophisticated language models are prevalent in natural language processing literature, current BCI analysis methods based on dynamic programming cannot handle their complexity. Approach. Sampling methods can overcome this complexity by estimating the posterior distribution without searching the entire state space of the model. In this study, we implement sequential importance resampling, a commonly used particle filtering (PF) algorithm, to integrate a probabilistic automaton language model. Main result. This method was first evaluated offline on a dataset of 15 healthy subjects, which showed significant increases in speed and accuracy when compared to standard classification methods as well as a recently published approach using a hidden Markov model (HMM). An online pilot study verified these results as the average speed and accuracy achieved using the PF method was significantly higher than that using the HMM method. Significance. These findings strongly support the integration of domain-specific knowledge into BCI classification to improve system performance.

Subjective cognitive complaints and neuropsychological performance in former smokers with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

PubMed

Brunette, Amanda M; Holm, Kristen E; Wamboldt, Frederick S; Kozora, Elizabeth; Moser, David J; Make, Barry J; Crapo, James D; Meschede, Kimberly; Weinberger, Howard D; Moreau, Kerrie L; Bowler, Russell P; Hoth, Karin F

2018-05-01

This study examined the association of perceived cognitive difficulties with objective cognitive performance in former smokers. We hypothesized that greater perceived cognitive difficulties would be associated with poorer performance on objective executive and memory tasks. Participants were 95 former smokers recruited from the COPDGene study. They completed questionnaires (including the Cognitive Difficulties Scale [CDS] and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), neuropsychological assessment, and pulmonary function testing. Pearson correlations and t-tests were conducted to examine the bivariate association of the CDS (total score and subscales for attention/concentration, praxis, delayed recall, orientation for persons, temporal orientation, and prospective memory) with each domain of objective cognitive functioning (memory recall, executive functioning/processing speed, visuospatial processing, and language). Simultaneous multiple linear regression was used to further examine all statistically significant bivariate associations. The following covariates were included in all regression models: age, sex, pack-years, premorbid functioning (WRAT-IV Reading), HADS total score, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) status (yes/no based on GOLD criteria). In regression models, greater perceived cognitive difficulties overall (using CDS total score) were associated with poorer performance on executive functioning/processing speed tasks (b = -0.07, SE = 0.03, p = .037). Greater perceived cognitive difficulties on the CDS praxis subscale were associated with poorer performance on executive functioning/processing speed tasks (b = -3.65, SE = 1.25, p = .005), memory recall tasks (b = -4.60, SE = 1.75, p = .010), and language tasks (b = -3.89, SE = 1.39, p = .006). Clinicians should be aware that cognitive complaints may be indicative of problems with the executive functioning/processing speed and memory of former smokers with and without COPD.

Nouns slow down speech across structurally and culturally diverse languages

PubMed Central

Danielsen, Swintha; Hartmann, Iren; Pakendorf, Brigitte; Witzlack-Makarevich, Alena; de Jong, Nivja H.

2018-01-01

By force of nature, every bit of spoken language is produced at a particular speed. However, this speed is not constant—speakers regularly speed up and slow down. Variation in speech rate is influenced by a complex combination of factors, including the frequency and predictability of words, their information status, and their position within an utterance. Here, we use speech rate as an index of word-planning effort and focus on the time window during which speakers prepare the production of words from the two major lexical classes, nouns and verbs. We show that, when naturalistic speech is sampled from languages all over the world, there is a robust cross-linguistic tendency for slower speech before nouns compared with verbs, both in terms of slower articulation and more pauses. We attribute this slowdown effect to the increased amount of planning that nouns require compared with verbs. Unlike verbs, nouns can typically only be used when they represent new or unexpected information; otherwise, they have to be replaced by pronouns or be omitted. These conditions on noun use appear to outweigh potential advantages stemming from differences in internal complexity between nouns and verbs. Our findings suggest that, beneath the staggering diversity of grammatical structures and cultural settings, there are robust universals of language processing that are intimately tied to how speakers manage referential information when they communicate with one another. PMID:29760059

Caregiver talk to young Spanish-English bilinguals: Comparing direct observation and parent-report measures of dual-language exposure

PubMed Central

Marchman, Virginia A.; Martínez, Lucía Z.; Hurtado, Nereyda; Grüter, Theres; Fernald, Anne

2016-01-01

In research on language development by bilingual children, the early language environment is commonly characterized in terms of the relative amount of exposure a child gets to each language based on parent report. Little is known about how absolute measures of child-directed speech in two languages relate to language growth. In this study of 3-year-old Spanish-English bilinguals (n = 18), traditional parent-report estimates of exposure were compared to measures of the number of Spanish and English words children heard during naturalistic audio recordings. While the two estimates were moderately correlated, observed numbers of child-directed words were more consistently predictive of children's processing speed and standardized test performance, even when controlling for reported proportion of exposure. These findings highlight the importance of caregiver engagement in bilingual children's language outcomes in both of the languages they are learning. PMID:27197746

Effects of Early Bilingual Experience with a Tone and a Non-Tone Language on Speech-Music Integration

PubMed Central

Asaridou, Salomi S.; Hagoort, Peter; McQueen, James M.

2015-01-01

We investigated music and language processing in a group of early bilinguals who spoke a tone language and a non-tone language (Cantonese and Dutch). We assessed online speech-music processing interactions, that is, interactions that occur when speech and music are processed simultaneously in songs, with a speeded classification task. In this task, participants judged sung pseudowords either musically (based on the direction of the musical interval) or phonologically (based on the identity of the sung vowel). We also assessed longer-term effects of linguistic experience on musical ability, that is, the influence of extensive prior experience with language when processing music. These effects were assessed with a task in which participants had to learn to identify musical intervals and with four pitch-perception tasks. Our hypothesis was that due to their experience in two different languages using lexical versus intonational tone, the early Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals would outperform the Dutch control participants. In online processing, the Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals processed speech and music more holistically than controls. This effect seems to be driven by experience with a tone language, in which integration of segmental and pitch information is fundamental. Regarding longer-term effects of linguistic experience, we found no evidence for a bilingual advantage in either the music-interval learning task or the pitch-perception tasks. Together, these results suggest that being a Cantonese-Dutch bilingual does not have any measurable longer-term effects on pitch and music processing, but does have consequences for how speech and music are processed jointly. PMID:26659377

Effects of Early Bilingual Experience with a Tone and a Non-Tone Language on Speech-Music Integration.

PubMed

Asaridou, Salomi S; Hagoort, Peter; McQueen, James M

2015-01-01

We investigated music and language processing in a group of early bilinguals who spoke a tone language and a non-tone language (Cantonese and Dutch). We assessed online speech-music processing interactions, that is, interactions that occur when speech and music are processed simultaneously in songs, with a speeded classification task. In this task, participants judged sung pseudowords either musically (based on the direction of the musical interval) or phonologically (based on the identity of the sung vowel). We also assessed longer-term effects of linguistic experience on musical ability, that is, the influence of extensive prior experience with language when processing music. These effects were assessed with a task in which participants had to learn to identify musical intervals and with four pitch-perception tasks. Our hypothesis was that due to their experience in two different languages using lexical versus intonational tone, the early Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals would outperform the Dutch control participants. In online processing, the Cantonese-Dutch bilinguals processed speech and music more holistically than controls. This effect seems to be driven by experience with a tone language, in which integration of segmental and pitch information is fundamental. Regarding longer-term effects of linguistic experience, we found no evidence for a bilingual advantage in either the music-interval learning task or the pitch-perception tasks. Together, these results suggest that being a Cantonese-Dutch bilingual does not have any measurable longer-term effects on pitch and music processing, but does have consequences for how speech and music are processed jointly.

Can rational models be good accounts of developmental change? The case of language development at two time scales.

PubMed

Dawson, Colin R; Gerken, LouAnn

2012-01-01

Rational models of human perception and cognition have allowed researchers new ways to look at learning and the ability to make inferences from data. But how good are such models at accounting for developmental change? In this chapter, we address this question in the domain of language development, focusing on the speed with which developmental change takes place, and classifying different types of language development as either fast or slow. From the pattern of fast and slow development observed, we hypothesize that rational learning processes are generally well suited for handling fast processes over small amounts of input data. In contrast, we suggest that associative learning processes are generally better suited to slow development, in which learners accumulate information about what is typical of their language over time. Finally, although one system may be dominant for a particular component of language learning, we speculate that both systems frequently interact, with the associative system providing a source of emergent hypotheses to be evaluated by the rational system and the rational system serving to highlight which aspects of the learner's input need to be processed in greater depth by the associative system.

Specification and Design Methodologies for High-Speed Fault-Tolerant Array Algorithms and Structures for VLSI.

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

evaluation and chip layout planning for VLSI digital systems. A high-level applicative (functional) language, implemented at UCLA, allows combining of...operating system. 2.1 Introduction The complexity of VLSI requires the application of CAD tools at all levels of the design process. In order to be...effective, these tools must be adaptive to the specific design. In this project we studied a design method based on the use of applicative languages

Sleep disturbances and cognitive decline in the Northern Manhattan Study

PubMed Central

Ramos, Alberto R.; Gardener, Hannah; Rundek, Tatjana; Elkind, Mitchell S.V.; Boden-Albala, Bernadette; Dong, Chuanhui; Cheung, Ying Kuen; Stern, Yaakov; Sacco, Ralph L.

2016-01-01

Objective: To examine frequent snoring, sleepiness, and sleep duration with baseline and longitudinal performance on neuropsychological (NP) battery. Methods: The analysis consists of 711 participants of the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) with sleep data and NP assessment (age 63 ± 8 years, 62% women, 18% white, 17% black, 67% Hispanic) and 687 with repeat NP testing (at a mean of 6 ± 2 years). The main exposures were snoring, sleepiness, and sleep duration obtained during annual follow-up. Using factor analysis–derived domain-specific Z scores for episodic memory, language, executive function, and processing speed, we constructed multivariable regression models to evaluate sleep symptoms with baseline NP performance and change in performance in each NP domain. Results: In the cross-sectional analysis, adjusting for demographics and the NOMAS vascular risk score, participants with frequent snoring had worse executive function (β = −12; p = 0.04) and processing speed (β = −13; p = 0.02), but no difference in with episodic memory or language. Those with severe daytime sleepiness (β = −26; p = 0.009) had worse executive function, but no changes in the other NP domains. There was no cross-sectional association between sleep duration and NP performance. Frequent snoring (β = −29; p = 0.0007), severe daytime sleepiness (β = −29; p = 0.05), and long sleep duration (β = −29; p = 0.04) predicted decline in executive function, adjusting for demographic characteristics and NOMAS vascular risk score. Sleep symptoms did not explain change in episodic memory, language, or processing speed. Conclusions: In this race-ethnically diverse community-based cohort, sleep symptoms led to worse cognitive performance and predicted decline in executive function. PMID:27590286

Real-Time, General-Purpose, High-Speed Signal Processing Systems for Underwater Research. Proceedings of a Working Level Conference held at Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic Anti-Submarine Warfare Research Center (SACLANTCEN) on 18-21 September 1979. Part 2. Sessions IV to VI.

DTIC Science & Technology

1979-12-01

ACTIVATED, SYSTEM OPERATION AND TESTING MASCOT PROVIDES: 1. SYSTEM BUILD SOFTWARE COMPILE-TIME CHECKS,a. 2. RUN-TIME SUPERVISOR KERNEL, 3, MONITOR AND...p AD-AOBI 851 SACLANT ASW RESEARCH CENTRE LA SPEZIA 11ITALY) F/B 1711 REAL-TIME, GENERAL-PURPOSE, HIGH-SPEED SIGNAL PROCESSING SYSTEM -- ETC (U) DEC 79...Table of Contents Table of Contents (Cont’d) Page Signal processing language and operating system (w) 23-1 to 23-12 by S. Weinstein A modular signal

The science of computing - Parallel computation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Denning, P. J.

1985-01-01

Although parallel computation architectures have been known for computers since the 1920s, it was only in the 1970s that microelectronic components technologies advanced to the point where it became feasible to incorporate multiple processors in one machine. Concommitantly, the development of algorithms for parallel processing also lagged due to hardware limitations. The speed of computing with solid-state chips is limited by gate switching delays. The physical limit implies that a 1 Gflop operational speed is the maximum for sequential processors. A computer recently introduced features a 'hypercube' architecture with 128 processors connected in networks at 5, 6 or 7 points per grid, depending on the design choice. Its computing speed rivals that of supercomputers, but at a fraction of the cost. The added speed with less hardware is due to parallel processing, which utilizes algorithms representing different parts of an equation that can be broken into simpler statements and processed simultaneously. Present, highly developed computer languages like FORTRAN, PASCAL, COBOL, etc., rely on sequential instructions. Thus, increased emphasis will now be directed at parallel processing algorithms to exploit the new architectures.

Dual-Dimension Naming Speed and Language-Dominance Ratings by Bilingual Hispanic Adults

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Langdon, Henriette W.; Wiig, Elisabeth H.; Nielsen, Niels Peter

2005-01-01

This study compared the efficacy of measures of naming speed, verbal fluency and self-ratings for establishing language dominance in 25 bilingual English-Spanish adults with college degrees. Naming speed was measured by total naming times (in seconds) for five "Alzheimer's Quick Test" tasks (Wiig, Nielsen, Minthon & Warkentin, 2002)…

Resolving Number Ambiguities during Language Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bader, Markus; Haussler, Jana

2009-01-01

This paper investigates how readers process number ambiguous noun phrases in subject position. A speeded-grammaticality judgment experiment and two self-paced reading experiments were conducted involving number ambiguous subjects in German verb-end clauses. Number preferences for individual nouns were estimated by means of two questionnaire…

Comparisons of IQ in Children With and Without Cochlear Implants: Longitudinal Findings and Associations With Language.

PubMed

Cejas, Ivette; Mitchell, Christine M; Hoffman, Michael; Quittner, Alexandra L

2018-04-05

To make longitudinal comparisons of intelligence quotient (IQ) in children with cochlear implants (CIs) and typical hearing peers from early in development to the school-age period. Children with additional comorbidities and CIs were also evaluated. To estimate the impact of socioeconomic status and oral language on school-age cognitive performance. This longitudinal study evaluated nonverbal IQ in a multicenter, national sample of 147 children with CIs and 75 typically hearing peers. IQ was evaluated at baseline, prior to cochlear implantation, using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development and the Leiter International Performance Scale. School-age IQ was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children. For the current study, only the Perceptual Reasoning and Processing Speed indices were administered. Oral language was evaluated using the Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language. Children in the CI group scored within the normal range of intelligence at both time points. However, children with additional comorbidities scored significantly worse on the Processing Speed, but not the Perceptual Reasoning Index. Maternal education and language were significantly related to school-age IQ in both groups. Importantly, language was the strongest predictor of intellectual functioning in both children with CIs and normal hearing. These results suggest that children using cochlear implants perform similarly to hearing peers on measures of intelligence, but those with severe comorbidities are at-risk for cognitive deficits. Despite the strong link between socioeconomic status and intelligence, this association was no longer significant once spoken language performance was accounted for. These results reveal the important contributions that early intervention programs, which emphasize language and parent training, contribute to cognitive functioning in school-age children with CIs. For families from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, who are at-risk for suboptimal outcomes, these early intervention programs are critical to improve overall functioning.

Modeling the relationship between rapid automatized naming and literacy skills across languages varying in orthographic consistency.

PubMed

Georgiou, George K; Aro, Mikko; Liao, Chen-Huei; Parrila, Rauno

2016-03-01

The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to contrast the prominent theoretical explanations of the rapid automatized naming (RAN)-reading relationship across languages varying in orthographic consistency (Chinese, English, and Finnish) and (b) to examine whether the same accounts can explain the RAN-spelling relationship. In total, 304 Grade 4 children (102 Chinese-speaking Taiwanese children, 117 English-speaking Canadian children, and 85 Finnish-speaking children) were assessed on measures of RAN, speed of processing, phonological processing, orthographic processing, reading fluency, and spelling. The results of path analysis indicated that RAN had a strong direct effect on reading fluency that was of the same size across languages and that only in English was a small proportion of its predictive variance mediated by orthographic processing. In contrast, RAN did not exert a significant direct effect on spelling, and a substantial proportion of its predictive variance was mediated by phonological processing (in Chinese and Finnish) and orthographic processing (in English). Given that RAN predicted reading fluency equally well across languages and that phonological/orthographic processing had very little to do with this relationship, we argue that the reason why RAN is related to reading fluency should be sought in domain-general factors such as serial processing and articulation. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A comparative study of programming languages for next-generation astrodynamics systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eichhorn, Helge; Cano, Juan Luis; McLean, Frazer; Anderl, Reiner

2018-03-01

Due to the computationally intensive nature of astrodynamics tasks, astrodynamicists have relied on compiled programming languages such as Fortran for the development of astrodynamics software. Interpreted languages such as Python, on the other hand, offer higher flexibility and development speed thereby increasing the productivity of the programmer. While interpreted languages are generally slower than compiled languages, recent developments such as just-in-time (JIT) compilers or transpilers have been able to close this speed gap significantly. Another important factor for the usefulness of a programming language is its wider ecosystem which consists of the available open-source packages and development tools such as integrated development environments or debuggers. This study compares three compiled languages and three interpreted languages, which were selected based on their popularity within the scientific programming community and technical merit. The three compiled candidate languages are Fortran, C++, and Java. Python, Matlab, and Julia were selected as the interpreted candidate languages. All six languages are assessed and compared to each other based on their features, performance, and ease-of-use through the implementation of idiomatic solutions to classical astrodynamics problems. We show that compiled languages still provide the best performance for astrodynamics applications, but JIT-compiled dynamic languages have reached a competitive level of speed and offer an attractive compromise between numerical performance and programmer productivity.

Measuring Second Language Vocabulary Knowledge Using a Temporal Method

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tanabe, Masayuki

2016-01-01

The present study addressed the role of speed as a factor in tests of second language (L2) vocabulary knowledge, presupposing that speed of performance is important in actual language use. Research questions were: (a) Do learners with a larger vocabulary size answer faster on an L2 vocabulary breadth test than smaller vocabulary sized learners?;…

Oral and Hand Movement Speeds Are Associated with Expressive Language Ability in Children with Speech Sound Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peter, Beate

2012-01-01

This study tested the hypothesis that children with speech sound disorder have generalized slowed motor speeds. It evaluated associations among oral and hand motor speeds and measures of speech (articulation and phonology) and language (receptive vocabulary, sentence comprehension, sentence imitation), in 11 children with moderate to severe SSD…

Why Does Rapid Naming Predict Chinese Word Reading?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shum, Kathy Kar-man; Au, Terry Kit-fong

2017-01-01

Rapid automatized naming (RAN) robustly predicts early reading abilities across languages, but its underlying mechanism remains unclear. This study found that RAN associated significantly with processing speed but not with phonological awareness or orthographic knowledge in 89 Hong Kong Chinese second-graders. RAN overlaps more with processing…

Discriminating languages in bilingual contexts: the impact of orthographic markedness

PubMed Central

Casaponsa, Aina; Carreiras, Manuel; Duñabeitia, Jon A.

2014-01-01

Does language-specific orthography help language detection and lexical access in naturalistic bilingual contexts? This study investigates how L2 orthotactic properties influence bilingual language detection in bilingual societies and the extent to which it modulates lexical access and single word processing. Language specificity of naturalistically learnt L2 words was manipulated by including bigram combinations that could be either L2 language-specific or common in the two languages known by bilinguals. A group of balanced bilinguals and a group of highly proficient but unbalanced bilinguals who grew up in a bilingual society were tested, together with a group of monolinguals (for control purposes). All the participants completed a speeded language detection task and a progressive demasking task. Results showed that the use of the information of orthotactic rules across languages depends on the task demands at hand, and on participants' proficiency in the second language. The influence of language orthotactic rules during language detection, lexical access and word identification are discussed according to the most prominent models of bilingual word recognition. PMID:24860536

Growth in literacy, cognition, and working memory in English language learners.

PubMed

Lee Swanson, H; Orosco, Michael J; Lussier, Catherine M

2015-04-01

This cohort sequential study explored the components of working memory that underlie English reading and language acquisition in elementary school children whose first language is Spanish. To this end, children (N=410) in Grades 1, 2, and 3 at Wave 1 were administered a battery of cognitive (short-term memory [STM], working memory [WM], rapid naming, phonological processing, and random letter and number generation), vocabulary, and reading measures in both Spanish and English. These same measures were administered 1 and 2 years later. The results showed that (a) a three-factor structure (phonological STM, visual-spatial WM, and verbal WM) captured the data within both language systems, (b) growth in both the executive and STM storage components was uniquely related to growth in second language (L2) reading and language acquisition, and (c) the contribution of growth in the executive component of WM to growth in L2 processing was independent of growth in storage, phonological knowledge, inhibition, and rapid naming speed. The results suggested that growth in the phonological storage system does not supersede growth of the executive component of WM as a major contributor to growth in children's L2 reading and language. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Oral and Hand Movement Speeds are Associated with Expressive Language Ability in Children with Speech Sound Disorder

PubMed Central

Peter, Beate

2013-01-01

This study tested the hypothesis that children with speech sound disorder have generalized slowed motor speeds. It evaluated associations among oral and hand motor speeds and measures of speech (articulation and phonology) and language (receptive vocabulary, sentence comprehension, sentence imitation), in 11 children with moderate to severe SSD and 11 controls. Syllable durations from a syllable repetition task served as an estimate of maximal oral movement speed. In two imitation tasks, nonwords and clapped rhythms, unstressed vowel durations and quarter-note clap intervals served as estimates of oral and hand movement speed, respectively. Syllable durations were significantly correlated with vowel durations and hand clap intervals. Sentence imitation was correlated with all three timed movement measures. Clustering on syllable repetition durations produced three clusters that also differed in sentence imitation scores. Results are consistent with limited movement speeds across motor systems and SSD subtypes defined by motor speeds as a corollary of expressive language abilities. PMID:22411590

Oral and hand movement speeds are associated with expressive language ability in children with speech sound disorder.

PubMed

Peter, Beate

2012-12-01

This study tested the hypothesis that children with speech sound disorder have generalized slowed motor speeds. It evaluated associations among oral and hand motor speeds and measures of speech (articulation and phonology) and language (receptive vocabulary, sentence comprehension, sentence imitation), in 11 children with moderate to severe SSD and 11 controls. Syllable durations from a syllable repetition task served as an estimate of maximal oral movement speed. In two imitation tasks, nonwords and clapped rhythms, unstressed vowel durations and quarter-note clap intervals served as estimates of oral and hand movement speed, respectively. Syllable durations were significantly correlated with vowel durations and hand clap intervals. Sentence imitation was correlated with all three timed movement measures. Clustering on syllable repetition durations produced three clusters that also differed in sentence imitation scores. Results are consistent with limited movement speeds across motor systems and SSD subtypes defined by motor speeds as a corollary of expressive language abilities.

Infant Attention and Early Childhood Executive Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuevas, Kimberly; Bell, Martha Ann

2014-01-01

Individual differences in infant attention are theorized to reflect the speed of information processing and are related to later cognitive abilities (i.e., memory, language, and intelligence). This study provides the first systematic longitudinal analysis of infant attention and early childhood executive function (EF; e.g., working memory,…

Vocabulary Knowledge Predicts Lexical Processing: Evidence from a Group of Participants with Diverse Educational Backgrounds

PubMed Central

Mainz, Nina; Shao, Zeshu; Brysbaert, Marc; Meyer, Antje S.

2017-01-01

Vocabulary knowledge is central to a speaker's command of their language. In previous research, greater vocabulary knowledge has been associated with advantages in language processing. In this study, we examined the relationship between individual differences in vocabulary and language processing performance more closely by (i) using a battery of vocabulary tests instead of just one test, and (ii) testing not only university students (Experiment 1) but young adults from a broader range of educational backgrounds (Experiment 2). Five vocabulary tests were developed, including multiple-choice and open antonym and synonym tests and a definition test, and administered together with two established measures of vocabulary. Language processing performance was measured using a lexical decision task. In Experiment 1, vocabulary and word frequency were found to predict word recognition speed while we did not observe an interaction between the effects. In Experiment 2, word recognition performance was predicted by word frequency and the interaction between word frequency and vocabulary, with high-vocabulary individuals showing smaller frequency effects. While overall the individual vocabulary tests were correlated and showed similar relationships with language processing as compared to a composite measure of all tests, they appeared to share less variance in Experiment 2 than in Experiment 1. Implications of our findings concerning the assessment of vocabulary size in individual differences studies and the investigation of individuals from more varied backgrounds are discussed. PMID:28751871

Language processing and executive functions in early treated adults with phenylketonuria (PKU).

PubMed

De Felice, Sara; Romani, Cristina; Geberhiwot, Tarekegn; MacDonald, Anita; Palermo, Liana

We provide an in-depth analysis of language functions in early-treated adults with phenylketonuria (AwPKUs, N = 15-33), as compared to age- and education-matched controls (N = 24-32; N varying across tasks), through: a. narrative production (the Cinderella story), b. language pragmatics comprehension (humour, metaphors, inferred meaning), c. prosody discrimination d. lexical inhibitory control and planning (Blocked Cyclic Naming; Hayling Sentence Completion Test, Burgess & Shallice, 1997). AwPKUs exhibited intact basic language processing (lexical retrieval, phonology/articulation, sentence construction). Instead, deficits emerged in planning and reasoning abilities. Compared to controls, AwPKUs were: less informative in narrative production (lower rate of Correct Information Units); slower in metaphorical understanding and inferred meaning; less accurate in focused lexical-search (Hayling test). These results suggest that i) executive deficits in PKU cannot be explained by an accumulation of lower-order deficits and/or general speed impairments, ii) executive functions engage dedicated neurophysiological resources, rather than simply being an emergent property of lower-level systems.

Behavioural relevance of atypical language lateralization in healthy subjects.

PubMed

Knecht, S; Dräger, B; Flöel, A; Lohmann, H; Breitenstein, C; Deppe, M; Henningsen, H; Ringelstein, E B

2001-08-01

In most humans, language is lateralized to the left side of the brain. It has been speculated that this hemispheric specialization is a prerequisite for the full realization of linguistic potential. Using standardized questionnaires and performance measures, we attempted to determine if there are behavioural correlates of atypical, i.e. right-hemispheric and bilateral, language lateralization. The side and degree of language lateralization were determined by measuring the hemispheric perfusion differences by functional transcranial Doppler ultrasonography during a word generation task in healthy volunteers. Subjects with left (n = 264), bilateral (n = 31) or right (n = 31) hemisphere language representation did not differ significantly with respect to mastery of foreign languages, academic achievement, artistic talents, verbal fluency or (as assessed in a representative subgroup) in intelligence or speed of linguistic processing. These findings suggest that atypical hemispheric specialization for language, i.e. right-hemisphere or bilateral specialization, is not associated with major impairments of linguistic faculties in otherwise healthy subjects.

Primary motor cortex functionally contributes to language comprehension: An online rTMS study.

PubMed

Vukovic, Nikola; Feurra, Matteo; Shpektor, Anna; Myachykov, Andriy; Shtyrov, Yury

2017-02-01

Among various questions pertinent to grounding human cognitive functions in a neurobiological substrate, the association between language and motor brain structures is a particularly debated one in neuroscience and psychology. While many studies support a broadly distributed model of language and semantics grounded, among other things, in the general modality-specific systems, theories disagree as to whether motor and sensory cortex activity observed during language processing is functional or epiphenomenal. Here, we assessed the role of motor areas in linguistic processing by investigating the responses of 28 healthy volunteers to different word types in semantic and lexical decision tasks, following repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of primary motor cortex. We found that early rTMS (delivered within 200ms of word onset) produces a left-lateralised and meaning-specific change in reaction speed, slowing down behavioural responses to action-related words, and facilitating abstract words - an effect present only during semantic, but not lexical, decision. We interpret these data in light of action-perception theory of language, bolstering the claim that motor cortical areas play a functional role in language comprehension. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neuropsychological impairments on the NEPSY-II among children with FASD.

PubMed

Rasmussen, Carmen; Tamana, Sukhpreet; Baugh, Lauren; Andrew, Gail; Tough, Suzanne; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie

2013-01-01

We examined the pattern of neuropsychological impairments of children with FASD (compared to controls) on NEPSY-II measures of attention and executive functioning, language, memory, visuospatial processing, and social perception. Participants included 32 children with FASD and 30 typically developing control children, ranging in age from 6 to 16 years. Children were tested on the following subtests of the NEPSY-II: Attention and Executive Functioning (animal sorting, auditory attention/response set, and inhibition), Language (comprehension of instructions and speeded naming), Memory (memory for names/delayed memory for names), Visual-Spatial Processing (arrows), and Social Perception (theory of mind). Groups were compared using MANOVA. Children with FASD were impaired relative to controls on the following subtests: animal sorting, response set, inhibition (naming and switching conditions), comprehension of instructions, speeded naming, and memory for names total and delayed, but group differences were not significant on auditory attention, inhibition (inhibition condition), arrows, and theory of mind. Among the FASD group, IQ scores were not correlated with performance on the NEPSY-II subtests, and there were no significant differences between those with and without comorbid ADHD. The NEPSY-II is an effective and useful tool for measuring a variety of neuropsychological impairments among children with FASD. Children with FASD displayed a pattern of results with impairments (relative to controls) on measures of executive functioning (set shifting, concept formation, and inhibition), language, and memory, and relative strengths on measures of basic attention, visual spatial processing, and social perception.

Pragmatic Abilities in Adults with and without Dyslexia: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Griffiths, Catherine C. B.

2007-01-01

This study examines well-compensated adults with dyslexia to see if they experience more problems with pragmatic awareness than the normal population. Social interaction requires an individual to process language at speed by using working memory efficiently, in order to understand the intended, rather than literal, meaning between speaker and…

Integrating Spatial Components into FIA Models of Forest Resources: Some Technical Aspects

Treesearch

Pat Terletzky; Tracey Frescino

2005-01-01

We examined two software packages to determine their feasibility of implementing spatially explicit, forest resource models that integrate Forest Inventory and Analysis data (FIA). ARCINFO and Interactive Data Language (IDL) were examined for their input requirements, speed of processing, storage requirements, and flexibility of implementing. Implementations of two...

Cognitive-linguistic performances of multilingual university students suspected of dyslexia.

PubMed

Lindgrén, Signe-Anita; Laine, Matti

2011-05-01

High-performing adults with compensated dyslexia pose particular challenges to dyslexia diagnostics. We compared the performance of 20 multilingual Finnish university students with suspected dyslexia with 20 age-matched and education-matched controls on an extensive test battery. The battery tapped various aspects of reading, writing, word retrieval, phonological processing and other cognitive functions relevant for dyslexia. Reading and writing were examined in the two domestic languages, Swedish and Finnish. The most prominent group differences in reading and writing emerged on accuracy measures in both languages (reading text aloud, proofreading, writing to dictation, free writing). The dyslexia group also performed less well on speeded segmentation of written input, complex speeded naming and complex phoneme manipulation. The pattern of results fits the phonological deficit hypothesis of dyslexia and indicates the presence of pervasive underlying defects in compensated dyslexia. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Viewers can keep up with fast subtitles: Evidence from eye movements.

PubMed

Szarkowska, Agnieszka; Gerber-Morón, Olivia

2018-01-01

People watch subtitled audiovisual materials more than ever before. With the proliferation of subtitled content, we are also witnessing an increase in subtitle speeds. However, there is an ongoing controversy about what optimum subtitle speeds should be. This study looks into whether viewers can keep up with increasingly fast subtitles and whether the way people cope with subtitled content depends on their familiarity with subtitling and on their knowledge of the language of the film soundtrack. We tested 74 English, Polish and Spanish viewers watching films subtitled at different speeds (12, 16 and 20 characters per second). The films were either in Hungarian, a language unknown to the participants (Experiment 1), or in English (Experiment 2). We measured viewers' comprehension, self-reported cognitive load, scene and subtitle recognition, preferences and enjoyment. By analyzing people's eye gaze, we were able to discover that most viewers could read the subtitles as well as follow the images, coping well even with fast subtitle speeds. Slow subtitles triggered more re-reading, particularly in English clips, causing more frustration and less enjoyment. Faster subtitles with unreduced text were preferred in the case of English videos, and slower subtitles with text edited down in Hungarian videos. The results provide empirical grounds for revisiting current subtitling practices to enable more efficient processing of subtitled videos for viewers.

A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation

PubMed Central

Christiner, Markus; Reiterer, Susanne Maria

2015-01-01

Recent findings have shown that people with higher musical aptitude were also better in oral language imitation tasks. However, whether singing capacity and instrument playing contribute differently to the imitation of speech has been ignored so far. Research has just recently started to understand that instrumentalists develop quite distinct skills when compared to vocalists. In the same vein the role of the vocal motor system in language acquisition processes has poorly been investigated as most investigations (neurobiological and behavioral) favor to examine speech perception. We set out to test whether the vocal motor system can influence an ability to learn, produce and perceive new languages by contrasting instrumentalists and vocalists. Therefore, we investigated 96 participants, 27 instrumentalists, 33 vocalists and 36 non-musicians/non-singers. They were tested for their abilities to imitate foreign speech: unknown language (Hindi), second language (English) and their musical aptitude. Results revealed that both instrumentalists and vocalists have a higher ability to imitate unintelligible speech and foreign accents than non-musicians/non-singers. Within the musician group, vocalists outperformed instrumentalists significantly. Conclusion: First, adaptive plasticity for speech imitation is not reliant on audition alone but also on vocal-motor induced processes. Second, vocal flexibility of singers goes together with higher speech imitation aptitude. Third, vocal motor training, as of singers, may speed up foreign language acquisition processes. PMID:26379537

A Mozart is not a Pavarotti: singers outperform instrumentalists on foreign accent imitation.

PubMed

Christiner, Markus; Reiterer, Susanne Maria

2015-01-01

Recent findings have shown that people with higher musical aptitude were also better in oral language imitation tasks. However, whether singing capacity and instrument playing contribute differently to the imitation of speech has been ignored so far. Research has just recently started to understand that instrumentalists develop quite distinct skills when compared to vocalists. In the same vein the role of the vocal motor system in language acquisition processes has poorly been investigated as most investigations (neurobiological and behavioral) favor to examine speech perception. We set out to test whether the vocal motor system can influence an ability to learn, produce and perceive new languages by contrasting instrumentalists and vocalists. Therefore, we investigated 96 participants, 27 instrumentalists, 33 vocalists and 36 non-musicians/non-singers. They were tested for their abilities to imitate foreign speech: unknown language (Hindi), second language (English) and their musical aptitude. Results revealed that both instrumentalists and vocalists have a higher ability to imitate unintelligible speech and foreign accents than non-musicians/non-singers. Within the musician group, vocalists outperformed instrumentalists significantly. First, adaptive plasticity for speech imitation is not reliant on audition alone but also on vocal-motor induced processes. Second, vocal flexibility of singers goes together with higher speech imitation aptitude. Third, vocal motor training, as of singers, may speed up foreign language acquisition processes.

Number word structure in first and second language influences arithmetic skills

PubMed Central

Prior, Anat; Katz, Michal; Mahajna, Islam; Rubinsten, Orly

2015-01-01

Languages differ in how they represent numerical information, and specifically whether the verbal notation of numbers follows the same order as the symbolic notation (in non-inverted languages, e.g., Hebrew, “25, twenty-five”) or whether the two notations diverge (in inverted languages, e.g., Arabic, “25, five-and-twenty”). We examined how the structure of number–words affects how arithmetic operations are processed by bilingual speakers of an inverted and a non-inverted language. We examined Arabic–Hebrew bilinguals’ performance in the first language, L1 (inverted) and in the second language, L2 (non-inverted). Their performance was compared to that of Hebrew L1 speakers, who do not speak an inverted language. Participants judged the accuracy of addition problems presented aurally in L1, aurally in L2 or in visual symbolic notation. Problems were presented such that they matched or did not match the structure of number words in the language. Arabic–Hebrew bilinguals demonstrated both flexibility in processing and adaptation to the language of aural–verbal presentation – they were more accurate for the inverted order of presentation in Arabic, but more accurate for non-inverted order of presentation in Hebrew, thus exhibiting the same pattern found for native Hebrew speakers. In addition, whereas native Hebrew speakers preferred the non-inverted order in visual symbolic presentation as well, the Arabic–Hebrew bilinguals showed enhanced flexibility, without a significant preference for one order over the other, in either speed or accuracy. These findings suggest that arithmetic processing is sensitive to the linguistic representations of number words. Moreover, bilinguals exposed to inverted and non-inverted languages showed influence of both systems, and enhanced flexibility in processing. Thus, the L1 does not seem to have exclusive power in shaping numerical mental representations, but rather the system remains open to influences from a later learned L2. PMID:25852591

The emotional impact of being myself: Emotions and foreign-language processing.

PubMed

Ivaz, Lela; Costa, Albert; Duñabeitia, Jon Andoni

2016-03-01

Native languages are acquired in emotionally rich contexts, whereas foreign languages are typically acquired in emotionally neutral academic environments. As a consequence of this difference, it has been suggested that bilinguals' emotional reactivity in foreign-language contexts is reduced as compared with native language contexts. In the current study, we investigated whether this emotional distance associated with foreign languages could modulate automatic responses to self-related linguistic stimuli. Self-related stimuli enhance performance by boosting memory, speed, and accuracy as compared with stimuli unrelated to the self (the so-called self-bias effect). We explored whether this effect depends on the language context by comparing self-biases in a native and a foreign language. Two experiments were conducted with native Spanish speakers with a high level of English proficiency in which they were asked to complete a perceptual matching task during which they associated simple geometric shapes (circles, squares, and triangles) with the labels "you," "friend," and "other" either in their native or foreign language. Results showed a robust asymmetry in the self-bias in the native- and foreign-language contexts: A larger self-bias was found in the native than in the foreign language. An additional control experiment demonstrated that the same materials administered to a group of native English speakers yielded robust self-bias effects that were comparable in magnitude to the ones obtained with the Spanish speakers when tested in their native language (but not in their foreign language). We suggest that the emotional distance evoked by the foreign-language contexts caused these differential effects across language contexts. These results demonstrate that the foreign-language effects are pervasive enough to affect automatic stages of emotional processing. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The acceleration of spoken-word processing in children's native-language acquisition: an ERP cohort study.

PubMed

Ojima, Shiro; Matsuba-Kurita, Hiroko; Nakamura, Naoko; Hagiwara, Hiroko

2011-04-01

Healthy adults can identify spoken words at a remarkable speed, by incrementally analyzing word-onset information. It is currently unknown how this adult-level speed of spoken-word processing emerges during children's native-language acquisition. In a picture-word mismatch paradigm, we manipulated the semantic congruency between picture contexts and spoken words, and recorded event-related potential (ERP) responses to the words. Previous similar studies focused on the N400 response, but we focused instead on the onsets of semantic congruency effects (N200 or Phonological Mismatch Negativity), which contain critical information for incremental spoken-word processing. We analyzed ERPs obtained longitudinally from two age cohorts of 40 primary-school children (total n=80) in a 3-year period. Children first tested at 7 years of age showed earlier onsets of congruency effects (by approximately 70ms) when tested 2 years later (i.e., at age 9). Children first tested at 9 years of age did not show such shortening of onset latencies 2 years later (i.e., at age 11). Overall, children's onset latencies at age 9 appeared similar to those of adults. These data challenge the previous hypothesis that word processing is well established at age 7. Instead they support the view that the acceleration of spoken-word processing continues beyond age 7. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating the impact of treatment for sleep/wake disorders on recovery of cognition and communication in adults with chronic TBI.

PubMed

Wiseman-Hakes, Catherine; Murray, Brian; Moineddin, Rahim; Rochon, Elizabeth; Cullen, Nora; Gargaro, Judith; Colantonio, Angela

2013-01-01

To longitudinally examine objective and self-reported outcomes for recovery of cognition, communication, mood and participation in adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and co-morbid post-traumatic sleep/wake disorders. Prospective, longitudinal, single blind outcome study. Community-based. Ten adults with moderate-severe TBI and two adults with mild TBI and persistent symptoms aged 18-58 years. Six males and six females, who were 1-22 years post-injury and presented with self-reported sleep/wake disturbances with onset post-injury. Individualized treatments for sleep/wake disorders that included sleep hygiene recommendations, pharmacological interventions and/or treatments for sleep apnea with follow-up. Insomnia Severity Index, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, Latrobe Communication Questionnaire, Speed and Capacity of Language Processing, Test of Everyday Attention, Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, Daily Cognitive-Communication and Sleep Profile. Group analysis revealed positive trends in change for each measure and across sub-tests of all measures. Statistically significant changes were noted in insomnia severity, p = 0.0003; depression severity, p = 0.03; language, p = 0.01; speed of language processing, p = 0.007. These results add to a small but growing body of evidence that sleep/wake disorders associated with TBI exacerbate trauma-related cognitive, communication and mood impairments. Treatment for sleep/wake disorders may optimize recovery and outcomes.

Speech, language, and cognitive dysfunction in children with focal epileptiform activity: A follow-up study.

PubMed

Rejnö-Habte Selassie, Gunilla; Hedström, Anders; Viggedal, Gerd; Jennische, Margareta; Kyllerman, Mårten

2010-07-01

We reviewed the medical history, EEG recordings, and developmental milestones of 19 children with speech and language dysfunction and focal epileptiform activity. Speech, language, and neuropsychological assessments and EEG recordings were performed at follow-up, and prognostic indicators were analyzed. Three patterns of language development were observed: late start and slow development, late start and deterioration/regression, and normal start and later regression/deterioration. No differences in test results among these groups were seen, indicating a spectrum of related conditions including Landau-Kleffner syndrome and epileptic language disorder. More than half of the participants had speech and language dysfunction at follow-up. IQ levels, working memory, and processing speed were also affected. Dysfunction of auditory perception in noise was found in more than half of the participants, and dysfunction of auditory attention in all. Dysfunction of communication, oral motor ability, and stuttering were noted in a few. Family history of seizures and abundant epileptiform activity indicated a worse prognosis. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Language, aging, and cognition: frontal aslant tract and superior longitudinal fasciculus contribute toward working memory performance in older adults.

PubMed

Rizio, Avery A; Diaz, Michele T

2016-06-15

Previous research has documented change in white matter tract integrity with increasing age. Both interhemispheric and intrahemispheric tracts that underlie language processing are susceptible to these age-related changes. The aim of the current study was to explore age and white matter integrity in language-related tracts as predictors of cognitive task performance in younger and older adults. To this end, we carried out principal component analyses of white matter tracts and confirmatory factor analysis of neuropsychological measures. We next carried out a series of regression analyses that used white matter components to predict scores on each of the neuropsychological components. For both younger and older adults, age was a significant predictor of processing speed and working memory. However, white matter integrity did not contribute independently toward these models. In older adults only, both age and a white matter component that included the bilateral frontal aslant tract and left superior longitudinal fasciculus were significant predictors of working memory. Taken together, these results extend our understanding of the contributions of language-related white matter structure to cognitive processing and highlight the effects of age-related differences in both frontal and dorsal tracts.

Speed of Processing, Anticipation, Inhibition and Working Memory in Bilinguals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonifacci, Paola; Giombini, Lucia; Bellocchi, Stephanie; Contento, Silvana

2011-01-01

Literature on the so-called bilingual advantage is directed towards the investigation of whether the mastering of two languages fosters cognitive skills in the non-verbal domain. The present study aimed to evaluate whether the bilingual advantage in non-verbal skills could be best defined as domain-general or domain-specific, and, in the latter…

L2 Speaking Development during Study Abroad: Fluency, Accuracy, Complexity, and Underlying Cognitive Factors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leonard, Karen Ruth; Shea, Christine E.

2017-01-01

We take a multidimensional perspective on the development of second language (L2) speaking ability and examine how changes in the underlying cognitive variables of linguistic knowledge and processing speed interact with complexity, fluency, and accuracy over the course of a 3-month Spanish study abroad session. Study abroad provides a unique…

Speeded processing of grammar and tool knowledge in Tourette’s syndrome

PubMed Central

Walenski, Matthew; Mostofsky, Stewart H.; Ullman, Michael T.

2007-01-01

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a developmental disorder characterized by motor and verbal tics. The tics, which are fast and involuntary, result from frontal/basal-ganglia abnormalities that lead to unsuppressed behaviors. Language has not been carefully examined in TS. We tested the processing of two basic aspects of language: idiosyncratic and rule-governed linguistic knowledge. Evidence suggests that idiosyncratic knowledge (e.g., in irregular past-tense formation; bring-brought) is stored in a mental lexicon that depends on the temporal-lobe-based declarative memory system that also underlies conceptual knowledge. In contrast, evidence suggests that rule-governed combination (e.g., in regular past-tenses; walk + -ed) takes place in a mental grammar that relies on the frontal/basal-ganglia based procedural memory system, which also underlies motor skills such as how to use a hammer. We found that TS children were significantly faster than typically-developing control children at producing rule-governed past-tenses (slip-slipped, plim-plimmed, bring-bringed) but not irregular and other unpredictable past-tenses (bring-brought, splim-splam). They were also faster than controls at naming pictures of manipulated (hammer) but not non-manipulated (elephant) items. These data were not explained by a wide range of potentially confounding subject- and item-level factors. The results suggest that the processing of procedurally-based knowledge, both of grammar and of manipulated objects, is particularly speeded in TS. The frontal/basal-ganglia abnormalities may thus lead not only to tics, but to a wider range of rapid behaviors, including in the cognitive processing of rule-governed forms in language and other types of procedural knowledge. PMID:17493643

Control structures for high speed processors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maki, G. K.; Mankin, R.; Owsley, P. A.; Kim, G. M.

1982-01-01

A special processor was designed to function as a Reed Solomon decoder with throughput data rate in the Mhz range. This data rate is significantly greater than is possible with conventional digital architectures. To achieve this rate, the processor design includes sequential, pipelined, distributed, and parallel processing. The processor was designed using a high level language register transfer language. The RTL can be used to describe how the different processes are implemented by the hardware. One problem of special interest was the development of dependent processes which are analogous to software subroutines. For greater flexibility, the RTL control structure was implemented in ROM. The special purpose hardware required approximately 1000 SSI and MSI components. The data rate throughput is 2.5 megabits/second. This data rate is achieved through the use of pipelined and distributed processing. This data rate can be compared with 800 kilobits/second in a recently proposed very large scale integration design of a Reed Solomon encoder.

The ICNP-BaT--a multilingual web-based tool to support the collaborative translation of the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP).

PubMed

Schrader, Ulrich; Tackenberg, Peter; Widmer, Rudolf; Portenier, Lucien; König, Peter

2007-01-01

To ease and speed up the translation of the ICNP version 1 into the German language a web service was developed to support the collaborative work of all Austrian, Swiss, and German translators and subsequently of the evaluators of the resultant translation. The web service does help to support a modified Delphi technique. Since the web service is multilingual by design it can facilitate the translation of the ICNP into other languages as well. The process chosen can be adopted by other projects involved in translating terminologies.

[Information processing speed and influential factors in multiple sclerosis].

PubMed

Zhang, M L; Xu, E H; Dong, H Q; Zhang, J W

2016-04-19

To study the information processing speed and the influential factors in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. A total of 36 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), 21 patients with secondary progressive MS (SPMS), and 50 healthy control subjects from Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University between April 2010 and April 2012 were included into this cross-sectional study.Neuropsychological tests was conducted after the disease had been stable for 8 weeks, including information processing speed, memory, executive functions, language and visual perception.Correlation between information processing speed and depression, fatigue, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) were studied. (1)MS patient groups demonstrated cognitive deficits compared to healthy controls.The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) (control group 57±12; RRMS group 46±17; SPMS group 35±10, P<0.05) and Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT) (control group 85±18; RRMS group 77±20; SPMS group 57±20, P<0.05) impaired most.SPMS patients were more affected compared to patients with RRMS subtypes, and these differences were attenuated after control for physical disability level as measured by the EDSS scores.MS patients, especially SPMS subtype, were more severely impaired than control group in the verbal learning test, verbal fluency, Stroop C test planning time, while visual-spatial function and visual memory were relatively reserved in MS patients.(2) According to the Pearson univariate correlation analysis, age, depression, EDSS scores and fatigue were related with PASAT and SDMT tests (r=-0.41--0.61, P<0.05). Depression significantly affected the speed of information processing (P<0.05). Impairment of information processing speed, verbal memory and executive functioning are seen in MS patients, especially in SPMS subtype, while visual-spatial function is relatively reserved.Age, white matter change scales, EDSS scores, depression are negatively associated with information processing speed.

Cognitive aging and hearing acuity: modeling spoken language comprehension.

PubMed

Wingfield, Arthur; Amichetti, Nicole M; Lash, Amanda

2015-01-01

The comprehension of spoken language has been characterized by a number of "local" theories that have focused on specific aspects of the task: models of word recognition, models of selective attention, accounts of thematic role assignment at the sentence level, and so forth. The ease of language understanding (ELU) model (Rönnberg et al., 2013) stands as one of the few attempts to offer a fully encompassing framework for language understanding. In this paper we discuss interactions between perceptual, linguistic, and cognitive factors in spoken language understanding. Central to our presentation is an examination of aspects of the ELU model that apply especially to spoken language comprehension in adult aging, where speed of processing, working memory capacity, and hearing acuity are often compromised. We discuss, in relation to the ELU model, conceptions of working memory and its capacity limitations, the use of linguistic context to aid in speech recognition and the importance of inhibitory control, and language comprehension at the sentence level. Throughout this paper we offer a constructive look at the ELU model; where it is strong and where there are gaps to be filled.

Cognitive Predictors of Calculations and Number Line Estimation with Whole Numbers and Fractions among At-Risk Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Namkung, Jessica M.; Fuchs, Lynn S.

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive predictors of calculations and number line estimation with whole numbers and fractions. At-risk 4th-grade students (N = 139) were assessed on 7 domain-general abilities (i.e., working memory, processing speed, concept formation, language, attentive behavior, and nonverbal reasoning) and…

Cognitive Predictors of Calculations and Number Line Estimation with Whole Numbers and Fractions among At-Risk Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Namkung, Jessica M.; Fuchs, Lynn S.

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive predictors of calculations and number line estimation with whole numbers and fractions. At-risk 4th-grade students (N = 139) were assessed on 6 domain-general abilities (i.e., working memory, processing speed, concept formation, language, attentive behavior, and nonverbal reasoning) and…

Comparison of Neurocognitive Outcomes after Carotid Endarterectomy and Carotid Artery Stenting.

PubMed

Kim, Jerry J; Schwartz, Samuel; Wen, Johnny; deVirgilio, Christian; Lobue, Abeline; Walot, Irwin; Koopmann, Matthew; Donayre, Carlos; White, Rodney A

2015-10-01

Cognitive and emotional outcomes after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting with embolic protection device (CAS + EPD) are not clear. Patients were entered prospectively into a United States Food and Drug Administration-approved single-center physician-sponsored investigational device exemption between 2004 and 2010 and received either CEA or CAS + EPD. Patients underwent cognitive testing preprocedure and at 6, 12, and 60 months postprocedure. Cognitive domains assessed included attention, memory, executive, motor function, visual spatial functioning, language, and processing speed. Beck Depression and anxiety scales were also compared. There were a total of 38 patients that met conventional indications for carotid surgery (symptomatic with ≥50% stenosis or asymptomatic with ≥70% stenosis)-12 patients underwent CEA, whereas 26 patients underwent CAS + EPD. Both CEA and CAS + EPD patients showed postprocedure improvement in memory and executive function. No differences were seen at follow-up in regards to emotional dysfunction (depression and anxiety), attention, visual spatial functioning, language, motor function, and processing speed. Only two patients underwent neuropsychiatric testing at 60 months-these CAS + EPD patients showed sustained improvement in memory, visual spatial, and executive functions. In conclusion, cognitive and emotional outcomes were similar between CEA and CAS + EPD patients.

Viewers can keep up with fast subtitles: Evidence from eye movements

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

People watch subtitled audiovisual materials more than ever before. With the proliferation of subtitled content, we are also witnessing an increase in subtitle speeds. However, there is an ongoing controversy about what optimum subtitle speeds should be. This study looks into whether viewers can keep up with increasingly fast subtitles and whether the way people cope with subtitled content depends on their familiarity with subtitling and on their knowledge of the language of the film soundtrack. We tested 74 English, Polish and Spanish viewers watching films subtitled at different speeds (12, 16 and 20 characters per second). The films were either in Hungarian, a language unknown to the participants (Experiment 1), or in English (Experiment 2). We measured viewers’ comprehension, self-reported cognitive load, scene and subtitle recognition, preferences and enjoyment. By analyzing people’s eye gaze, we were able to discover that most viewers could read the subtitles as well as follow the images, coping well even with fast subtitle speeds. Slow subtitles triggered more re-reading, particularly in English clips, causing more frustration and less enjoyment. Faster subtitles with unreduced text were preferred in the case of English videos, and slower subtitles with text edited down in Hungarian videos. The results provide empirical grounds for revisiting current subtitling practices to enable more efficient processing of subtitled videos for viewers. PMID:29920538

Aging and the Vulnerability of Speech to Dual Task Demands

PubMed Central

Kemper, Susan; Schmalzried, RaLynn; Hoffman, Lesa; Herman, Ruth

2010-01-01

Tracking a digital pursuit rotor task was used to measure dual task costs of language production by young and older adults. Tracking performance by both groups was affected by dual task demands: time on target declined and tracking error increased as dual task demands increased from the baseline condition to a moderately demanding dual task condition to a more demanding dual task condition. When dual task demands were moderate, older adults’ speech rate declined but their fluency, grammatical complexity, and content were unaffected. When the dual task was more demanding, older adults’ speech, like young adults’ speech, became highly fragmented, ungrammatical, and incoherent. Vocabulary, working memory, processing speed, and inhibition affected vulnerability to dual task costs: vocabulary provided some protection for sentence length and grammaticality, working memory conferred some protection for grammatical complexity, and processing speed provided some protection for speech rate, propositional density, coherence, and lexical diversity. Further, vocabulary and working memory capacity provided more protection for older adults than for young adults although the protective effect of processing speed was somewhat reduced for older adults as compared to the young adults. PMID:21186917

Evaluating the impact of treatment for sleep/wake disorders on recovery of cognition and communication in adults with chronic TBI

PubMed Central

Murray, Brian; Moineddin, Rahim; Rochon, Elizabeth; Cullen, Nora; Gargaro, Judith; Colantonio, Angela

2013-01-01

Objective To longitudinally examine objective and self-reported outcomes for recovery of cognition, communication, mood and participation in adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and co-morbid post-traumatic sleep/wake disorders. Design Prospective, longitudinal, single blind outcome study. Setting Community-based. Participants Ten adults with moderate–severe TBI and two adults with mild TBI and persistent symptoms aged 18–58 years. Six males and six females, who were 1–22 years post-injury and presented with self-reported sleep/wake disturbances with onset post-injury. Interventions Individualized treatments for sleep/wake disorders that included sleep hygiene recommendations, pharmacological interventions and/or treatments for sleep apnea with follow-up. Main outcome measures Insomnia Severity Index, Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories, Latrobe Communication Questionnaire, Speed and Capacity of Language Processing, Test of Everyday Attention, Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status, Daily Cognitive-Communication and Sleep Profile. Results Group analysis revealed positive trends in change for each measure and across sub-tests of all measures. Statistically significant changes were noted in insomnia severity, p = 0.0003; depression severity, p = 0.03; language, p = 0.01; speed of language processing, p = 0.007. Conclusions These results add to a small but growing body of evidence that sleep/wake disorders associated with TBI exacerbate trauma-related cognitive, communication and mood impairments. Treatment for sleep/wake disorders may optimize recovery and outcomes. PMID:24070180

From specific examples to general knowledge in language learning.

PubMed

Tamminen, Jakke; Davis, Matthew H; Rastle, Kathleen

2015-06-01

The extraction of general knowledge from individual episodes is critical if we are to learn new knowledge or abilities. Here we uncover some of the key cognitive mechanisms that characterise this process in the domain of language learning. In five experiments adult participants learned new morphological units embedded in fictitious words created by attaching new affixes (e.g., -afe) to familiar word stems (e.g., "sleepafe is a participant in a study about the effects of sleep"). Participants' ability to generalise semantic knowledge about the affixes was tested using tasks requiring the comprehension and production of novel words containing a trained affix (e.g., sailafe). We manipulated the delay between training and test (Experiment 1), the number of unique exemplars provided for each affix during training (Experiment 2), and the consistency of the form-to-meaning mapping of the affixes (Experiments 3-5). In a task where speeded online language processing is required (semantic priming), generalisation was achieved only after a memory consolidation opportunity following training, and only if the training included a sufficient number of unique exemplars. Semantic inconsistency disrupted speeded generalisation unless consolidation was allowed to operate on one of the two affix-meanings before introducing inconsistencies. In contrast, in tasks that required slow, deliberate reasoning, generalisation could be achieved largely irrespective of the above constraints. These findings point to two different mechanisms of generalisation that have different cognitive demands and rely on different types of memory representations. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Adult Second Language Acquisition: Laotian Hmong in Southland.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lert, Erika Nagy

The study described in this paper focuses on English language acquisition by adult Hmong Laotian immigrants in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program in a city in the Northeastern United States. Preexistent levels of literacy and second language familiarity are discounted as influences on the speed of students' acquisition of language.…

Using Graphical Processing Units to Accelerate Orthorectification, Atmospheric Correction and Transformations for Big Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Connor, A. S.; Justice, B.; Harris, A. T.

2013-12-01

Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) are high-performance multiple-core processors capable of very high computational speeds and large data throughput. Modern GPUs are inexpensive and widely available commercially. These are general-purpose parallel processors with support for a variety of programming interfaces, including industry standard languages such as C. GPU implementations of algorithms that are well suited for parallel processing can often achieve speedups of several orders of magnitude over optimized CPU codes. Significant improvements in speeds for imagery orthorectification, atmospheric correction, target detection and image transformations like Independent Components Analsyis (ICA) have been achieved using GPU-based implementations. Additional optimizations, when factored in with GPU processing capabilities, can provide 50x - 100x reduction in the time required to process large imagery. Exelis Visual Information Solutions (VIS) has implemented a CUDA based GPU processing frame work for accelerating ENVI and IDL processes that can best take advantage of parallelization. Testing Exelis VIS has performed shows that orthorectification can take as long as two hours with a WorldView1 35,0000 x 35,000 pixel image. With GPU orthorecification, the same orthorectification process takes three minutes. By speeding up image processing, imagery can successfully be used by first responders, scientists making rapid discoveries with near real time data, and provides an operational component to data centers needing to quickly process and disseminate data.

Biology-Culture Co-evolution in Finite Populations.

PubMed

de Boer, Bart; Thompson, Bill

2018-01-19

Language is the result of two concurrent evolutionary processes: biological and cultural inheritance. An influential evolutionary hypothesis known as the moving target problem implies inherent limitations on the interactions between our two inheritance streams that result from a difference in pace: the speed of cultural evolution is thought to rule out cognitive adaptation to culturally evolving aspects of language. We examine this hypothesis formally by casting it as as a problem of adaptation in time-varying environments. We present a mathematical model of biology-culture co-evolution in finite populations: a generalisation of the Moran process, treating co-evolution as coupled non-independent Markov processes, providing a general formulation of the moving target hypothesis in precise probabilistic terms. Rapidly varying culture decreases the probability of biological adaptation. However, we show that this effect declines with population size and with stronger links between biology and culture: in realistically sized finite populations, stochastic effects can carry cognitive specialisations to fixation in the face of variable culture, especially if the effects of those specialisations are amplified through cultural evolution. These results support the view that language arises from interactions between our two major inheritance streams, rather than from one primary evolutionary process that dominates another.

Cerebellar tDCS Modulates Neural Circuits during Semantic Prediction: A Combined tDCS-fMRI Study.

PubMed

D'Mello, Anila M; Turkeltaub, Peter E; Stoodley, Catherine J

2017-02-08

It has been proposed that the cerebellum acquires internal models of mental processes that enable prediction, allowing for the optimization of behavior. In language, semantic prediction speeds speech production and comprehension. Right cerebellar lobules VI and VII (including Crus I/II) are engaged during a variety of language processes and are functionally connected with cerebral cortical language networks. Further, right posterolateral cerebellar neuromodulation modifies behavior during predictive language processing. These data are consistent with a role for the cerebellum in semantic processing and semantic prediction. We combined transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and fMRI to assess the behavioral and neural consequences of cerebellar tDCS during a sentence completion task. Task-based and resting-state fMRI data were acquired in healthy human adults ( n = 32; μ = 23.1 years) both before and after 20 min of 1.5 mA anodal ( n = 18) or sham ( n = 14) tDCS applied to the right posterolateral cerebellum. In the sentence completion task, the first four words of the sentence modulated the predictability of the final target word. In some sentences, the preceding context strongly predicted the target word, whereas other sentences were nonpredictive. Completion of predictive sentences increased activation in right Crus I/II of the cerebellum. Relative to sham tDCS, anodal tDCS increased activation in right Crus I/II during semantic prediction and enhanced resting-state functional connectivity between hubs of the reading/language networks. These results are consistent with a role for the right posterolateral cerebellum beyond motor aspects of language, and suggest that cerebellar internal models of linguistic stimuli support semantic prediction. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Cerebellar involvement in language tasks and language networks is now well established, yet the specific cerebellar contribution to language processing remains unclear. It is thought that the cerebellum acquires internal models of mental processes that enable prediction, allowing for the optimization of behavior. Here we combined neuroimaging and neuromodulation to provide evidence that the cerebellum is specifically involved in semantic prediction during sentence processing. We found that activation within right Crus I/II was enhanced when semantic predictions were made, and we show that modulation of this region with transcranial direct current stimulation alters both activation patterns and functional connectivity within whole-brain language networks. For the first time, these data show that cerebellar neuromodulation impacts activation patterns specifically during predictive language processing. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/371604-10$15.00/0.

Parallel processing and expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yan, Jerry C.; Lau, Sonie

1991-01-01

Whether it be monitoring the thermal subsystem of Space Station Freedom, or controlling the navigation of the autonomous rover on Mars, NASA missions in the 90's cannot enjoy an increased level of autonomy without the efficient use of expert systems. Merely increasing the computational speed of uniprocessors may not be able to guarantee that real time demands are met for large expert systems. Speed-up via parallel processing must be pursued alongside the optimization of sequential implementations. Prototypes of parallel expert systems have been built at universities and industrial labs in the U.S. and Japan. The state-of-the-art research in progress related to parallel execution of expert systems was surveyed. The survey is divided into three major sections: (1) multiprocessors for parallel expert systems; (2) parallel languages for symbolic computations; and (3) measurements of parallelism of expert system. Results to date indicate that the parallelism achieved for these systems is small. In order to obtain greater speed-ups, data parallelism and application parallelism must be exploited.

Phonotactic Probability of Brand Names: I'd buy that!

PubMed Central

Vitevitch, Michael S.; Donoso, Alexander J.

2011-01-01

Psycholinguistic research shows that word-characteristics influence the speed and accuracy of various language-related processes. Analogous characteristics of brand names influence the retrieval of product information and the perception of risks associated with that product. In the present experiment we examined how phonotactic probability—the frequency with which phonological segments and sequences of segments appear in a word—might influence consumer behavior. Participants rated brand names that varied in phonotactic probability on the likelihood that they would buy the product. Participants indicated that they were more likely to purchase a product if the brand name was comprised of common segments and sequences of segments rather than less common segments and sequences of segments. This result suggests that word-characteristics may influence higher-level cognitive processes, in addition to language-related processes. Furthermore, the benefits of using objective measures of word characteristics in the design of brand names are discussed. PMID:21870135

Lexical constraints in second language learning: Evidence on grammatical gender in German*

PubMed Central

BOBB, SUSAN C.; KROLL, JUDITH F.; JACKSON, CARRIE N.

2015-01-01

The present study asked whether or not the apparent insensitivity of second language (L2) learners to grammatical gender violations reflects an inability to use grammatical information during L2 lexical processing. Native German speakers and English speakers with intermediate to advanced L2 proficiency in German performed a translation-recognition task. On critical trials, an incorrect translation was presented that either matched or mismatched the grammatical gender of the correct translation. Results show interference for native German speakers in conditions in which the incorrect translation matched the gender of the correct translation. Native English speakers, regardless of German proficiency, were insensitive to the gender mismatch. In contrast, these same participants were correctly able to assign gender to critical items. These findings suggest a dissociation between explicit knowledge and the ability to use that information under speeded processing conditions and demonstrate the difficulty of L2 gender processing at the lexical level. PMID:26346327

Speed up of XML parsers with PHP language implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgiev, Bozhidar; Georgieva, Adriana

2012-11-01

In this paper, authors introduce PHP5's XML implementation and show how to read, parse, and write a short and uncomplicated XML file using Simple XML in a PHP environment. The possibilities for mutual work of PHP5 language and XML standard are described. The details of parsing process with Simple XML are also cleared. A practical project PHP-XML-MySQL presents the advantages of XML implementation in PHP modules. This approach allows comparatively simple search of XML hierarchical data by means of PHP software tools. The proposed project includes database, which can be extended with new data and new XML parsing functions.

Acceleration of Radiance for Lighting Simulation by Using Parallel Computing with OpenCL

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zuo, Wangda; McNeil, Andrew; Wetter, Michael

2011-09-06

We report on the acceleration of annual daylighting simulations for fenestration systems in the Radiance ray-tracing program. The algorithm was optimized to reduce both the redundant data input/output operations and the floating-point operations. To further accelerate the simulation speed, the calculation for matrix multiplications was implemented using parallel computing on a graphics processing unit. We used OpenCL, which is a cross-platform parallel programming language. Numerical experiments show that the combination of the above measures can speed up the annual daylighting simulations 101.7 times or 28.6 times when the sky vector has 146 or 2306 elements, respectively.

Reading Development in an Orthographically Regular Language: Effects of Length, Frequency, Lexicality and Global Processing Ability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zoccolotti, Pierluigi; De Luca, Maria; Di Filippo, Gloria; Judica, Anna; Martelli, Marialuisa

2009-01-01

The acquisition of reading skill was studied in 503 Italian children in first to eighth grade using a task that required reading of lists of words and non-words. Analysis of the metric characteristics of the measures indicated that reading speed but not accuracy was normally distributed across all ages considered. The role of specific effects…

The Effect of Speed Reading Strategies on Developing Reading Comprehension among the 2nd Secondary Students in English Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abdelrahman, Mahmoud Sulaiman Hamad Bani; Bsharah, Muwafaq Saleem

2014-01-01

This study aimed to find the effect of speed reading strategies on developing reading comprehension among second secondary literary stream students in English language. The sample of the study consists of (42) students assigned into two groups who were chosen randomly from schools, a controlled group (21) students, and an experimental (21)…

Effects of learning context on the acquisition and processing of emotional words in bilinguals.

PubMed

Brase, Julia; Mani, Nivedita

2017-06-01

Although bilinguals respond differently to emotionally valenced words in their first language (L1) relative to emotionally neutral words, similar effects of emotional valence are hard to come by in second language (L2) processing. We examine the extent to which these differences in first and second language processing are due to the context in which the 2 languages are acquired: L1 is typically acquired in more naturalistic settings (e.g., family) than L2 (e.g., at school). Fifty German-English bilinguals learned unfamiliar German and English negative and neutral words in 2 different learning conditions: One group (emotion video context) watched videos of a person providing definitions of the words with facial and gestural cues, whereas another group (neutral video context) received the same definitions without gestural and emotional cues. Subsequently, participants carried out an emotional Stroop task, a sentence completion task, and a recall task on the words they had just learned. We found that the effect of learning context on the influence of emotional valence on responding was modulated by a) language status, L1 versus L2, and b) task requirement. We suggest that a more nuanced approach is required to capture the differences in emotion effects in the speed versus accuracy of access to words across different learning contexts and different languages, in particular with regard to our finding that bilinguals respond to L2 words in a similar manner as L1 words provided that the learning context is naturalistic and incorporates emotional and prosodic cues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

HOPE: A Python just-in-time compiler for astrophysical computations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akeret, J.; Gamper, L.; Amara, A.; Refregier, A.

2015-04-01

The Python programming language is becoming increasingly popular for scientific applications due to its simplicity, versatility, and the broad range of its libraries. A drawback of this dynamic language, however, is its low runtime performance which limits its applicability for large simulations and for the analysis of large data sets, as is common in astrophysics and cosmology. While various frameworks have been developed to address this limitation, most focus on covering the complete language set, and either force the user to alter the code or are not able to reach the full speed of an optimised native compiled language. In order to combine the ease of Python and the speed of C++, we developed HOPE, a specialised Python just-in-time (JIT) compiler designed for numerical astrophysical applications. HOPE focuses on a subset of the language and is able to translate Python code into C++ while performing numerical optimisation on mathematical expressions at runtime. To enable the JIT compilation, the user only needs to add a decorator to the function definition. We assess the performance of HOPE by performing a series of benchmarks and compare its execution speed with that of plain Python, C++ and the other existing frameworks. We find that HOPE improves the performance compared to plain Python by a factor of 2 to 120, achieves speeds comparable to that of C++, and often exceeds the speed of the existing solutions. We discuss the differences between HOPE and the other frameworks, as well as future extensions of its capabilities. The fully documented HOPE package is available at http://hope.phys.ethz.ch and is published under the GPLv3 license on PyPI and GitHub.

The development of sentence interpretation: effects of perceptual, attentional and semantic interference.

PubMed

Leech, Robert; Aydelott, Jennifer; Symons, Germaine; Carnevale, Julia; Dick, Frederic

2007-11-01

How does the development and consolidation of perceptual, attentional, and higher cognitive abilities interact with language acquisition and processing? We explored children's (ages 5-17) and adults' (ages 18-51) comprehension of morphosyntactically varied sentences under several competing speech conditions that varied in the degree of attentional demands, auditory masking, and semantic interference. We also evaluated the relationship between subjects' syntactic comprehension and their word reading efficiency and general 'speed of processing'. We found that the interactions between perceptual and attentional processes and complex sentence interpretation changed considerably over the course of development. Perceptual masking of the speech signal had an early and lasting impact on comprehension, particularly for more complex sentence structures. In contrast, increased attentional demand in the absence of energetic auditory masking primarily affected younger children's comprehension of difficult sentence types. Finally, the predictability of syntactic comprehension abilities by external measures of development and expertise is contingent upon the perceptual, attentional, and semantic milieu in which language processing takes place.

Goldstone R/D High Speed Data Acquisition System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Deutsch, L. J.; Jurgens, R. F.; Brokl, S. S.

1984-01-01

A digital data acquisition system that meets the requirements of several users (initially the planetary radar program) is planned for general use at Deep Space Station 14 (DSS 14). The system, now partially complete, is controlled by VAX 11/780 computer that is programmed in high level languages. A DEC Data Controller is included for moderate-speed data acquisition, low speed data display, and for a digital interface to special user-provided devices. The high-speed data acquisition is performed in devices that are being designed and built at JPL. Analog IF signals are converted to a digitized 50 MHz real signal. This signal is filtered and mixed digitally to baseband after which its phase code (a PN sequence in the case of planetary radar) is removed. It may then be accumulated (or averaged) and fed into the VAX through an FPS 5210 array processor. Further data processing before entering the VAX is thus possible (computation and accumulation of the power spectra, for example). The system is to be located in the research and development pedestal at DSS 14 for easy access by researchers in radio astronomy as well as telemetry processing and antenna arraying.

Cognitive and Language Deficits in Multiple Sclerosis: Comparison of Relapsing Remitting and Secondary Progressive Subtypes

PubMed Central

Ntoskou, Katerina; Messinis, Lambros; Nasios, Grigorios; Martzoukou, Maria; Makris, Giorgos; Panagiotopoulos, Elias; Papathanasopoulos, Panagiotis

2018-01-01

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the pattern and severity of cognitive and language impairment in Greek patients with Relapsing-remitting (RRMS) and Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS), relative to control participants. Method: A prospective study was conducted in 27 patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), (N= 15) with RRMS, (N= 12) with SPMS, and (N= 12) healthy controls. All participants were assessed with a flexible comprehensive neuropsychological – language battery of tests that have been standardized in Greece and validated in Greek MS patients. They were also assessed on measures of disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale; EDSS), fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale; FSS) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory - fast screen; BDI-FS). Results: Our results revealed that groups were well matched on baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. The two clinical groups (RRMS; SPMS) did not differ on overall global cognitive impairment but differed in the initial encoding of verbal material, mental processing speed, response inhibition and set-shifting. RRMS patients differed from controls in the initial encoding of verbal material, learning curve, delayed recall of verbal information, processing speed, and response inhibition. SPMS patients differed in all utilized measures compared to controls. Moreover, we noted increased impairment frequency on individualized measures in the progressive SPMS group. Conclusion: We conclude that MS patients, irrespective of clinical subtype, have cognitive deficits compared to healthy participants, which become increasingly worse when they convert from RRMS to SPMS.On the contrary,the pattern of impairment remains relatively stable. PMID:29576812

Therapies for Cognitive Deficits Associated With Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review of Objective Outcomes.

PubMed

Morean, Diane F; O'Dwyer, Linda; Cherney, Leora R

2015-10-01

To systematically review evidence of treatments for cognitive impairments experienced by at least 20% of all women who undergo chemotherapy for breast cancer. Searches of 5 databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL, PsycINFO, CINAHL), with no date or language restrictions, identified 1701 unique results. Search terms included breast cancer, chemotherapy, chemobrain, chemofog, and terms on cognition and language deficits. Included only peer-reviewed journal articles that described therapies for cognitive dysfunction in women undergoing (or who had undergone) chemotherapy for breast cancer and provided objective measurements of cognition or language. Data were extracted according to Cochrane recommendations, including characteristics of participants, interventions, outcomes, and studies. Quality assessment of all 12 eligible studies was performed using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale and treatment fidelity criteria. Screening, data extraction, and quality assessment reliability were performed. Six articles described interventions for cognition that took place during cancer treatment; 6, afterward. Five interventions were medical (including a strength-training program), 2 were restorative, and 5 were cognitive. Medicinal treatments were ineffective; restorative and exercise treatments had mixed results; cognitive therapy had success in varying cognitive domains. The domains most tested and most successfully treated were verbal memory, attention, and processing speed. Cognitive therapy protocols delivered after chemotherapy and aimed at improving verbal memory, attention, and processing speed hold the most promise. Future research is needed to clarify whether computerized cognitive training can be effective in treating this population, and to identify objective assessment tools that are sensitive to this disorder. Copyright © 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cognitive functions in preschool children with specific language impairment.

PubMed

Reichenbach, Katrin; Bastian, Laura; Rohrbach, Saskia; Gross, Manfred; Sarrar, Lea

2016-07-01

A growing body of research has focused on executive functions in children with specific language impairment (SLI). However, results show limited convergence, particularly in preschool age. The current neuropsychological study compared performance of cognitive functions focused on executive components and working memory in preschool children with SLI to typically developing controls. Performance on the measures cognitive flexibility, inhibition, processing speed and phonological short-term memory was assessed. The monolingual, Caucasian study sample consisted of 30 children with SLI (Mage = 63.3 months, SD = 4.3 months) and 30 healthy controls (Mage = 62.2 months, SD = 3.7 months). Groups were matched for age and nonverbal IQ. Socioeconomic status of the participating families was included. Children with SLI had significantly poorer abilities of phonological short-term memory than matched controls. A tendency of poorer abilities in the SLI group was found for inhibition and processing speed. We confirmed phonological short-term memory to be a reliable marker of SLI in preschoolers. Our results do not give definite support for impaired executive function in SLI, possibly owing to limited sensitivity of test instruments in this age group. We argue for a standardization of executive function tests for research use. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

L1 and L2 Spoken Word Processing: Evidence from Divided Attention Paradigm.

PubMed

Shafiee Nahrkhalaji, Saeedeh; Lotfi, Ahmad Reza; Koosha, Mansour

2016-10-01

The present study aims to reveal some facts concerning first language (L 1 ) and second language (L 2 ) spoken-word processing in unbalanced proficient bilinguals using behavioral measures. The intention here is to examine the effects of auditory repetition word priming and semantic priming in first and second languages of these bilinguals. The other goal is to explore the effects of attention manipulation on implicit retrieval of perceptual and conceptual properties of spoken L 1 and L 2 words. In so doing, the participants performed auditory word priming and semantic priming as memory tests in their L 1 and L 2 . In a half of the trials of each experiment, they carried out the memory test while simultaneously performing a secondary task in visual modality. The results revealed that effects of auditory word priming and semantic priming were present when participants processed L 1 and L 2 words in full attention condition. Attention manipulation could reduce priming magnitude in both experiments in L 2 . Moreover, L 2 word retrieval increases the reaction times and reduces accuracy on the simultaneous secondary task to protect its own accuracy and speed.

Bilingual processing of ASL-English code-blends: The consequences of accessing two lexical representations simultaneously

PubMed Central

Emmorey, Karen; Petrich, Jennifer; Gollan, Tamar H.

2012-01-01

Bilinguals who are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) and English often produce code-blends - simultaneously articulating a sign and a word while conversing with other ASL-English bilinguals. To investigate the cognitive mechanisms underlying code-blend processing, we compared picture-naming times (Experiment 1) and semantic categorization times (Experiment 2) for code-blends versus ASL signs and English words produced alone. In production, code-blending did not slow lexical retrieval for ASL and actually facilitated access to low-frequency signs. However, code-blending delayed speech production because bimodal bilinguals synchronized English and ASL lexical onsets. In comprehension, code-blending speeded access to both languages. Bimodal bilinguals’ ability to produce code-blends without any cost to ASL implies that the language system either has (or can develop) a mechanism for switching off competition to allow simultaneous production of close competitors. Code-blend facilitation effects during comprehension likely reflect cross-linguistic (and cross-modal) integration at the phonological and/or semantic levels. The absence of any consistent processing costs for code-blending illustrates a surprising limitation on dual-task costs and may explain why bimodal bilinguals code-blend more often than they code-switch. PMID:22773886

Processing abstract language modulates motor system activity.

PubMed

Glenberg, Arthur M; Sato, Marc; Cattaneo, Luigi; Riggio, Lucia; Palumbo, Daniele; Buccino, Giovanni

2008-06-01

Embodiment theory proposes that neural systems for perception and action are also engaged during language comprehension. Previous neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies have only been able to demonstrate modulation of action systems during comprehension of concrete language. We provide neurophysiological evidence for modulation of motor system activity during the comprehension of both concrete and abstract language. In Experiment 1, when the described direction of object transfer or information transfer (e.g., away from the reader to another) matched the literal direction of a hand movement used to make a response, speed of responding was faster than when the two directions mismatched (an action-sentence compatibility effect). In Experiment 2, we used single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to study changes in the corticospinal motor pathways to hand muscles while reading the same sentences. Relative to sentences that do not describe transfer, there is greater modulation of activity in the hand muscles when reading sentences describing transfer of both concrete objects and abstract information. These findings are discussed in relation to the human mirror neuron system.

Slow perceptual processing at the core of developmental dyslexia: a parameter-based assessment of visual attention.

PubMed

Stenneken, Prisca; Egetemeir, Johanna; Schulte-Körne, Gerd; Müller, Hermann J; Schneider, Werner X; Finke, Kathrin

2011-10-01

The cognitive causes as well as the neurological and genetic basis of developmental dyslexia, a complex disorder of written language acquisition, are intensely discussed with regard to multiple-deficit models. Accumulating evidence has revealed dyslexics' impairments in a variety of tasks requiring visual attention. The heterogeneity of these experimental results, however, points to the need for measures that are sufficiently sensitive to differentiate between impaired and preserved attentional components within a unified framework. This first parameter-based group study of attentional components in developmental dyslexia addresses potentially altered attentional components that have recently been associated with parietal dysfunctions in dyslexia. We aimed to isolate the general attentional resources that might underlie reduced span performance, i.e., either a deficient working memory storage capacity, or a slowing in visual perceptual processing speed, or both. Furthermore, by analysing attentional selectivity in dyslexia, we addressed a potential lateralized abnormality of visual attention, i.e., a previously suggested rightward spatial deviation compared to normal readers. We investigated a group of high-achieving young adults with persisting dyslexia and matched normal readers in an experimental whole report and a partial report of briefly presented letter arrays. Possible deviations in the parametric values of the dyslexic compared to the control group were taken as markers for the underlying deficit. The dyslexic group showed a striking reduction in perceptual processing speed (by 26% compared to controls) while their working memory storage capacity was in the normal range. In addition, a spatial deviation of attentional weighting compared to the control group was confirmed in dyslexic readers, which was larger in participants with a more severe dyslexic disorder. In general, the present study supports the relevance of perceptual processing speed in disorders of written language acquisition and demonstrates that the parametric assessment provides a suitable tool for specifying the underlying deficit within a unitary framework. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measuring what matters: Effectively predicting language and literacy in children with cochlear implants

PubMed Central

Nittrouer, Susan; Caldwell, Amanda; Holloman, Christopher

2012-01-01

Objective To evaluate how well various language measures typically used with very young children after they receive cochlear implants predict language and literacy skills as they enter school. Methods Subjects were 50 children who had just completed kindergarten and were 6 or 7 years of age. All had previously participated in a longitudinal study from 12 to 48 months of age. 27 children had severe-to-profound hearing loss and wore cochlear implants, 8 had moderate hearing loss and wore hearing aids, and 15 had normal hearing. A latent variable of language/literacy skill was constructed from scores on six kinds of measures: (1) language comprehension; (2) expressive vocabulary; (3) phonological awareness; (4) literacy; (5) narrative skill; and (6) processing speed. Five kinds of language measures obtained at six-month intervals from 12 to 48 months of age were used as predictor variables in correlational analyses: (1) language comprehension; (2) expressive vocabulary; (3) syntactic structure of productive speech; (4) form and (5) function of language used in language samples. Results Outcomes quantified how much variance in kindergarten language/literacy performance was explained by each predictor variable, at each earlier age of testing. Comprehension measures consistently predicted roughly 25 to 50 percent of the variance in kindergarten language/literacy performance, and were the only effective predictors before 24 months of age. Vocabulary and syntactic complexity were strong predictors after roughly 36 months of age. Amount of speech produced in language samples and number of answers to parental queries explained moderate amounts of variance in performance after 24 months of age. Number of manual gestures and nonspeech vocalizations produced in language samples explained little to no variance before 24 months of age, and after that were negatively correlated with kindergarten performance. The number of imitations produced in language samples at 24 months of age explained about 10 percent of variance in kindergarten performance, but was otherwise not correlated or negatively correlated with kindergarten outcomes. Conclusions Before 24 months of age, the best predictor of later language success is language comprehension. In general, measures that index a child’s cognitive processing of language are the most sensitive predictors of school-age language abilities. PMID:22648088

A Longitudinal Study on Predictors of Early Calculation Development among Young Children At-Risk for Learning Difficulties

PubMed Central

Peng, Peng; Namkung, Jessica M.; Fuchs, Douglas; Fuchs, Lynn S.; Patton, Samuel; Yen, Loulee; Compton, Donald L.; Zhang, Wenjuan; Miller, Amanda; Hamlett, Carol

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore domain-general cognitive skills, domain-specific academic skills, and demographic characteristics that are associated with calculation development from first through third grade among young children with learning difficulties. Participants were 176 children identified with reading and mathematics difficulties at the beginning of first grade. Data were collected on working memory, language, nonverbal reasoning, processing speed, decoding, numerical competence, incoming calculations, socioeconomic status, and gender at the beginning of first grade and on calculation performance at 4 time points: the beginning of first grade, the end of first grade, the end of second grade, and the end of third grade. Latent growth modelling analysis showed that numerical competence, incoming calculation, processing speed, and decoding skills significantly explained the variance of calculation performance at the beginning of first grade. Numerical competence and processing speed significantly explained the variance of calculation performance at the end of third grade. However, numerical competence was the only significant predictor of calculation development from the beginning of first grade to the end of third grade. Implications of these findings for early calculation instructions among young at-risk children are discussed. PMID:27572520

Grammatical Constraints on Language Switching: Language Control is not Just Executive Control

PubMed Central

Gollan, Tamar H.; Goldrick, Matthew

2016-01-01

The current study investigated the roles of grammaticality and executive control on bilingual language selection by examining production speed and failures of language control, or intrusion errors (e.g., saying el instead of the), in young and aging bilinguals. Production of mixed-language connected speech was elicited by asking Spanish-English bilinguals to read aloud paragraphs that had mostly grammatical (conforming to naturally occurring constraints) or mostly ungrammatical (haphazard mixing) language switches, and low or high switching rate. Mixed-language speech was slower and less accurate when switch-rate was high, but especially (for speed) or only (for intrusion errors) if switches were also ungrammatical. Executive function ability (measured with a variety of tasks in young bilinguals in Experiment 1, and aging bilinguals in Experiment 2), slowed production and increased intrusion rate in a generalized fashion, but with little or no interaction with grammaticality. Aging effects appeared to reflect reduced monitoring ability (evidenced by a lower rate of self-corrected intrusions). These results demonstrate robust effects of grammatical encoding on language selection, and imply that executive control influences bilingual language production only after sentence planning and lexical selection. PMID:27667899

FMS: A Format Manipulation System for Automatic Production of Natural Language Documents, Second Edition. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silver, Steven S.

FMS/3 is a system for producing hard copy documentation at high speed from free format text and command input. The system was originally written in assembler language for a 12K IBM 360 model 20 using a high speed 1403 printer with the UCS-TN chain option (upper and lower case). Input was from an IBM 2560 Multi-function Card Machine. The model 20…

Impact of neurocognition on social and role functioning in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis.

PubMed

Carrión, Ricardo E; Goldberg, Terry E; McLaughlin, Danielle; Auther, Andrea M; Correll, Christoph U; Cornblatt, Barbara A

2011-08-01

Cognitive deficits have been well documented in schizophrenia and have been shown to impair quality of life and to compromise everyday functioning. Recent studies of adolescents and young adults at high risk for developing psychosis show that neurocognitive impairments are detectable before the onset of psychotic symptoms. However, it remains unclear how cognitive impairments affect functioning before the onset of psychosis. The authors assessed cognitive impairment in adolescents at clinical high risk for psychosis and examined its impact on social and role functioning. A sample of 127 treatment-seeking patients at clinical high risk for psychosis and a group of 80 healthy comparison subjects were identified and recruited for research in the Recognition and Prevention Program. At baseline, participants were assessed with a comprehensive neurocognitive battery as well as measures of social and role functioning. Relative to healthy comparison subjects, clinical high-risk patients showed significant impairments in the domains of processing speed, verbal memory, executive function, working memory, visuospatial processing, motor speed, sustained attention, and language. Clinical high-risk patients also displayed impaired social and role functioning at baseline. Among patients with attenuated positive symptoms, processing speed was related to social and role functioning at baseline. These findings demonstrate that cognitive and functional impairments are detectable in patients at clinical high risk for psychosis before the onset of psychotic illness and that processing speed appears to be an important cognitive predictor of poor functioning.

Impact of Neurocognition on Social and Role Functioning in Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis

PubMed Central

Carrión, Ricardo E.; Goldberg, Terry E.; McLaughlin, Danielle; Auther, Andrea M.; Correll, Christoph U.; Cornblatt, Barbara A.

2011-01-01

Objective Cognitive deficits have been well documented in schizophrenia and have been shown to impair quality of life and to compromise everyday functioning. Recent studies of adolescents and young adults at high risk for developing psychosis show that neurocognitive impairments are detectable before the onset of psychotic symptoms. However, it remains unclear how cognitive impairments affect functioning before the onset of psychosis. The authors assessed cognitive impairment in adolescents at clinical high risk for psychosis and examined its impact on social and role functioning. Method A sample of 127 treatment-seeking patients at clinical high risk for psychosis and a group of 80 healthy comparison subjects were identified and recruited for research in the Recognition and Prevention Program. At baseline, participants were assessed with a comprehensive neurocognitive battery as well as measures of social and role functioning. Results Relative to healthy comparison subjects, clinical high-risk patients showed significant impairments in the domains of processing speed, verbal memory, executive function, working memory, visuospatial processing, motor speed, sustained attention, and language. Clinical high-risk patients also displayed impaired social and role functioning at baseline. Among patients with attenuated positive symptoms, processing speed was related to social and role functioning at baseline. Conclusions These findings demonstrate that cognitive and functional impairments are detectable in patients at clinical high risk for psychosis before the onset of psychotic illness and that processing speed appears to be an important cognitive predictor of poor functioning. PMID:21536691

Review of Research: Naming Speed and Reading--From Prediction to Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirby, John R.; Georgiou, George K.; Martinussen, Rhonda; Parrila, Rauno

2010-01-01

Current theoretical interpretations of naming speed and the research literature on its relation to reading are reviewed in this article. The authors examine naming speed's effects across languages and the shape of its relationship to reading. Also considered is the double-deficit hypothesis, by which students with both slow naming speed and low…

Super-Resolution in Plenoptic Cameras Using FPGAs

PubMed Central

Pérez, Joel; Magdaleno, Eduardo; Pérez, Fernando; Rodríguez, Manuel; Hernández, David; Corrales, Jaime

2014-01-01

Plenoptic cameras are a new type of sensor that extend the possibilities of current commercial cameras allowing 3D refocusing or the capture of 3D depths. One of the limitations of plenoptic cameras is their limited spatial resolution. In this paper we describe a fast, specialized hardware implementation of a super-resolution algorithm for plenoptic cameras. The algorithm has been designed for field programmable graphic array (FPGA) devices using VHDL (very high speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) hardware description language). With this technology, we obtain an acceleration of several orders of magnitude using its extremely high-performance signal processing capability through parallelism and pipeline architecture. The system has been developed using generics of the VHDL language. This allows a very versatile and parameterizable system. The system user can easily modify parameters such as data width, number of microlenses of the plenoptic camera, their size and shape, and the super-resolution factor. The speed of the algorithm in FPGA has been successfully compared with the execution using a conventional computer for several image sizes and different 3D refocusing planes. PMID:24841246

An online condition monitoring system implemented an internet connectivity and FTP for low speed slew bearing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caesarendra, W.; Kosasih, B.; Tjahjowidodo, T.; Ariyanto, M.; Daryl, LWQ; Pamungkas, D.

2018-04-01

Rapid and reliable information in slew bearing maintenance is not trivial issue. This paper presents the online monitoring system to assist maintenance engineer in order to monitor the bearing condition of low speed slew bearing in sheet metal company. The system is able to pass the vibration information from the place where the bearing and accelerometer sensors are attached to the data center; and from the data center it can be access by opening the online monitoring website from any place and by any person. The online monitoring system is built using some programming languages such as C language, MATLAB, PHP, HTML and CSS. Generally, the flow process is start with the automatic vibration data acquisition; then features are calculated from the acquired vibration data. These features are then sent to the data center; and form the data center, the vibration features can be seen through the online monitoring website. This online monitoring system has been successfully applied in School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong.

Super-resolution in plenoptic cameras using FPGAs.

PubMed

Pérez, Joel; Magdaleno, Eduardo; Pérez, Fernando; Rodríguez, Manuel; Hernández, David; Corrales, Jaime

2014-05-16

Plenoptic cameras are a new type of sensor that extend the possibilities of current commercial cameras allowing 3D refocusing or the capture of 3D depths. One of the limitations of plenoptic cameras is their limited spatial resolution. In this paper we describe a fast, specialized hardware implementation of a super-resolution algorithm for plenoptic cameras. The algorithm has been designed for field programmable graphic array (FPGA) devices using VHDL (very high speed integrated circuit (VHSIC) hardware description language). With this technology, we obtain an acceleration of several orders of magnitude using its extremely high-performance signal processing capability through parallelism and pipeline architecture. The system has been developed using generics of the VHDL language. This allows a very versatile and parameterizable system. The system user can easily modify parameters such as data width, number of microlenses of the plenoptic camera, their size and shape, and the super-resolution factor. The speed of the algorithm in FPGA has been successfully compared with the execution using a conventional computer for several image sizes and different 3D refocusing planes.

Language style matching predicts relationship initiation and stability.

PubMed

Ireland, Molly E; Slatcher, Richard B; Eastwick, Paul W; Scissors, Lauren E; Finkel, Eli J; Pennebaker, James W

2011-01-01

Previous relationship research has largely ignored the importance of similarity in how people talk with one another. Using natural language samples, we investigated whether similarity in dyads' use of function words, called language style matching (LSM), predicts outcomes for romantic relationships. In Study 1, greater LSM in transcripts of 40 speed dates predicted increased likelihood of mutual romantic interest (odds ratio = 3.05). Overall, 33.3% of pairs with LSM above the median mutually desired future contact, compared with 9.1% of pairs with LSM at or below the median. In Study 2, LSM in 86 couples' instant messages positively predicted relationship stability at a 3-month follow-up (odds ratio = 1.95). Specifically, 76.7% of couples with LSM greater than the median were still dating at the follow-up, compared with 53.5% of couples with LSM at or below the median. LSM appears to reflect implicit interpersonal processes central to romantic relationships.

Writing fluency in patients with low-grade glioma before and after surgery.

PubMed

Antonsson, Malin; Johansson, Charlotte; Hartelius, Lena; Henriksson, Ingrid; Longoni, Francesca; Wengelin, Åsa

2018-05-01

Low-grade glioma (LGG) is a type of brain tumour often situated in or near areas involved in language, sensory or motor functions. Depending on localization and tumour characteristics, language or cognitive impairments due to tumour growth and/or surgical resection are obvious risks. One task that may be at risk is writing, both because it requires intact language and memory function and because it is a very complex and cognitively demanding task. The most commonly reported language deficit in LGG patients is oral lexical-retrieval difficulties, and poor lexical retrieval would be expected to affect writing fluency. To explore whether writing fluency is affected in LGG patients before and after surgery and whether it is related to performance on tasks of oral lexical retrieval. Twenty consecutive patients with presumed LGG wrote a narrative and performed a copy task before undergoing surgery and at 3-month follow-up using keystroke-logging software. The same tasks were performed by a reference group (N = 31). The patients were also tested using the Boston Naming Test (BNT) and word-fluency tests before and after surgery. Writing fluency was compared between the patients and the reference group, and between the patients before and after surgery. Relationships between performance on tests of oral lexical retrieval and writing fluency were investigated both before and after surgery. Different aspects of writing fluency were affected in the LGG patients both before and after surgery. However, when controlling for the effect of typing speed, the LGG group differed significantly from the reference group only in the proportion of pauses within words. After surgery, a significant decline was seen in production rate and typing speed in the narrative task, and a significant increase was seen in pauses before words. Strong positive relationships were found between oral lexical retrieval and writing fluency both before and after surgery. Although aspects of writing fluency were affected both before and after surgery, the results indicate that typing speed is an important factor behind the pre-surgery differences. However, the decline in overall productivity and the increase in pauses before words after surgery could be related to a lexical deficit. This is supported by the finding that oral lexical-retrieval scores were strongly correlated with writing fluency. However, further exploration is needed to identify the language and cognitive abilities affecting writing processes in LGG patients. © 2018 The Authors International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Parallel VLSI architecture emulation and the organization of APSA/MPP

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Odonnell, John T.

1987-01-01

The Applicative Programming System Architecture (APSA) combines an applicative language interpreter with a novel parallel computer architecture that is well suited for Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) implementation. The Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) can simulate VLSI circuits by allocating one processing element in its square array to an area on a square VLSI chip. As long as there are not too many long data paths, the MPP can simulate a VLSI clock cycle very rapidly. The APSA circuit contains a binary tree with a few long paths and many short ones. A skewed H-tree layout allows every processing element to simulate a leaf cell and up to four tree nodes, with no loss in parallelism. Emulation of a key APSA algorithm on the MPP resulted in performance 16,000 times faster than a Vax. This speed will make it possible for the APSA language interpreter to run fast enough to support research in parallel list processing algorithms.

Diagnostic efficiency of an ability-focused battery.

PubMed

Miller, Justin B; Fichtenberg, Norman L; Millis, Scott R

2010-05-01

An ability-focused battery (AFB) is a selected group of well-validated neuropsychological measures that assess the conventional range of cognitive domains. This study examined the diagnostic efficiency of an AFB for use in clinical decision making with a mixed sample composed of individuals with neurological brain dysfunction and individuals referred for cognitive assessment without evidence of neurological disorders. Using logistic regression analyses and ROC curve analysis, a five-domain model composed of attention, processing speed, visual-spatial reasoning, language/verbal reasoning, and memory domain scores was fitted that had an AUC of.89 (95% CI =.84-.95). A more parsimonious two-domain model using processing speed and memory was also fitted that had an AUC of.90 (95% confidence interval =.84-.95). A model composed of a global ability score calculated from the mean of the individual domain scores was also fitted with an AUC of.88 (95% CI =.82-.94).

Persistent anterograde amnesia following limbic encephalitis associated with antibodies to the voltage-gated potassium channel complex.

PubMed

Butler, Christopher R; Miller, Thomas D; Kaur, Manveer S; Baker, Ian W; Boothroyd, Georgie D; Illman, Nathan A; Rosenthal, Clive R; Vincent, Angela; Buckley, Camilla J

2014-04-01

Limbic encephalitis (LE) associated with antibodies to the voltage-gated potassium channel complex (VGKC) is a potentially reversible cause of cognitive impairment. Despite the prominence of cognitive dysfunction in this syndrome, little is known about patients' neuropsychological profile at presentation or their long-term cognitive outcome. We used a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery to evaluate cognitive function longitudinally in 19 patients with VGKC-LE. Before immunotherapy, the group had significant impairment of memory, processing speed and executive function, whereas language and perceptual organisation were intact. At follow-up, cognitive impairment was restricted to the memory domain, with processing speed and executive function having returned to the normal range. Residual memory function was predicted by the antibody titre at presentation. The results show that, despite broad cognitive dysfunction in the acute phase, patients with VGKC-LE often make a substantial recovery with immunotherapy but may be left with permanent anterograde amnesia.

Native Language Processing using Exegy Text Miner

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Compton, J

2007-10-18

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's New Architectures Testbed recently evaluated Exegy's Text Miner appliance to assess its applicability to high-performance, automated native language analysis. The evaluation was performed with support from the Computing Applications and Research Department in close collaboration with Global Security programs, and institutional activities in native language analysis. The Exegy Text Miner is a special-purpose device for detecting and flagging user-supplied patterns of characters, whether in streaming text or in collections of documents at very high rates. Patterns may consist of simple lists of words or complex expressions with sub-patterns linked by logical operators. These searches are accomplishedmore » through a combination of specialized hardware (i.e., one or more field-programmable gates arrays in addition to general-purpose processors) and proprietary software that exploits these individual components in an optimal manner (through parallelism and pipelining). For this application the Text Miner has performed accurately and reproducibly at high speeds approaching those documented by Exegy in its technical specifications. The Exegy Text Miner is primarily intended for the single-byte ASCII characters used in English, but at a technical level its capabilities are language-neutral and can be applied to multi-byte character sets such as those found in Arabic and Chinese. The system is used for searching databases or tracking streaming text with respect to one or more lexicons. In a real operational environment it is likely that data would need to be processed separately for each lexicon or search technique. However, the searches would be so fast that multiple passes should not be considered as a limitation a priori. Indeed, it is conceivable that large databases could be searched as often as necessary if new queries were deemed worthwhile. This project is concerned with evaluating the Exegy Text Miner installed in the New Architectures Testbed running under software version 2.0. The concrete goals of the evaluation were to test the speed and accuracy of the Exegy and explore ways that it could be employed in current or future text-processing projects at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). This study extended beyond this to evaluate its suitability for processing foreign language sources. The scope of this study was limited to the capabilities of the Exegy Text Miner in the file search mode and does not attempt simulating the streaming mode. Since the capabilities of the machine are invariant to the choice of input mode and since timing should not depend on this choice, it was felt that the added effort was not necessary for this restricted study.« less

A high level language for a high performance computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Perrott, R. H.

1978-01-01

The proposed computational aerodynamic facility will join the ranks of the supercomputers due to its architecture and increased execution speed. At present, the languages used to program these supercomputers have been modifications of programming languages which were designed many years ago for sequential machines. A new programming language should be developed based on the techniques which have proved valuable for sequential programming languages and incorporating the algorithmic techniques required for these supercomputers. The design objectives for such a language are outlined.

Legacy model integration for enhancing hydrologic interdisciplinary research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dozier, A.; Arabi, M.; David, O.

2013-12-01

Many challenges are introduced to interdisciplinary research in and around the hydrologic science community due to advances in computing technology and modeling capabilities in different programming languages, across different platforms and frameworks by researchers in a variety of fields with a variety of experience in computer programming. Many new hydrologic models as well as optimization, parameter estimation, and uncertainty characterization techniques are developed in scripting languages such as Matlab, R, Python, or in newer languages such as Java and the .Net languages, whereas many legacy models have been written in FORTRAN and C, which complicates inter-model communication for two-way feedbacks. However, most hydrologic researchers and industry personnel have little knowledge of the computing technologies that are available to address the model integration process. Therefore, the goal of this study is to address these new challenges by utilizing a novel approach based on a publish-subscribe-type system to enhance modeling capabilities of legacy socio-economic, hydrologic, and ecologic software. Enhancements include massive parallelization of executions and access to legacy model variables at any point during the simulation process by another program without having to compile all the models together into an inseparable 'super-model'. Thus, this study provides two-way feedback mechanisms between multiple different process models that can be written in various programming languages and can run on different machines and operating systems. Additionally, a level of abstraction is given to the model integration process that allows researchers and other technical personnel to perform more detailed and interactive modeling, visualization, optimization, calibration, and uncertainty analysis without requiring deep understanding of inter-process communication. To be compatible, a program must be written in a programming language with bindings to a common implementation of the message passing interface (MPI), which includes FORTRAN, C, Java, the .NET languages, Python, R, Matlab, and many others. The system is tested on a longstanding legacy hydrologic model, the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), to observe and enhance speed-up capabilities for various optimization, parameter estimation, and model uncertainty characterization techniques, which is particularly important for computationally intensive hydrologic simulations. Initial results indicate that the legacy extension system significantly decreases developer time, computation time, and the cost of purchasing commercial parallel processing licenses, while enhancing interdisciplinary research by providing detailed two-way feedback mechanisms between various process models with minimal changes to legacy code.

NOBLE - Flexible concept recognition for large-scale biomedical natural language processing.

PubMed

Tseytlin, Eugene; Mitchell, Kevin; Legowski, Elizabeth; Corrigan, Julia; Chavan, Girish; Jacobson, Rebecca S

2016-01-14

Natural language processing (NLP) applications are increasingly important in biomedical data analysis, knowledge engineering, and decision support. Concept recognition is an important component task for NLP pipelines, and can be either general-purpose or domain-specific. We describe a novel, flexible, and general-purpose concept recognition component for NLP pipelines, and compare its speed and accuracy against five commonly used alternatives on both a biological and clinical corpus. NOBLE Coder implements a general algorithm for matching terms to concepts from an arbitrary vocabulary set. The system's matching options can be configured individually or in combination to yield specific system behavior for a variety of NLP tasks. The software is open source, freely available, and easily integrated into UIMA or GATE. We benchmarked speed and accuracy of the system against the CRAFT and ShARe corpora as reference standards and compared it to MMTx, MGrep, Concept Mapper, cTAKES Dictionary Lookup Annotator, and cTAKES Fast Dictionary Lookup Annotator. We describe key advantages of the NOBLE Coder system and associated tools, including its greedy algorithm, configurable matching strategies, and multiple terminology input formats. These features provide unique functionality when compared with existing alternatives, including state-of-the-art systems. On two benchmarking tasks, NOBLE's performance exceeded commonly used alternatives, performing almost as well as the most advanced systems. Error analysis revealed differences in error profiles among systems. NOBLE Coder is comparable to other widely used concept recognition systems in terms of accuracy and speed. Advantages of NOBLE Coder include its interactive terminology builder tool, ease of configuration, and adaptability to various domains and tasks. NOBLE provides a term-to-concept matching system suitable for general concept recognition in biomedical NLP pipelines.

Comparing Motor Skills in Autism Spectrum Individuals With and Without Speech Delay

PubMed Central

Barbeau, Elise B.; Meilleur, Andrée‐Anne S.; Zeffiro, Thomas A.

2015-01-01

Movement atypicalities in speed, coordination, posture, and gait have been observed across the autism spectrum (AS) and atypicalities in coordination are more commonly observed in AS individuals without delayed speech (DSM‐IV Asperger) than in those with atypical or delayed speech onset. However, few studies have provided quantitative data to support these mostly clinical observations. Here, we compared perceptual and motor performance between 30 typically developing and AS individuals (21 with speech delay and 18 without speech delay) to examine the associations between limb movement control and atypical speech development. Groups were matched for age, intelligence, and sex. The experimental design included: an inspection time task, which measures visual processing speed; the Purdue Pegboard, which measures finger dexterity, bimanual performance, and hand‐eye coordination; the Annett Peg Moving Task, which measures unimanual goal‐directed arm movement; and a simple reaction time task. We used analysis of covariance to investigate group differences in task performance and linear regression models to explore potential associations between intelligence, language skills, simple reaction time, and visually guided movement performance. AS participants without speech delay performed slower than typical participants in the Purdue Pegboard subtests. AS participants without speech delay showed poorer bimanual coordination than those with speech delay. Visual processing speed was slightly faster in both AS groups than in the typical group. Altogether, these results suggest that AS individuals with and without speech delay differ in visually guided and visually triggered behavior and show that early language skills are associated with slower movement in simple and complex motor tasks. Autism Res 2015, 8: 682–693. © 2015 The Authors Autism Research published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Autism Research PMID:25820662

Exceptional lexical skills but executive language deficits in school starters and young adults with Turners syndrome: implications for X chromosome effects on brain function.

PubMed

Temple, Christine M; Shephard, Elizabeth E

2012-03-01

TS school starters had enhanced receptive and expressive language on standardised assessment (CELF-P) and enhanced rhyme judgements, spoonerisms, and lexical decision, indicating enhanced phonological skills and word representations. There was marginal but consistent advantage across lexico-semantic tasks. On executive tasks, speeded naming of numbers was impaired but not pictures. Young TS adults had enhanced naming and receptive vocabulary, indicating enhanced semantic skills. There were consistent deficits in executive language: phonemic oral fluency, rhyme fluency, speeded naming of pictures, numbers and colours; sentence completion requiring supression of prepotent responses. Haploinsufficiency of X-chromosome drives mechanisms that affect the anatomical and neurochemical development of the brain, resulting in enhanced temporal lobe aspects of language. These strengths co-exist with impaired development of frontal lobe executive language systems. This means not only that these elements of language can decouple in development but that their very independence is driven by mechanisms linked to the X-chromosome. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Both Handwriting Speed and Selective Attention Are Important to Lecture Note-Taking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peverly, Stephen T.; Garner, Joanna K.; Vekaria, Pooja C.

2014-01-01

The primary purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the relationship of handwriting speed, fine motor fluency, speed of verbal access, language comprehension, working memory, and attention (executive control; selective) to note-taking and all of the aforementioned variables to test performance (written recall). A second purpose was to…

Projectile Motion in the "Language" of Orbital Motion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zurcher, Ulrich

2011-01-01

We consider the orbit of projectiles launched with arbitrary speeds from the Earth's surface. This is a generalization of Newton's discussion about the transition from parabolic to circular orbits, when the launch speed approaches the value [image omitted]. We find the range for arbitrary launch speeds and angles, and calculate the eccentricity of…

Increasing the speed of medical image processing in MatLab®

PubMed Central

Bister, M; Yap, CS; Ng, KH; Tok, CH

2007-01-01

MatLab® has often been considered an excellent environment for fast algorithm development but is generally perceived as slow and hence not fit for routine medical image processing, where large data sets are now available e.g., high-resolution CT image sets with typically hundreds of 512x512 slices. Yet, with proper programming practices – vectorization, pre-allocation and specialization – applications in MatLab® can run as fast as in C language. In this article, this point is illustrated with fast implementations of bilinear interpolation, watershed segmentation and volume rendering. PMID:21614269

Automated document analysis system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Black, Jeffrey D.; Dietzel, Robert; Hartnett, David

2002-08-01

A software application has been developed to aid law enforcement and government intelligence gathering organizations in the translation and analysis of foreign language documents with potential intelligence content. The Automated Document Analysis System (ADAS) provides the capability to search (data or text mine) documents in English and the most commonly encountered foreign languages, including Arabic. Hardcopy documents are scanned by a high-speed scanner and are optical character recognized (OCR). Documents obtained in an electronic format bypass the OCR and are copied directly to a working directory. For translation and analysis, the script and the language of the documents are first determined. If the document is not in English, the document is machine translated to English. The documents are searched for keywords and key features in either the native language or translated English. The user can quickly review the document to determine if it has any intelligence content and whether detailed, verbatim human translation is required. The documents and document content are cataloged for potential future analysis. The system allows non-linguists to evaluate foreign language documents and allows for the quick analysis of a large quantity of documents. All document processing can be performed manually or automatically on a single document or a batch of documents.

Cross-Language Modulation of Visual Attention Span: An Arabic-French-Spanish Comparison in Skilled Adult Readers.

PubMed

Awadh, Faris H R; Phénix, Thierry; Antzaka, Alexia; Lallier, Marie; Carreiras, Manuel; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA) span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages -French, Spanish, and Arabic- that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were skilled adult readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented five consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T). All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between VA span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features.

Cross-Language Modulation of Visual Attention Span: An Arabic-French-Spanish Comparison in Skilled Adult Readers

PubMed Central

Awadh, Faris H. R.; Phénix, Thierry; Antzaka, Alexia; Lallier, Marie; Carreiras, Manuel; Valdois, Sylviane

2016-01-01

In delineating the amount of orthographic information that can be processed in parallel during a single fixation, the visual attention (VA) span acts as a key component of the reading system. Previous studies focused on the contribution of VA span to normal and pathological reading in monolingual and bilingual children from different European languages, without direct cross-language comparison. In the current paper, we explored modulations of VA span abilities in three languages –French, Spanish, and Arabic– that differ in transparency, reading direction and writing systems. The participants were skilled adult readers who were native speakers of French, Spanish or Arabic. They were administered tasks of global and partial letter report, single letter identification and text reading. Their VA span abilities were assessed using tasks that require the processing of briefly presented five consonant strings (e.g., R S H F T). All five consonants had to be reported in global report but a single cued letter in partial report. Results showed that VA span was reduced in Arabic readers as compared to French or Spanish readers who otherwise show a similar high performance in the two report tasks. The analysis of VA span response patterns in global report showed a left-right asymmetry in all three languages. A leftward letter advantage was found in French and Spanish but a rightward advantage in Arabic. The response patterns were symmetric in partial report, regardless of the language. Last, a significant relationship was found between VA span abilities and reading speed but only for French. The overall findings suggest that the size of VA span, the shape of VA span response patterns and the VA Span-reading relationship are modulated by language-specific features. PMID:27014125

Cognitive performance in hypotensive persons with spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Jegede, Adejoke B; Rosado-Rivera, Dwindally; Bauman, William A; Cardozo, Christopher P; Sano, Mary; Moyer, Jeremy M; Brooks, Monifa; Wecht, Jill Maria

2010-02-01

Due to sympathetic de-centralization, individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), especially those with tetraplegia, often present with hypotension, worsened with upright posture. Several investigations in the non-SCI population have noted a relationship between chronic hypotension and deficits in memory, attention and processing speed and delayed reaction times. To determine cognitive function in persons with SCI who were normotensive or hypotensive over a 24-h observation period while maintaining their routine activities. Subjects included 20 individuals with chronic SCI (2-39 years), 13 with tetraplegia (C4-8) and 7 with paraplegia (T2-11). Individuals with hypotension were defined as having a mean 24-h systolic blood pressure (SBP) below 110 mmHg for males and 100 mmHg for females, and having spent >or=50% of the total time below these gender-specific thresholds. The cognitive battery used included assessment of memory (CVLT), attention and processing speed (Digit Span, Stroop word and color and Oral Trails A), language (COWAT) and executive function (Oral Trails B and Stroop color-word). Demographic parameters did not differ among the hypotensive and normotensive groups; the proportion of individuals with tetraplegia (82%) was higher in the hypotensive group. Memory was significantly impaired (P < 0.05) and there was a trend toward slowed attention and processing speed (P < 0.06) in the hypotensive compared to the normotensive group. These preliminary data suggest that chronic hypotension in persons with SCI is associated with deficits in memory and possibly attention and processing speed, as previously reported in the non-SCI population.

Adjunctive raloxifene treatment improves attention and memory in men and women with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Weickert, T W; Weinberg, D; Lenroot, R; Catts, S V; Wells, R; Vercammen, A; O'Donnell, M; Galletly, C; Liu, D; Balzan, R; Short, B; Pellen, D; Curtis, J; Carr, V J; Kulkarni, J; Schofield, P R; Weickert, C S

2015-06-01

There is increasing clinical and molecular evidence for the role of hormones and specifically estrogen and its receptor in schizophrenia. A selective estrogen receptor modulator, raloxifene, stimulates estrogen-like activity in brain and can improve cognition in older adults. The present study tested the extent to which adjunctive raloxifene treatment improved cognition and reduced symptoms in young to middle-age men and women with schizophrenia. Ninety-eight patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were recruited into a dual-site, thirteen-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of adjunctive raloxifene treatment in addition to their usual antipsychotic medications. Symptom severity and cognition in the domains of working memory, attention/processing speed, language and verbal memory were assessed at baseline, 6 and 13 weeks. Analyses of the initial 6-week phase of the study using a parallel groups design (with 39 patients receiving placebo and 40 receiving raloxifene) revealed that participants receiving adjunctive raloxifene treatment showed significant improvement relative to placebo in memory and attention/processing speed. There was no reduction in symptom severity with treatment compared with placebo. There were significant carryover effects, suggesting some cognitive benefits are sustained even after raloxifene withdrawal. Analysis of the 13-week crossover data revealed significant improvement with raloxifene only in attention/processing speed. This is the first study to show that daily, oral adjunctive raloxifene treatment at 120 mg per day has beneficial effects on attention/processing speed and memory for both men and women with schizophrenia. Thus, raloxifene may be useful as an adjunctive treatment for cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.

An implementation of the SNR high speed network communication protocol (Receiver part)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wan, Wen-Jyh

1995-03-01

This thesis work is to implement the receiver pan of the SNR high speed network transport protocol. The approach was to use the Systems of Communicating Machines (SCM) as the formal definition of the protocol. Programs were developed on top of the Unix system using C programming language. The Unix system features that were adopted for this implementation were multitasking, signals, shared memory, semaphores, sockets, timers and process control. The problems encountered, and solved, were signal loss, shared memory conflicts, process synchronization, scheduling, data alignment and errors in the SCM specification itself. The result was a correctly functioning program which implemented the SNR protocol. The system was tested using different connection modes, lost packets, duplicate packets and large data transfers. The contributions of this thesis are: (1) implementation of the receiver part of the SNR high speed transport protocol; (2) testing and integration with the transmitter part of the SNR transport protocol on an FDDI data link layered network; (3) demonstration of the functions of the SNR transport protocol such as connection management, sequenced delivery, flow control and error recovery using selective repeat methods of retransmission; and (4) modifications to the SNR transport protocol specification such as corrections for incorrect predicate conditions, defining of additional packet types formats, solutions for signal lost and processes contention problems etc.

A longitudinal study on predictors of early calculation development among young children at risk for learning difficulties.

PubMed

Peng, Peng; Namkung, Jessica M; Fuchs, Douglas; Fuchs, Lynn S; Patton, Samuel; Yen, Loulee; Compton, Donald L; Zhang, Wenjuan; Miller, Amanda; Hamlett, Carol

2016-12-01

The purpose of this study was to explore domain-general cognitive skills, domain-specific academic skills, and demographic characteristics that are associated with calculation development from first grade to third grade among young children with learning difficulties. Participants were 176 children identified with reading and mathematics difficulties at the beginning of first grade. Data were collected on working memory, language, nonverbal reasoning, processing speed, decoding, numerical competence, incoming calculations, socioeconomic status, and gender at the beginning of first grade and on calculation performance at four time points: the beginning of first grade, the end of first grade, the end of second grade, and the end of third grade. Latent growth modeling analysis showed that numerical competence, incoming calculation, processing speed, and decoding skills significantly explained the variance in calculation performance at the beginning of first grade. Numerical competence and processing speed significantly explained the variance in calculation performance at the end of third grade. However, numerical competence was the only significant predictor of calculation development from the beginning of first grade to the end of third grade. Implications of these findings for early calculation instructions among young at-risk children are discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

GaAs Supercomputing: Architecture, Language, And Algorithms For Image Processing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johl, John T.; Baker, Nick C.

1988-10-01

The application of high-speed GaAs processors in a parallel system matches the demanding computational requirements of image processing. The architecture of the McDonnell Douglas Astronautics Company (MDAC) vector processor is described along with the algorithms and language translator. Most image and signal processing algorithms can utilize parallel processing and show a significant performance improvement over sequential versions. The parallelization performed by this system is within each vector instruction. Since each vector has many elements, each requiring some computation, useful concurrent arithmetic operations can easily be performed. Balancing the memory bandwidth with the computation rate of the processors is an important design consideration for high efficiency and utilization. The architecture features a bus-based execution unit consisting of four to eight 32-bit GaAs RISC microprocessors running at a 200 MHz clock rate for a peak performance of 1.6 BOPS. The execution unit is connected to a vector memory with three buses capable of transferring two input words and one output word every 10 nsec. The address generators inside the vector memory perform different vector addressing modes and feed the data to the execution unit. The functions discussed in this paper include basic MATRIX OPERATIONS, 2-D SPATIAL CONVOLUTION, HISTOGRAM, and FFT. For each of these algorithms, assembly language programs were run on a behavioral model of the system to obtain performance figures.

Eye Movement Patterns in Natural Reading: A Comparison of Monolingual and Bilingual Reading of a Novel

PubMed Central

Cop, Uschi; Drieghe, Denis; Duyck, Wouter

2015-01-01

Introduction and Method This paper presents a corpus of sentence level eye movement parameters for unbalanced bilingual first language (L1) and second-language (L2) reading and monolingual reading of a complete novel (56 000 words). We present important sentence-level basic eye movement parameters of both bilingual and monolingual natural reading extracted from this large data corpus. Results and Conclusion Bilingual L2 reading patterns show longer sentence reading times (20%), more fixations (21%), shorter saccades (12%) and less word skipping (4.6%), than L1 reading patterns. Regression rates are the same for L1 and L2 reading. These results could indicate, analogous to a previous simulation with the E-Z reader model in the literature, that it is primarily the speeding up of lexical access that drives both L1 and L2 reading development. Bilingual L1 reading does not differ in any major way from monolingual reading. This contrasts with predictions made by the weaker links account, which predicts a bilingual disadvantage in language processing caused by divided exposure between languages. PMID:26287379

Translation-priming effects on tip-of-the-tongue states

PubMed Central

Gollan, Tamar H.; Ferreira, Victor S.; Cera, Cynthia; Flett, Susanna

2013-01-01

Bilinguals experience more tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states than monolinguals, but it is not known if this is caused in part by access of representations from both of bilinguals’ languages, or dual-language activation. In two translation priming experiments, bilinguals were given three Spanish primes and produced either semantically (Experiment 1) or phonologically related Spanish words (Experiment 2) to each. They then named a picture in English. On critical trials, one of the primes was the Spanish translation of the English picture name. Translation primes significantly increased TOTs regardless of task, and also speeded correct retrievals but only with the semantic task. In both experiments translation-primed TOTs were significantly more likely to resolve spontaneously. These results illustrate an effect of non-dominant language activation on dominant-language retrieval, as well as imply that TOTs can arise during (not after) lexical retrieval, at a level of processing where translation equivalent lexical representations normally interact (possibly competing for selection, or mutually activating each other, or both depending on the locus of retrieval failure). PMID:24644375

Reading speed and phonological awareness deficits among Arabic-speaking children with dyslexia.

PubMed

Layes, Smail; Lalonde, Robert; Rebaï, Mohamed

2015-02-01

Although reading accuracy of isolated words and phonological awareness represent the main criteria of subtyping developmental dyslexia, there is increasing evidence that reduced reading speed also represents a defining characteristic. In the present study, reading speed and accuracy were measured in Arabic-speaking phonological and mixed dyslexic children matched with controls of the same age. Participants in third and fourth grades, aged from 9-10 to 9-8 years, were given single frequent and infrequent word and pseudo-word reading and phonological awareness tasks. Results showed that the group with dyslexia scored significantly lower than controls in accuracy and speed in reading tasks. Phonological and mixed dyslexic subgroups differed in infrequent and frequent word reading accuracy, the latter being worse. In contrast, the subgroups were comparable in pseudo-word identification and phonological awareness. Delayed phonological and recognition processes of infrequent and frequent words, respectively, were placed in the context of the dual route model of reading and the specific orthographic features of the Arabic language. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cross-Language Correlates in Phonological Awareness and Naming Speed: Evidence from Deep and Shallow Orthographies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pae, Hye Kyeong; Sevcik, Rose A.; Morris, Robin D.

2010-01-01

Phonological awareness (PA) and rapid automatised naming (RAN) skills in relation to reading acquisition were examined using two languages, one with a deep orthography (English) and the other with a shallow orthography (Korean). Participants were 50 Korean American children who spoke English as a dominant language (DL) and were learning to read…

Reconstruction of Automobile Destruction: An Example of the Interaction between Language and Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loftus, Elizabeth F.; Palmer, John C.

1974-01-01

Two experiments are reported in which subjects viewed films of automobile accidents and then answered questions about events occurring in the films. Wording of questions regarding speed influenced subjects' estimates of speed. (Author/RM)

Computational Software to Fit Seismic Data Using Epidemic-Type Aftershock Sequence Models and Modeling Performance Comparisons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chu, A.

2016-12-01

Modern earthquake catalogs are often analyzed using spatial-temporal point process models such as the epidemic-type aftershock sequence (ETAS) models of Ogata (1998). My work implements three of the homogeneous ETAS models described in Ogata (1998). With a model's log-likelihood function, my software finds the Maximum-Likelihood Estimates (MLEs) of the model's parameters to estimate the homogeneous background rate and the temporal and spatial parameters that govern triggering effects. EM-algorithm is employed for its advantages of stability and robustness (Veen and Schoenberg, 2008). My work also presents comparisons among the three models in robustness, convergence speed, and implementations from theory to computing practice. Up-to-date regional seismic data of seismic active areas such as Southern California and Japan are used to demonstrate the comparisons. Data analysis has been done using computer languages Java and R. Java has the advantages of being strong-typed and easiness of controlling memory resources, while R has the advantages of having numerous available functions in statistical computing. Comparisons are also made between the two programming languages in convergence and stability, computational speed, and easiness of implementation. Issues that may affect convergence such as spatial shapes are discussed.

The fast azimuthal integration Python library: pyFAI.

PubMed

Ashiotis, Giannis; Deschildre, Aurore; Nawaz, Zubair; Wright, Jonathan P; Karkoulis, Dimitrios; Picca, Frédéric Emmanuel; Kieffer, Jérôme

2015-04-01

pyFAI is an open-source software package designed to perform azimuthal integration and, correspondingly, two-dimensional regrouping on area-detector frames for small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering experiments. It is written in Python (with binary submodules for improved performance), a language widely accepted and used by the scientific community today, which enables users to easily incorporate the pyFAI library into their processing pipeline. This article focuses on recent work, especially the ease of calibration, its accuracy and the execution speed for integration.

The application of NASCAD as a NASTRAN pre- and post-processor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Peltzman, Alan N.

1987-01-01

The NASA Computer Aided Design (NASCAD) graphics package provides an effective way to interactively create, view, and refine analytic data models. NASCAD's macro language, combined with its powerful 3-D geometric data base allows the user important flexibility and speed in constructing his model. This flexibility has the added benefit of enabling the user to keep pace with any new NASTRAN developments. NASCAD allows models to be conveniently viewed and plotted to best advantage in both pre- and post-process phases of development, providing useful visual feedback to the analysis process. NASCAD, used as a graphics compliment to NASTRAN, can play a valuable role in the process of finite element modeling.

Cognitive and Linguistic Predictors of Mathematical Word Problems With and Without Irrelevant Information.

PubMed

Wang, Amber Y; Fuchs, Lynn S; Fuchs, Douglas

2016-12-01

The purpose of this study was to identify cognitive and linguistic predictors of word problems with versus without irrelevant information. The sample was 701 2nd-grade students who received no specialized intervention on word problems. In the fall, they were assessed on initial arithmetic and word-problem skill as well as language ability, working memory capacity, and processing speed; in the spring, they were tested on a word-problem measure that included items with versus without irrelevant information. Significant predictors common to both forms of word problems were initial arithmetic and word problem-solving skill as well as language and working memory. Nonverbal reasoning predicted word problems with irrelevant information, but not word problems without irrelevant information. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for intervention and future research.

ChalkBoard: Mapping Functions to Polygons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matlage, Kevin; Gill, Andy

ChalkBoard is a domain specific language for describing images. The ChalkBoard language is uncompromisingly functional and encourages the use of modern functional idioms. ChalkBoard uses off-the-shelf graphics cards to speed up rendering of functional descriptions. In this paper, we describe the design of the core ChalkBoard language, and the architecture of our static image generation accelerator.

Technological Diversity: A Case Study into Language Learners' Mobile Technology Use Inside and Outside the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brick, Billy; Cervi-Wilson, Tiziana

2015-01-01

The speed of technological advance in the mobile phone, netbook and tablet markets has meant that learners increasingly have access to digital devices capable of enhancing their learning experience. This case study reports on how language learners, taking Italian as an option on the Institution Wide Languages Programme (IWLP) at Coventry…

The Optimum Conditions of Foreign Languages in Primary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giannikas, Christina Nicole

2014-01-01

The aim of the paper is to review the primary language learning situation in Europe and shed light on the benefits it carries. Early language learning is the biggest policy development in education and has developed in rapid speed over the past 30 years; this article considers the effects and advantages of the optimum condition of an early start,…

Early motor development and later language and reading skills in children at risk of familial dyslexia.

PubMed

Viholainen, Helena; Ahonen, Timo; Lyytinen, Paula; Cantell, Marja; Tolvanen, Asko; Lyytinen, Heikki

2006-05-01

Relationships between early motor development and language and reading skills were studied in 154 children, of whom 75 had familial risk of dyslexia (37 females, 38 males; at-risk group) and 79 constituted a control group (32 females, 47 males). Motor development was assessed by a structured parental questionnaire during the child's first year of life. Vocabulary and inflectional morphology skills were used as early indicators of language skills at 3 years 6 months and 5 years or 5 years 6 months of age, and reading speed was used as a later indicator of reading skills at 7 years of age. The same subgroups as in our earlier study (in which the cluster analysis was described) were used in this study. The three subgroups of the control group were 'fast motor development', 'slow fine motor development', and 'slow gross motor development', and the two subgroups of the at-risk group were 'slow motor development' and 'fast motor development'. A significant difference was found between the development of expressive language skills. Children with familial risk of dyslexia and slow motor development had a smaller vocabulary with poorer inflectional skills than the other children. They were also slower in their reading speed at the end of the first grade at the age of 7 years. Two different associations are discussed, namely the connection between early motor development and language development, and the connection between early motor development and reading speed.

Poor readers' retrieval mechanism: efficient access is not dependent on reading skill

PubMed Central

Johns, Clinton L.; Matsuki, Kazunaga; Van Dyke, Julie A.

2015-01-01

A substantial body of evidence points to a cue-based direct-access retrieval mechanism as a crucial component of skilled adult reading. We report two experiments aimed at examining whether poor readers are able to make use of the same retrieval mechanism. This is significant in light of findings that poor readers have difficulty retrieving linguistic information (e.g., Perfetti, 1985). Our experiments are based on a previous demonstration of direct-access retrieval in language processing, presented in McElree et al. (2003). Experiment 1 replicates the original result using an auditory implementation of the Speed-Accuracy Tradeoff (SAT) method. This finding represents a significant methodological advance, as it opens up the possibility of exploring retrieval speeds in non-reading populations. Experiment 2 provides evidence that poor readers do use a direct-access retrieval mechanism during listening comprehension, despite overall poorer accuracy and slower retrieval speeds relative to skilled readers. The findings are discussed with respect to hypotheses about the source of poor reading comprehension. PMID:26528212

Speech perception and phonological short-term memory capacity in language impairment: preliminary evidence from adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

PubMed

Loucas, Tom; Riches, Nick Greatorex; Charman, Tony; Pickles, Andrew; Simonoff, Emily; Chandler, Susie; Baird, Gillian

2010-01-01

The cognitive bases of language impairment in specific language impairment (SLI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were investigated in a novel non-word comparison task which manipulated phonological short-term memory (PSTM) and speech perception, both implicated in poor non-word repetition. This study aimed to investigate the contributions of PSTM and speech perception in non-word processing and whether individuals with SLI and ASD plus language impairment (ALI) show similar or different patterns of deficit in these cognitive processes. Three groups of adolescents (aged 14-17 years), 14 with SLI, 16 with ALI, and 17 age and non-verbal IQ matched typically developing (TD) controls, made speeded discriminations between non-word pairs. Stimuli varied in PSTM load (two- or four-syllables) and speech perception load (mismatches on a word-initial or word-medial segment). Reaction times showed effects of both non-word length and mismatch position and these factors interacted: four-syllable and word-initial mismatch stimuli resulted in the slowest decisions. Individuals with language impairment showed the same pattern of performance as those with typical development in the reaction time data. A marginal interaction between group and item length was driven by the SLI and ALI groups being less accurate with long items than short ones, a difference not found in the TD group. Non-word discrimination suggests that there are similarities and differences between adolescents with SLI and ALI and their TD peers. Reaction times appear to be affected by increasing PSTM and speech perception loads in a similar way. However, there was some, albeit weaker, evidence that adolescents with SLI and ALI are less accurate than TD individuals, with both showing an effect of PSTM load. This may indicate, at some level, the processing substrate supporting both PSTM and speech perception is intact in adolescents with SLI and ALI, but also in both there may be impaired access to PSTM resources.

Brain activation associated with practiced left hand mirror writing.

PubMed

Kushnir, T; Arzouan, Y; Karni, A; Manor, D

2013-04-01

Mirror writing occurs in healthy children, in various pathologies and occasionally in healthy adults. There are only scant experimental data on the underlying brain processes. Eight, right-handed, healthy young adults were scanned (BOLD-fMRI) before and after practicing left-hand mirror-writing (lh-MW) over seven sessions. They wrote dictated words, using either the right hand with regularly oriented writing or lh-MW. An MRI compatible stylus-point recording system was used and online visual feedback was provided. Practice resulted in increased speed and readability of lh-MW but the number of movement segments was unchanged. Post-training signal increases occurred in visual, right lateral and medial premotor areas, and in right anterior and posterior peri-sylvian areas corresponding to language areas. These results suggest that lh-MW may constitute a latent ability that can be reinstated by a relatively brief practice experience. Concurrently, right hemisphere language processing areas may emerge, reflecting perhaps a reduction in trans-hemispheric suppression. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An Object Description Language for Distributed Discrete Event Simulations

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-05-24

some tremendous improvements in simulation speed and fidelity. This dissertation describes a new programming language that is useful in creating...104 CHAPTER 8. GLUT- BASED USER INTERFACE....................................il 8. 1. OUTPUT CONCERNS...143 9.3. GLUT BASED DEMONSTRATIONS ......................................................... 145 9.3

Perceptual Simulations and Linguistic Representations Have Differential Effects on Speeded Relatedness Judgments and Recognition Memory

PubMed Central

Tse, Chi-Shing; Kurby, Christopher A.; Du, Feng

2010-01-01

We examined the effect of spatial iconicity (a perceptual simulation of canonical locations of objects) and word-order frequency on language processing and episodic memory of orientation. Participants made speeded relatedness judgments to pairs of words presented in locations typical to their real world arrangements (e.g., ceiling on top and floor on bottom). They then engaged in a surprise orientation recognition task for the word pairs. We replicated Louwerse’s finding (2008) that word-order frequency has a stronger effect on semantic relatedness judgments than spatial iconicity. This is consistent with recent suggestions that linguistic representations have a stronger impact on immediate decisions about verbal materials than perceptual simulations. In contrast, spatial iconicity enhanced episodic memory of orientation to a greater extent than word-order frequency did. This new finding indicates that perceptual simulations have an important role in episodic memory. Results are discussed with respect to theories of perceptual representation and linguistic processing. PMID:19742388

Artificial Intelligence in Medical Practice: The Question to the Answer?

PubMed

Miller, D Douglas; Brown, Eric W

2018-02-01

Computer science advances and ultra-fast computing speeds find artificial intelligence (AI) broadly benefitting modern society-forecasting weather, recognizing faces, detecting fraud, and deciphering genomics. AI's future role in medical practice remains an unanswered question. Machines (computers) learn to detect patterns not decipherable using biostatistics by processing massive datasets (big data) through layered mathematical models (algorithms). Correcting algorithm mistakes (training) adds to AI predictive model confidence. AI is being successfully applied for image analysis in radiology, pathology, and dermatology, with diagnostic speed exceeding, and accuracy paralleling, medical experts. While diagnostic confidence never reaches 100%, combining machines plus physicians reliably enhances system performance. Cognitive programs are impacting medical practice by applying natural language processing to read the rapidly expanding scientific literature and collate years of diverse electronic medical records. In this and other ways, AI may optimize the care trajectory of chronic disease patients, suggest precision therapies for complex illnesses, reduce medical errors, and improve subject enrollment into clinical trials. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Do the same factors predict outcome in schizophrenia and non-schizophrenia syndromes after first-episode psychosis? A two-year follow-up study.

PubMed

Peña, Javier; Segarra, Rafael; Ojeda, Natalia; García, Jon; Eguiluz, José I; Gutiérrez, Miguel

2012-06-01

The aim of this two-year longitudinal study was to identify the best baseline predictors of functional outcome in first-episode psychosis (FEP). We tested whether the same factors predict functional outcomes in two different subsamples of FEP patients: schizophrenia and non-schizophrenia syndrome groups. Ninety-five patients with FEP underwent a full clinical evaluation (i.e., PANSS, Mania, Depression and Insight). Functional outcome measurements included the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (DAS-WHO), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI). Estimation of cognition was obtained by a neuropsychological battery which included attention, processing speed, language, memory and executive functioning. Greater severity of visuospatial functioning at baseline predicted poorer functional outcome as measured by the three functional scales (GAF, CGI and DAS-WHO) in the pooled FEP sample (explaining ut to the 12%, 9% and 10% of the variance, respectively). Negative symptoms also effectively contributed to predict GAF scores (8%). However, we obtained different predictive values after differentiating sample diagnoses. Processing speed significantly predicted most functional outcome measures in patients with schizophrenia, whereas visuospatial functioning was the only significant predictor of functional outcomes in the non-schizophrenia subgroup. Our results suggest that processing speed, visuospatial functioning and negative symptoms significantly (but differentially) predict outcomes in patients with FEP, depending on their clinical progression. For patients without a schizophrenia diagnosis, visuospatial functioning was the best predictor of functional outcome. The performance on processing speed seemed to be a key factor in more severe syndromes. However, only a small proportion of the variance could be explained by the model, so there must be many other factors that have to be considered. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Subjective memory complaint only relates to verbal episodic memory performance in mild cognitive impairment.

PubMed

Gifford, Katherine A; Liu, Dandan; Damon, Stephen M; Chapman, William G; Romano Iii, Raymond R; Samuels, Lauren R; Lu, Zengqi; Jefferson, Angela L

2015-01-01

A cognitive concern from the patient, informant, or clinician is required for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI); however, the cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of complaint are poorly understood. We assessed how self-complaint relates to cognitive and neuroimaging measures in older adults with MCI. MCI participants were drawn from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and dichotomized into two groups based on the presence of self-reported memory complaint (no complaint n = 191, 77 ± 7 years; complaint n = 206, 73 ± 8 years). Cognitive outcomes included episodic memory, executive functioning, information processing speed, and language. Imaging outcomes included regional lobar volumes (frontal, parietal, temporal, cingulate) and specific medial temporal lobe structures (hippocampal volume, entorhinal cortex thickness, parahippocampal gyrus thickness). Linear regressions, adjusting for age, gender, race, education, Mini-Mental State Examination score, mood, and apolipoprotein E4 status, found that cognitive complaint related to immediate (β = -1.07, p < 0.001) and delayed episodic memory performances assessed on a serial list learning task (β = -1.06, p = 0.001) but no other cognitive measures or neuroimaging markers. Self-reported memory concern was unrelated to structural neuroimaging markers of atrophy and measures of information processing speed, executive functioning, or language. In contrast, subjective memory complaint related to objective verbal episodic learning performance. Future research is warranted to better understand the relation between cognitive complaint and surrogate markers of abnormal brain aging, including Alzheimer's disease, across the cognitive aging spectrum.

Prevalence and Reliability of Phonological, Surface, and Mixed Profiles in Dyslexia: A Review of Studies Conducted in Languages Varying in Orthographic Depth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sprenger-Charolles, Liliane; Siegel, Linda S.; Jimenez, Juan E.; Ziegler, Johannes C.

2011-01-01

The influence of orthographic transparency on the prevalence of dyslexia subtypes was examined in a review of multiple-case studies conducted in languages differing in orthographic depth (English, French, and Spanish). Cross-language differences are found in the proportion of dissociated profiles as a function of the dependent variables (speed or…

Exploring a New Technique for Comparing Bilinguals' L1 and L2 Reading Speed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gauvin, Hanna S.; Hulstijn, Jan H.

2010-01-01

Is it possible to tell whether bilinguals are able to read simple text in their two languages equally fluently? Is it thus possible to distinguish balanced bilinguals from unbalanced bilinguals with respect to reading fluency in their first language (L1) and second language (L2)? In this study, we avoided making direct comparisons between L1 and…

A Subsystem Test Bed for Chinese Spectral Radioheliograph

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, An; Yan, Yihua; Wang, Wei

2014-11-01

The Chinese Spectral Radioheliograph is a solar dedicated radio interferometric array that will produce high spatial resolution, high temporal resolution, and high spectral resolution images of the Sun simultaneously in decimetre and centimetre wave range. Digital processing of intermediate frequency signal is an important part in a radio telescope. This paper describes a flexible and high-speed digital down conversion system for the CSRH by applying complex mixing, parallel filtering, and extracting algorithms to process IF signal at the time of being designed and incorporates canonic-signed digit coding and bit-plane method to improve program efficiency. The DDC system is intended to be a subsystem test bed for simulation and testing for CSRH. Software algorithms for simulation and hardware language algorithms based on FPGA are written which use less hardware resources and at the same time achieve high performances such as processing high-speed data flow (1 GHz) with 10 MHz spectral resolution. An experiment with the test bed is illustrated by using geostationary satellite data observed on March 20, 2014. Due to the easy alterability of the algorithms on FPGA, the data can be recomputed with different digital signal processing algorithms for selecting optimum algorithm.

Differential impact of thalamic versus subthalamic deep brain stimulation on lexical processing.

PubMed

Krugel, Lea K; Ehlen, Felicitas; Tiedt, Hannes O; Kühn, Andrea A; Klostermann, Fabian

2014-10-01

Roles of subcortical structures in language processing are vague, but, interestingly, basal ganglia and thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation can go along with reduced lexical capacities. To deepen the understanding of this impact, we assessed word processing as a function of thalamic versus subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation. Ten essential tremor patients treated with thalamic and 14 Parkinson׳s disease patients with subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation performed an acoustic Lexical Decision Task ON and OFF stimulation. Combined analysis of task performance and event-related potentials allowed the determination of processing speed, priming effects, and N400 as neurophysiological correlate of lexical stimulus processing. 12 age-matched healthy participants acted as control subjects. Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation prolonged word decisions and reduced N400 potentials. No comparable ON-OFF effects were present in patients with subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation. In the latter group of patients with Parkinson' disease, N400 amplitudes were, however, abnormally low, whether under active or inactive Deep Brain Stimulation. In conclusion, performance speed and N400 appear to be influenced by state functions, modulated by thalamic, but not subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation, compatible with concepts of thalamo-cortical engagement in word processing. Clinically, these findings specify cognitive sequels of Deep Brain Stimulation in a target-specific way. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Robust Resilience of the Frontotemporal Syntax System to Aging

PubMed Central

Samu, Dávid; Davis, Simon W.; Geerligs, Linda; Mustafa, Abdur; Tyler, Lorraine K.

2016-01-01

Brain function is thought to become less specialized with age. However, this view is largely based on findings of increased activation during tasks that fail to separate task-related processes (e.g., attention, decision making) from the cognitive process under examination. Here we take a systems-level approach to separate processes specific to language comprehension from those related to general task demands and to examine age differences in functional connectivity both within and between those systems. A large population-based sample (N = 111; 22–87 years) from the Cambridge Centre for Aging and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN) was scanned using functional MRI during two versions of an experiment: a natural listening version in which participants simply listened to spoken sentences and an explicit task version in which they rated the acceptability of the same sentences. Independent components analysis across the combined data from both versions showed that although task-free language comprehension activates only the auditory and frontotemporal (FTN) syntax networks, performing a simple task with the same sentences recruits several additional networks. Remarkably, functionality of the critical FTN is maintained across age groups, showing no difference in within-network connectivity or responsivity to syntactic processing demands despite gray matter loss and reduced connectivity to task-related networks. We found no evidence for reduced specialization or compensation with age. Overt task performance was maintained across the lifespan and performance in older, but not younger, adults related to crystallized knowledge, suggesting that decreased between-network connectivity may be compensated for by older adults' richer knowledge base. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Understanding spoken language requires the rapid integration of information at many different levels of analysis. Given the complexity and speed of this process, it is remarkably well preserved with age. Although previous work claims that this preserved functionality is due to compensatory activation of regions outside the frontotemporal language network, we use a novel systems-level approach to show that these “compensatory” activations simply reflect age differences in response to experimental task demands. Natural, task-free language comprehension solely recruits auditory and frontotemporal networks, the latter of which is similarly responsive to language-processing demands across the lifespan. These findings challenge the conventional approach to neurocognitive aging by showing that the neural underpinnings of a given cognitive function depend on how you test it. PMID:27170120

Software implementation of the SKIPSM paradigm under PIP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hack, Ralf; Waltz, Frederick M.; Batchelor, Bruce G.

1997-09-01

SKIPSM (separated-kernel image processing using finite state machines) is a technique for implementing large-kernel binary- morphology operators and many other operations. While earlier papers on SKIPSM concentrated mainly on implementations using pipelined hardware, there is considerable scope for achieving major speed improvements in software systems. Using identical control software, one-pass binary erosion and dilation structuring elements (SEs) ranging from the trivial (3 by 3) to the gigantic (51 by 51, or even larger), are readily available. Processing speed is independent of the size of the SE, making the SKIPSM approach practical for work with very large SEs on ordinary desktop computers. PIP (prolog image processing) is an interactive machine vision prototyping environment developed at the University of Wales Cardiff. It consists of a large number of image processing operators embedded within the standard AI language Prolog. This paper describes the SKIPSM implementation of binary morphology operators within PIP. A large set of binary erosion and dilation operations (circles, squares, diamonds, octagons, etc.) is available to the user through a command-line driven dialogue, via pull-down menus, or incorporated into standard (Prolog) programs. Little has been done thus far to optimize speed on this first software implementation of SKIPSM. Nevertheless, the results are impressive. The paper describes sample applications and presents timing figures. Readers have the opportunity to try out these operations on demonstration software written by the University of Wales, or via their WWW home page at http://bruce.cs.cf.ac.uk/bruce/index.html .

The role of the left inferior parietal lobule in second language learning: An intensive language training fMRI study.

PubMed

Barbeau, Elise B; Chai, Xiaoqian J; Chen, Jen-Kai; Soles, Jennika; Berken, Jonathan; Baum, Shari; Watkins, Kate E; Klein, Denise

2017-04-01

Research to date suggests that second language acquisition results in functional and structural changes in the bilingual brain, however, in what way and how quickly these changes occur remains unclear. To address these questions, we studied fourteen English-speaking monolingual adults enrolled in a 12-week intensive French language-training program in Montreal. Using functional MRI, we investigated the neural changes associated with new language acquisition. The participants were scanned before the start of the immersion program and at the end of the 12 weeks. The fMRI scan aimed to investigate the brain regions recruited in a sentence reading task both in English, their first language (L1), and in French, their second language (L2). For the L1, fMRI patterns did not change from Time 1 to Time 2, while for the L2, the brain response changed between Time 1 and Time 2 in language-related areas. Of note, for the L2, there was higher activation at Time 2 compared to Time 1 in the left inferior parietal lobule (IPL) including the supramarginal gyrus. At Time 2 this higher activation in the IPL correlated with faster L2 reading speed. Moreover, higher activation in the left IPL at Time 1 predicted improvement in L2 reading speed from Time 1 to Time 2. Our results suggest that learning-induced plasticity occurred as early as 12 weeks into immersive second-language training, and that the IPL appears to play a special role in language learning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reading comprehension in Parkinson's disease.

PubMed

Murray, Laura L; Rutledge, Stefanie

2014-05-01

Although individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) self-report reading problems and experience difficulties in cognitive-linguistic functions that support discourse-level reading, prior research has primarily focused on sentence-level processing and auditory comprehension. Accordingly, the authors investigated the presence and nature of reading comprehension in PD, hypothesizing that (a) individuals with PD would display impaired accuracy and/or speed on reading comprehension tests and (b) reading performances would be correlated with cognitive test results. Eleven adults with PD and 9 age- and education-matched control participants completed tests that evaluated reading comprehension; general language and cognitive abilities; and aspects of attention, memory, and executive functioning. The PD group obtained significantly lower scores on several, but not all, reading comprehension, language, and cognitive measures. Memory, language, and disease severity were significantly correlated with reading comprehension for the PD group. Individuals in the early stages of PD without dementia or broad cognitive deficits can display reading comprehension difficulties, particularly for high- versus basic-level reading tasks. These reading difficulties are most closely related to memory, high-level language, and PD symptom severity status. The findings warrant additional research to delineate further the types and nature of reading comprehension impairments experienced by individuals with PD.

Music and Early Language Acquisition

PubMed Central

Brandt, Anthony; Gebrian, Molly; Slevc, L. Robert

2012-01-01

Language is typically viewed as fundamental to human intelligence. Music, while recognized as a human universal, is often treated as an ancillary ability – one dependent on or derivative of language. In contrast, we argue that it is more productive from a developmental perspective to describe spoken language as a special type of music. A review of existing studies presents a compelling case that musical hearing and ability is essential to language acquisition. In addition, we challenge the prevailing view that music cognition matures more slowly than language and is more difficult; instead, we argue that music learning matches the speed and effort of language acquisition. We conclude that music merits a central place in our understanding of human development. PMID:22973254

Music and early language acquisition.

PubMed

Brandt, Anthony; Gebrian, Molly; Slevc, L Robert

2012-01-01

Language is typically viewed as fundamental to human intelligence. Music, while recognized as a human universal, is often treated as an ancillary ability - one dependent on or derivative of language. In contrast, we argue that it is more productive from a developmental perspective to describe spoken language as a special type of music. A review of existing studies presents a compelling case that musical hearing and ability is essential to language acquisition. In addition, we challenge the prevailing view that music cognition matures more slowly than language and is more difficult; instead, we argue that music learning matches the speed and effort of language acquisition. We conclude that music merits a central place in our understanding of human development.

Mismatch and lexical retrieval gestures are associated with visual information processing, verbal production, and symptomatology in youth at high risk for psychosis.

PubMed

Millman, Zachary B; Goss, James; Schiffman, Jason; Mejias, Johana; Gupta, Tina; Mittal, Vijay A

2014-09-01

Gesture is integrally linked with language and cognitive systems, and recent years have seen a growing attention to these movements in patients with schizophrenia. To date, however, there have been no investigations of gesture in youth at ultra high risk (UHR) for psychosis. Examining gesture in UHR individuals may help to elucidate other widely recognized communicative and cognitive deficits in this population and yield new clues for treatment development. In this study, mismatch (indicating semantic incongruency between the content of speech and a given gesture) and retrieval (used during pauses in speech while a person appears to be searching for a word or idea) gestures were evaluated in 42 UHR individuals and 36 matched healthy controls. Cognitive functions relevant to gesture production (i.e., speed of visual information processing and verbal production) as well as positive and negative symptomatologies were assessed. Although the overall frequency of cases exhibiting these behaviors was low, UHR individuals produced substantially more mismatch and retrieval gestures than controls. The UHR group also exhibited significantly poorer verbal production performance when compared with controls. In the patient group, mismatch gestures were associated with poorer visual processing speed and elevated negative symptoms, while retrieval gestures were associated with higher speed of visual information-processing and verbal production, but not symptoms. Taken together these findings indicate that gesture abnormalities are present in individuals at high risk for psychosis. While mismatch gestures may be closely related to disease processes, retrieval gestures may be employed as a compensatory mechanism. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fusion with Language Models Improves Spelling Accuracy for ERP-based Brain Computer Interface Spellers

PubMed Central

Orhan, Umut; Erdogmus, Deniz; Roark, Brian; Purwar, Shalini; Hild, Kenneth E.; Oken, Barry; Nezamfar, Hooman; Fried-Oken, Melanie

2013-01-01

Event related potentials (ERP) corresponding to a stimulus in electroencephalography (EEG) can be used to detect the intent of a person for brain computer interfaces (BCI). This paradigm is widely utilized to build letter-by-letter text input systems using BCI. Nevertheless using a BCI-typewriter depending only on EEG responses will not be sufficiently accurate for single-trial operation in general, and existing systems utilize many-trial schemes to achieve accuracy at the cost of speed. Hence incorporation of a language model based prior or additional evidence is vital to improve accuracy and speed. In this paper, we study the effects of Bayesian fusion of an n-gram language model with a regularized discriminant analysis ERP detector for EEG-based BCIs. The letter classification accuracies are rigorously evaluated for varying language model orders as well as number of ERP-inducing trials. The results demonstrate that the language models contribute significantly to letter classification accuracy. Specifically, we find that a BCI-speller supported by a 4-gram language model may achieve the same performance using 3-trial ERP classification for the initial letters of the words and using single trial ERP classification for the subsequent ones. Overall, fusion of evidence from EEG and language models yields a significant opportunity to increase the word rate of a BCI based typing system. PMID:22255652

The Cognitive Predictors of Computational Skill with Whole versus Rational Numbers: An Exploratory Study.

PubMed

Seethaler, Pamela M; Fuchs, Lynn S; Star, Jon R; Bryant, Joan

2011-10-01

The purpose of the present study was to explore the 3(rd)-grade cognitive predictors of 5th-grade computational skill with rational numbers and how those are similar to and different from the cognitive predictors of whole-number computational skill. Students (n = 688) were assessed on incoming whole-number calculation skill, language, nonverbal reasoning, concept formation, processing speed, and working memory in the fall of 3(rd) grade. Students were followed longitudinally and assessed on calculation skill with whole numbers and with rational numbers in the spring of 5(th) grade. The unique predictors of skill with whole-number computation were incoming whole-number calculation skill, nonverbal reasoning, concept formation, and working memory (numerical executive control). In addition to these cognitive abilities, language emerged as a unique predictor of rational-number computational skill.

The Cognitive Predictors of Computational Skill with Whole versus Rational Numbers: An Exploratory Study

PubMed Central

Seethaler, Pamela M.; Fuchs, Lynn S.; Star, Jon R.; Bryant, Joan

2011-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to explore the 3rd-grade cognitive predictors of 5th-grade computational skill with rational numbers and how those are similar to and different from the cognitive predictors of whole-number computational skill. Students (n = 688) were assessed on incoming whole-number calculation skill, language, nonverbal reasoning, concept formation, processing speed, and working memory in the fall of 3rd grade. Students were followed longitudinally and assessed on calculation skill with whole numbers and with rational numbers in the spring of 5th grade. The unique predictors of skill with whole-number computation were incoming whole-number calculation skill, nonverbal reasoning, concept formation, and working memory (numerical executive control). In addition to these cognitive abilities, language emerged as a unique predictor of rational-number computational skill. PMID:21966180

Cognitive and Linguistic Predictors of Mathematical Word Problems With and Without Irrelevant Information

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Lynn S.; Fuchs, Douglas

2016-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify cognitive and linguistic predictors of word problems with versus without irrelevant information. The sample was 701 2nd-grade students who received no specialized intervention on word problems. In the fall, they were assessed on initial arithmetic and word-problem skill as well as language ability, working memory capacity, and processing speed; in the spring, they were tested on a word-problem measure that included items with versus without irrelevant information. Significant predictors common to both forms of word problems were initial arithmetic and word problem-solving skill as well as language and working memory. Nonverbal reasoning predicted word problems with irrelevant information, but not word problems without irrelevant information. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for intervention and future research. PMID:28190942

Supercomputing on massively parallel bit-serial architectures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Iobst, Ken

1985-01-01

Research on the Goodyear Massively Parallel Processor (MPP) suggests that high-level parallel languages are practical and can be designed with powerful new semantics that allow algorithms to be efficiently mapped to the real machines. For the MPP these semantics include parallel/associative array selection for both dense and sparse matrices, variable precision arithmetic to trade accuracy for speed, micro-pipelined train broadcast, and conditional branching at the processing element (PE) control unit level. The preliminary design of a FORTRAN-like parallel language for the MPP has been completed and is being used to write programs to perform sparse matrix array selection, min/max search, matrix multiplication, Gaussian elimination on single bit arrays and other generic algorithms. A description is given of the MPP design. Features of the system and its operation are illustrated in the form of charts and diagrams.

Distinguishing Fast and Slow Processes in Accuracy - Response Time Data.

PubMed

Coomans, Frederik; Hofman, Abe; Brinkhuis, Matthieu; van der Maas, Han L J; Maris, Gunter

2016-01-01

We investigate the relation between speed and accuracy within problem solving in its simplest non-trivial form. We consider tests with only two items and code the item responses in two binary variables: one indicating the response accuracy, and one indicating the response speed. Despite being a very basic setup, it enables us to study item pairs stemming from a broad range of domains such as basic arithmetic, first language learning, intelligence-related problems, and chess, with large numbers of observations for every pair of problems under consideration. We carry out a survey over a large number of such item pairs and compare three types of psychometric accuracy-response time models present in the literature: two 'one-process' models, the first of which models accuracy and response time as conditionally independent and the second of which models accuracy and response time as conditionally dependent, and a 'two-process' model which models accuracy contingent on response time. We find that the data clearly violates the restrictions imposed by both one-process models and requires additional complexity which is parsimoniously provided by the two-process model. We supplement our survey with an analysis of the erroneous responses for an example item pair and demonstrate that there are very significant differences between the types of errors in fast and slow responses.

Beam Instrument Development System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

DOOLITTLE, LAWRENCE; HUANG, GANG; DU, QIANG

Beam Instrumentation Development System (BIDS) is a collection of common support libraries and modules developed during a series of Low-Level Radio Frequency (LLRF) control and timing/synchronization projects. BIDS includes a collection of Hardware Description Language (HDL) libraries and software libraries. The BIDS can be used for the development of any FPGA-based system, such as LLRF controllers. HDL code in this library is generic and supports common Digital Signal Processing (DSP) functions, FPGA-specific drivers (high-speed serial link wrappers, clock generation, etc.), ADC/DAC drivers, Ethernet MAC implementation, etc.

Memory skills of deaf learners: implications and applications.

PubMed

Hamilton, Harley

2011-01-01

The author reviews research on working memory and short-term memory abilities of deaf individuals, delineating strengths and weaknesses. Among the areas of weakness that are reviewed are sequential recall, processing speed, attention, and memory load. Areas of strengths include free recall, visuospatial recall, imagery, and dual encoding. Phonological encoding and rehearsal appear to be strengths when these strategies are employed. The implications of the strengths and weaknesses for language learning and educational achievement are discussed. Research questions are posed, and remedial and compensatory classroom applications are suggested.

Reconceptualizing the Nature of Goals and Outcomes in Language/s Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leung, Constant; Scarino, Angela

2016-01-01

Transformations associated with the increasing speed, scale, and complexity of mobilities, together with the information technology revolution, have changed the demography of most countries of the world and brought about accompanying social, cultural, and economic shifts (Heugh, 2013). This complex diversity has changed the very nature of…

Neuropsychological phenotypes of 76 individuals with Joubert syndrome evaluated at a single center.

PubMed

Summers, Angela C; Snow, Joseph; Wiggs, Edythe; Liu, Alexander G; Toro, Camilo; Poretti, Andrea; Zein, Wadih M; Brooks, Brian P; Parisi, Melissa A; Inati, Sara; Doherty, Dan; Vemulapalli, Meghana; Mullikin, Jim C; Vilboux, Thierry; Gahl, William A; Gunay-Aygun, Meral

2017-05-12

Joubert syndrome (JS) is a genetically heterogeneous ciliopathy characterized by hypo-dysplasia of the cerebellar vermis, a distinct hindbrain/midbrain malformation (molar tooth sign), and intellectual disability. We evaluated the neuropsychological profiles of 76 participants with JS in the context of molecular genetics and clinical covariates. Evaluations included neuropsychological testing, structured parental interviews, DNA sequencing, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electroencephalography (EEG), ophthalmologic examination, and assessment for renal and hepatic disease. On average, participants manifested Full Scale Intelligence Quotients (FSIQ) in the moderately to profoundly low range (M = 64.3 ± 15.3). Of the Wechsler index scores, verbal comprehension was least affected and processing speed was most affected. Receptive language was rated as better than expressive language on the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Second Edition. Those with abnormal EEG had a significantly lower FSIQ (n = 15; M = 50.7 ± 12.9) compared to participants with normal EEG (n = 39; M = 64.7 ± 16.3; p = .004). Participants taking psychiatric medications manifested a lower FSIQ (n = 20; M = 54.8 ± 13.2) than those not taking them (n = 42; M = 65.0 ± 17.2; p = .022). These correlations were also present in the TMEM67-related JS sub-cohort (n = 14). Based on parental assessment, psychiatric and behavioral problems were significantly more common than in the general population for all measures (p < .004 for all). The majority (65%) of individuals with JS have some degree of intellectual disability. Abnormal EEG is associated with lower neuropsychological function. Processing speed is a weakness, while verbal comprehension and receptive language are relative strengths. These findings may guide parents, teachers, therapists, and doctors to determine appropriate therapies, accommodations, and academic goals for individuals with JS. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Writing fluency in patients with low‐grade glioma before and after surgery

PubMed Central

Hartelius, Lena; Henriksson, Ingrid; Longoni, Francesca; Wengelin, Åsa

2018-01-01

Abstract Background Low‐grade glioma (LGG) is a type of brain tumour often situated in or near areas involved in language, sensory or motor functions. Depending on localization and tumour characteristics, language or cognitive impairments due to tumour growth and/or surgical resection are obvious risks. One task that may be at risk is writing, both because it requires intact language and memory function and because it is a very complex and cognitively demanding task. The most commonly reported language deficit in LGG patients is oral lexical‐retrieval difficulties, and poor lexical retrieval would be expected to affect writing fluency. Aims To explore whether writing fluency is affected in LGG patients before and after surgery and whether it is related to performance on tasks of oral lexical retrieval. Methods & Procedures Twenty consecutive patients with presumed LGG wrote a narrative and performed a copy task before undergoing surgery and at 3‐month follow‐up using keystroke‐logging software. The same tasks were performed by a reference group (N = 31). The patients were also tested using the Boston Naming Test (BNT) and word‐fluency tests before and after surgery. Writing fluency was compared between the patients and the reference group, and between the patients before and after surgery. Relationships between performance on tests of oral lexical retrieval and writing fluency were investigated both before and after surgery. Outcome & Results Different aspects of writing fluency were affected in the LGG patients both before and after surgery. However, when controlling for the effect of typing speed, the LGG group differed significantly from the reference group only in the proportion of pauses within words. After surgery, a significant decline was seen in production rate and typing speed in the narrative task, and a significant increase was seen in pauses before words. Strong positive relationships were found between oral lexical retrieval and writing fluency both before and after surgery. Conclusions & Implications Although aspects of writing fluency were affected both before and after surgery, the results indicate that typing speed is an important factor behind the pre‐surgery differences. However, the decline in overall productivity and the increase in pauses before words after surgery could be related to a lexical deficit. This is supported by the finding that oral lexical‐retrieval scores were strongly correlated with writing fluency. However, further exploration is needed to identify the language and cognitive abilities affecting writing processes in LGG patients. PMID:29411466

An evaluation of Turbo Prolog with an emphasis on its application to the development of expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Loftin, Richard B.

1987-01-01

Turbo Prolog is a recently available, compiled version of the programming language Prolog. Turbo Prolog is designed to provide not only a Prolog compiler, but also a program development environment for the IBM Personal Computer family. An evaluation of Turbo Prolog was made, comparing its features to other versions of Prolog and to the community of languages commonly used in artificial intelligence (AI) research and development. Three programs were employed to determine the execution speed of Turbo Prolog applied to various problems. The results of this evaluation demonstrated that Turbo Prolog can perform much better than many commonly employed AI languages for numerically intensive problems and can equal the speed of development languages such as OPS5+ and CLIPS, running on the IBM PC. Applications for which Turbo Prolog is best suited include those which (1) lend themselves naturally to backward-chaining approaches, (2) require extensive use of mathematics, (3) contain few rules, (4) seek to make use of the window/color graphics capabilities of the IBM PC, and (5) require linkage to programs in other languages to form a complete executable image.

A predictive study of reading comprehension in third-grade Spanish students.

PubMed

López-Escribano, Carmen; Elosúa de Juan, María Rosa; Gómez-Veiga, Isabel; García-Madruga, Juan Antonio

2013-01-01

The study of the contribution of language and cognitive skills to reading comprehension is an important goal of current reading research. However, reading comprehension is not easily assessed by a single instrument, as different comprehension tests vary in the type of tasks used and in the cognitive demands required. This study examines the contribution of basic language and cognitive skills (decoding, word recognition, reading speed, verbal and nonverbal intelligence and working memory) to reading comprehension, assessed by two tests utilizing various tasks that require different skill sets in third-grade Spanish-speaking students. Linguistic and cognitive abilities predicted reading comprehension. A measure of reading speed (the reading time of pseudo-words) was the best predictor of reading comprehension when assessed by the PROLEC-R test. However, measures of word recognition (the orthographic choice task) and verbal working memory were the best predictors of reading comprehension when assessed by means of the DARC test. These results show, on the one hand, that reading speed and word recognition are better predictors of Spanish language comprehension than reading accuracy. On the other, the reading comprehension test applied here serves as a critical variable when analyzing and interpreting results regarding this topic.

Job Language Performance Requirements for MOS 91E, Dental Specialist, Reference Soldier’s Manual Dated 30 August 1977.

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-08-30

lubricate the air turbine driven straight, dental handpiece (Tru-Torc) L 081-91E-3768 Clean and lubricate the contra-angle, latch type dental handpiece 081...91E-3769 Clean and lubricate the Midwest "Quiet-Air"Ultra speed, contra-angle dental handpiece 081-91E-3810 Sharpen scaling instruments by using rotary...b-Al21 845 JOB LANGUAGE PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR NOS 9iE In2 DENTAL SPECIALIST REFER.. (U) DEFENSE LANGUAGE INST LACKLAND AFB TX ENGLISH LANGUAGE

General purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of cosmological domain wall network evolution.

PubMed

Correia, J R C C C; Martins, C J A P

2017-10-01

Topological defects unavoidably form at symmetry breaking phase transitions in the early universe. To probe the parameter space of theoretical models and set tighter experimental constraints (exploiting the recent advances in astrophysical observations), one requires more and more demanding simulations, and therefore more hardware resources and computation time. Improving the speed and efficiency of existing codes is essential. Here we present a general purpose graphics-processing-unit implementation of the canonical Press-Ryden-Spergel algorithm for the evolution of cosmological domain wall networks. This is ported to the Open Computing Language standard, and as a consequence significant speedups are achieved both in two-dimensional (2D) and 3D simulations.

Executive Functions Contribute Uniquely to Reading Competence in Minority Youth.

PubMed

Jacobson, Lisa A; Koriakin, Taylor; Lipkin, Paul; Boada, Richard; Frijters, Jan C; Lovett, Maureen W; Hill, Dina; Willcutt, Erik; Gottwald, Stephanie; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R; Mahone, E Mark

Competent reading requires various skills beyond those for basic word reading (i.e., core language skills, rapid naming, phonological processing). Contributing "higher-level" or domain-general processes include information processing speed and executive functions (working memory, strategic problem solving, attentional switching). Research in this area has relied on largely Caucasian samples, with limited representation of children from racial or ethnic minority groups. This study examined contributions of executive skills to reading competence in 761 children of minority backgrounds. Hierarchical linear regressions examined unique contributions of executive functions (EF) to word reading, fluency, and comprehension. EF contributed uniquely to reading performance, over and above reading-related language skills; working memory contributed uniquely to all components of reading; while attentional switching, but not problem solving, contributed to isolated and contextual word reading and reading fluency. Problem solving uniquely predicted comprehension, suggesting that this skill may be especially important for reading comprehension in minority youth. Attentional switching may play a unique role in development of reading fluency in minority youth, perhaps as a result of the increased demand for switching between spoken versus written dialects. Findings have implications for educational and clinical practice with regard to reading instruction, remedial reading intervention, and assessment of individuals with reading difficulty.

Aerobic Exercise Improves Mood, Cognition, and Language Function in Parkinson's Disease: Results of a Controlled Study.

PubMed

Altmann, Lori J P; Stegemöller, Elizabeth; Hazamy, Audrey A; Wilson, Jonathan P; Bowers, Dawn; Okun, Michael S; Hass, Chris J

2016-10-01

Parkinson's disease (PD) results in a range of non-motor deficits that can affect mood, cognition, and language, and many of these issues are unresponsive to pharmacological intervention. Aerobic exercise can improve mood and cognition in healthy older adults, although only a few studies have examined exercise effects on these domains in PD. The current study assesses the effects of aerobic exercise on aspects of cognition, mood, and language production in people with PD. This study compares the effects of aerobic exercise to stretch-balance training and a no-contact control group in participants with idiopathic PD. The aerobic and stretch-balance groups trained three times a week for 16 weeks, while controls continued normal activities. Outcome measures included disease severity, mood, cognition (speed of processing, memory, and executive function), and language production (picture descriptions). Cognition and language were assessed in single and dual task conditions. Depressive symptoms increased only in the control group (p<.02). Executive function improved in the aerobic exercise group only in the single task (p=.007) and declined in controls in the dual task. Completeness of picture descriptions improved significantly more in the aerobic group than in the stretch-balance group (p<.02). Aerobic exercise is a viable intervention for PD that can be protective against increased depressive symptoms, and can improve several non-motor domains, including executive dysfunction and related aspects of language production. (JINS, 2016, 22, 878-889).

Cognitive Modeling of Individual Variation in Reference Production and Comprehension

PubMed Central

Hendriks, Petra

2016-01-01

A challenge for most theoretical and computational accounts of linguistic reference is the observation that language users vary considerably in their referential choices. Part of the variation observed among and within language users and across tasks may be explained from variation in the cognitive resources available to speakers and listeners. This paper presents a computational model of reference production and comprehension developed within the cognitive architecture ACT-R. Through simulations with this ACT-R model, it is investigated how cognitive constraints interact with linguistic constraints and features of the linguistic discourse in speakers’ production and listeners’ comprehension of referring expressions in specific tasks, and how this interaction may give rise to variation in referential choice. The ACT-R model of reference explains and predicts variation among language users in their referential choices as a result of individual and task-related differences in processing speed and working memory capacity. Because of limitations in their cognitive capacities, speakers sometimes underspecify or overspecify their referring expressions, and listeners sometimes choose incorrect referents or are overly liberal in their interpretation of referring expressions. PMID:27092101

What We Know about Second Language Acquisition: A Synthesis from Four Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dixon, L. Quentin; Zhao, Jing; Shin, Jee-Young; Wu, Shuang; Su, Jung-Hsuan; Burgess-Brigham, Renata; Gezer, Melike Unal; Snow, Catherine

2012-01-01

Educational policies that impact second language (L2) learners--a rapidly-growing group--are often enacted without consulting relevant research. This review synthesized research regarding optimal conditions for L2 acquisition, facilitative L2 learner and teacher characteristics, and speed of L2 acquisition, from four bodies of work--foreign…

Comprehending Implied Meaning in English as a Foreign Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taguchi, Naoko

2005-01-01

This study investigated whether second language (L2) proficiency affects pragmatic comprehension, namely the ability to comprehend implied meaning in spoken dialogues, in terms of accuracy and speed of comprehension. Participants included 46 native English speakers at a U.S. university and 160 Japanese students of English in a college in Japan who…

Text Characteristics of Task Input and Difficulty in Second Language Listening Comprehension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Revesz, Andrea; Brunfaut, Tineke

2013-01-01

This study investigated the effects of a group of task factors on advanced English as a second language learners' actual and perceived listening performance. We examined whether the speed, linguistic complexity, and explicitness of the listening text along with characteristics of the text necessary for task completion influenced comprehension. We…

Utilizing a language model to improve online dynamic data collection in P300 spellers.

PubMed

Mainsah, Boyla O; Colwell, Kenneth A; Collins, Leslie M; Throckmorton, Chandra S

2014-07-01

P300 spellers provide a means of communication for individuals with severe physical limitations, especially those with locked-in syndrome, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. However, P300 speller use is still limited by relatively low communication rates due to the multiple data measurements that are required to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of event-related potentials for increased accuracy. Therefore, the amount of data collection has competing effects on accuracy and spelling speed. Adaptively varying the amount of data collection prior to character selection has been shown to improve spelling accuracy and speed. The goal of this study was to optimize a previously developed dynamic stopping algorithm that uses a Bayesian approach to control data collection by incorporating a priori knowledge via a language model. Participants ( n = 17) completed online spelling tasks using the dynamic stopping algorithm, with and without a language model. The addition of the language model resulted in improved participant performance from a mean theoretical bit rate of 46.12 bits/min at 88.89% accuracy to 54.42 bits/min ( ) at 90.36% accuracy.

Subjective memory complaint only relates to verbal episodic memory performance in mild cognitive impairment

PubMed Central

Gifford, Katherine A.; Liu, Dandan; Damon, Stephen M.; Chapman, William G.; Romano, Raymond R.; Samuels, Lauren R.; Lu, Zengqi; Jefferson, Angela L.

2015-01-01

Background A cognitive concern from the patient, informant, or clinician is required for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI); however, the cognitive and neuroanatomical correlates of complaint are poorly understood. Objective We assessed how self-complaint relates to cognitive and neuroimaging measures in older adults with MCI. Method MCI participants were drawn from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and dichotomized into two groups based on the presence of self-reported memory complaint (no complaint n=191, 77±7 years; complaint n=206, 73±8 years). Cognitive outcomes included episodic memory, executive functioning, information processing speed, and language. Imaging outcomes included regional lobar volumes (frontal, parietal, temporal, cingulate) and specific medial temporal lobe structures (hippocampal volume, entorhinal cortex thickness, parahippocampal gyrus thickness). Results Linear regressions, adjusting for age, gender, race, education, Mini-Mental State Examination score, mood, and apolipoprotein E-4 status, found that cognitive complaint related to immediate (β=−1.07, p<0.001) and delayed episodic memory performances assessed on a serial list learning task (β=−1.06, p=0.001) but no other cognitive measures or neuroimaging markers. Conclusions Self-reported memory concern was unrelated to structural neuroimaging markers of atrophy and measures of information processing speed, executive functioning, or language. In contrast, subjective memory complaint related to objective verbal episodic learning performance. Future research is warranted to better understand the relation between cognitive complaint and surrogate markers of abnormal brain aging, including Alzheimer’s disease, across the cognitive aging spectrum. PMID:25281602

English as a Foreign Language in Bilingual Language-minority Children, Children with Dyslexia and Monolingual Typical Readers.

PubMed

Bonifacci, Paola; Canducci, Elisa; Gravagna, Giulia; Palladino, Paola

2017-05-01

The present study was aimed at investigating literacy skills in English as a foreign language in three different groups of children: monolinguals with dyslexia (n = 19), typically developing bilinguals (language-minority) (n = 19) and a control group of monolinguals (Italian) (n = 76). Bilinguals were not expected to fail in English measures, and their gap with monolinguals would be expected to be limited to the instructional language, owing to underexposure. All participants were enrolled in Italian primary schools (fourth and fifth grades). A non-verbal reasoning task and Italian and English literacy tasks were administered. The Italian battery included word and non-word reading (speed and accuracy), word and non-word writing, and reading comprehension; the English battery included similar tasks, except for the non-word writing. Bilingual children performed similarly to typical readers in English tasks, whereas in Italian tasks, their performance was similar to that of typical readers in reading speed but not in reading accuracy and writing. Children with dyslexia underperformed compared with typically developing children in all English and Italian tasks, except for reading comprehension in Italian. Profile analysis and correlational analyses were further discussed. These results suggest that English as a foreign language might represent a challenge for students with dyslexia but a strength for bilingual language-minority children. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Problem Solving and Computational Skill: Are They Shared or Distinct Aspects of Mathematical Cognition?

PubMed Central

Fuchs, Lynn S.; Fuchs, Douglas; Hamlett, Carol L.; Lambert, Warren; Stuebing, Karla; Fletcher, Jack M.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore patterns of difficulty in 2 domains of mathematical cognition: computation and problem solving. Third graders (n = 924; 47.3% male) were representatively sampled from 89 classrooms; assessed on computation and problem solving; classified as having difficulty with computation, problem solving, both domains, or neither domain; and measured on 9 cognitive dimensions. Difficulty occurred across domains with the same prevalence as difficulty with a single domain; specific difficulty was distributed similarly across domains. Multivariate profile analysis on cognitive dimensions and chi-square tests on demographics showed that specific computational difficulty was associated with strength in language and weaknesses in attentive behavior and processing speed; problem-solving difficulty was associated with deficient language as well as race and poverty. Implications for understanding mathematics competence and for the identification and treatment of mathematics difficulties are discussed. PMID:20057912

CERES: A new cerebellum lobule segmentation method.

PubMed

Romero, Jose E; Coupé, Pierrick; Giraud, Rémi; Ta, Vinh-Thong; Fonov, Vladimir; Park, Min Tae M; Chakravarty, M Mallar; Voineskos, Aristotle N; Manjón, Jose V

2017-02-15

The human cerebellum is involved in language, motor tasks and cognitive processes such as attention or emotional processing. Therefore, an automatic and accurate segmentation method is highly desirable to measure and understand the cerebellum role in normal and pathological brain development. In this work, we propose a patch-based multi-atlas segmentation tool called CERES (CEREbellum Segmentation) that is able to automatically parcellate the cerebellum lobules. The proposed method works with standard resolution magnetic resonance T1-weighted images and uses the Optimized PatchMatch algorithm to speed up the patch matching process. The proposed method was compared with related recent state-of-the-art methods showing competitive results in both accuracy (average DICE of 0.7729) and execution time (around 5 minutes). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Development of a software and hardware system for monitoring the air cleaning process using a cyclone-separator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicolaeva, B. K.; Borisov, A. P.; Zlochevskiy, V. L.

2017-08-01

The article is devoted to the development of a hardware-software complex for monitoring and controlling the process of air purification by means of a cyclone-separator. The hardware of this complex is the Arduino platform, to which are connected pressure sensors, air velocities, dustmeters, which allow monitoring of the main parameters of the cyclone-separator. Also, a frequency converter was developed to regulate the rotation speed of an asynchronous motor necessary to correct the flow rate, the control signals of which come with Arduino. The program part of the complex is written in the form of a web application in the programming language JavaScript and inserts into CSS and HTML for the user interface. This program allows you to receive data from sensors, build dependencies in real time and control the speed of rotation of an asynchronous electric drive. The conducted experiment shows that the cleaning efficiency is 95-99.9%, while the airflow at the cyclone inlet is 16-18 m/s, and at the exit 50-70 m/s.

A meta-analysis of the effects of antidepressants on cognitive functioning in depressed and non-depressed samples.

PubMed

Prado, Catherine E; Watt, Stephanie; Crowe, Simon F

2018-03-01

A thorough understanding of the cognitive effects of antidepressant medications is essential given their frequency of use. This meta-analysis was conducted to investigate whether antidepressants differentially affect the various domains of cognitive functioning for depressed and non-depressed participants. An electronic search of PsycInfo, Medline and Google Scholar was conducted for all journal articles published between January 1998 and January 2017. Thirty-three studies were included enabling calculation of Hedges' g using a random effects model for the cognitive domains of divided attention, executive function, expressive language, immediate memory, perceptual motor skills, processing speed, recent memory, sustained attention, visuospatial-constructional skills and working memory. Results revealed that overall, antidepressants have a modest, positive effect on divided attention, executive function, immediate memory, processing speed, recent memory and sustained attention for depressed participants. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI's) were found to have the greatest positive effect on cognition for depressed participants, as compared to the other classes of antidepressants analysed. Antidepressants did not significantly affect cognitive function in non-depressed participants.

A Configurable Event-Driven Convolutional Node with Rate Saturation Mechanism for Modular ConvNet Systems Implementation.

PubMed

Camuñas-Mesa, Luis A; Domínguez-Cordero, Yaisel L; Linares-Barranco, Alejandro; Serrano-Gotarredona, Teresa; Linares-Barranco, Bernabé

2018-01-01

Convolutional Neural Networks (ConvNets) are a particular type of neural network often used for many applications like image recognition, video analysis or natural language processing. They are inspired by the human brain, following a specific organization of the connectivity pattern between layers of neurons known as receptive field. These networks have been traditionally implemented in software, but they are becoming more computationally expensive as they scale up, having limitations for real-time processing of high-speed stimuli. On the other hand, hardware implementations show difficulties to be used for different applications, due to their reduced flexibility. In this paper, we propose a fully configurable event-driven convolutional node with rate saturation mechanism that can be used to implement arbitrary ConvNets on FPGAs. This node includes a convolutional processing unit and a routing element which allows to build large 2D arrays where any multilayer structure can be implemented. The rate saturation mechanism emulates the refractory behavior in biological neurons, guaranteeing a minimum separation in time between consecutive events. A 4-layer ConvNet with 22 convolutional nodes trained for poker card symbol recognition has been implemented in a Spartan6 FPGA. This network has been tested with a stimulus where 40 poker cards were observed by a Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) in 1 s time. Different slow-down factors were applied to characterize the behavior of the system for high speed processing. For slow stimulus play-back, a 96% recognition rate is obtained with a power consumption of 0.85 mW. At maximum play-back speed, a traffic control mechanism downsamples the input stimulus, obtaining a recognition rate above 63% when less than 20% of the input events are processed, demonstrating the robustness of the network.

A Configurable Event-Driven Convolutional Node with Rate Saturation Mechanism for Modular ConvNet Systems Implementation

PubMed Central

Camuñas-Mesa, Luis A.; Domínguez-Cordero, Yaisel L.; Linares-Barranco, Alejandro; Serrano-Gotarredona, Teresa; Linares-Barranco, Bernabé

2018-01-01

Convolutional Neural Networks (ConvNets) are a particular type of neural network often used for many applications like image recognition, video analysis or natural language processing. They are inspired by the human brain, following a specific organization of the connectivity pattern between layers of neurons known as receptive field. These networks have been traditionally implemented in software, but they are becoming more computationally expensive as they scale up, having limitations for real-time processing of high-speed stimuli. On the other hand, hardware implementations show difficulties to be used for different applications, due to their reduced flexibility. In this paper, we propose a fully configurable event-driven convolutional node with rate saturation mechanism that can be used to implement arbitrary ConvNets on FPGAs. This node includes a convolutional processing unit and a routing element which allows to build large 2D arrays where any multilayer structure can be implemented. The rate saturation mechanism emulates the refractory behavior in biological neurons, guaranteeing a minimum separation in time between consecutive events. A 4-layer ConvNet with 22 convolutional nodes trained for poker card symbol recognition has been implemented in a Spartan6 FPGA. This network has been tested with a stimulus where 40 poker cards were observed by a Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) in 1 s time. Different slow-down factors were applied to characterize the behavior of the system for high speed processing. For slow stimulus play-back, a 96% recognition rate is obtained with a power consumption of 0.85 mW. At maximum play-back speed, a traffic control mechanism downsamples the input stimulus, obtaining a recognition rate above 63% when less than 20% of the input events are processed, demonstrating the robustness of the network. PMID:29515349

Computer versus Paper-Based Reading: A Case Study in English Language Teaching Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Solak, Ekrem

2014-01-01

This research aims to determine the preference of prospective English teachers in performing computer and paper-based reading tasks and to what extent computer and paper-based reading influence their reading speed, accuracy and comprehension. The research was conducted at a State run University, English Language Teaching Department in Turkey. The…

Impact of orthographic transparency on typical and atypical reading development: evidence in French-Spanish bilingual children.

PubMed

Lallier, Marie; Valdois, Sylviane; Lassus-Sangosse, Delphine; Prado, Chloé; Kandel, Sonia

2014-05-01

The present study aimed to quantify cross-linguistic modulations of the contribution of phonemic awareness skills and visual attention span (VA Span) skills (number of visual elements that can be processed simultaneously) to reading speed and accuracy in 18 Spanish-French balanced bilingual children with and without developmental dyslexia. The children were administered two similar reading batteries in French and Spanish. The deficits of the dyslexic children in reading accuracy were mainly visible in their opaque orthography (French) whereas difficulties indexed by reading speed were observed in both their opaque and transparent orthographies. Dyslexic children did not exhibit any phonemic awareness problems in French or in Spanish, but showed poor VA Span skills compared to their control peers. VA span skills correlated with reading accuracy and speed measures in both Spanish and French, whereas phonemic awareness correlated with reading accuracy only. Overall, the present results show that the VA Span is tightly related to reading speed regardless of orthographic transparency, and that it accounts for differences in reading performance between good and poor readers across languages. The present findings further suggest that VA Span skills may play a particularly important role in building-up specific word knowledge which is critical for lexical reading strategies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Narrow Reading: Effects on EFL Learners' Reading Speed, Comprehension, and Perceptions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, C.-S.; Millett, Sonia

2017-01-01

This study compared the reading speed, comprehension and perceptions of two groups of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. Each group addressed one of two types of narrow reading: same genre and same title. The same genre texts were three graded readers in the "Sherlock Holmes" series, and the same title texts were "The…

L2 Japanese Learners' Responses to Translation, Speed Reading, and "Pleasure Reading" as a Form of Extensive Reading

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tabata-Sandom, Mitsue

2017-01-01

Fluency development instruction lacks in reading in Japanese as a foreign language instruction. This study examined how 34 upper-intermediate level learners of Japanese responded when they first experienced pleasure reading and speed reading. The participants also engaged in intensive reading, the main component of which was translation. Survey…

Super Power for Effortless and Efficient Digest of Language for Expression with Alpha Rhythms in Nature [SPEED LEARN].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Doris B.

Project "SPEED LEARN," a study which compared learning rates in beginning French and other behavior characteristics between adolescents with alpha training and comparable students without such training, was conducted with 62 rural subjects randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both groups participated in an 8-week…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bachan, John

Chisel is a new open-source hardware construction language developed at UC Berkeley that supports advanced hardware design using highly parameterized generators and layered domain-specific hardware languages. Chisel is embedded in the Scala programming language, which raises the level of hardware design abstraction by providing concepts including object orientation, functional programming, parameterized types, and type inference. From the same source, Chisel can generate a high-speed C++-based cycle-accurate software simulator, or low-level Verilog designed to pass on to standard ASIC or FPGA tools for synthesis and place and route.

Pb Neurotoxicity: Neuropsychological Effects of Lead Toxicity

PubMed Central

Mason, Lisa H.; Harp, Jordan P.; Han, Dong Y.

2014-01-01

Neurotoxicity is a term used to describe neurophysiological changes caused by exposure to toxic agents. Such exposure can result in neurocognitive symptoms and/or psychiatric disturbances. Common toxic agents include heavy metals, drugs, organophosphates, bacterial, and animal neurotoxins. Among heavy metal exposures, lead exposure is one of the most common exposures that can lead to significant neuropsychological and functional decline in humans. In this review, neurotoxic lead exposure's pathophysiology, etiology, and epidemiology are explored. In addition, commonly associated neuropsychological difficulties in intelligence, memory, executive functioning, attention, processing speed, language, visuospatial skills, motor skills, and affect/mood are explored. PMID:24516855

A control system based on field programmable gate array for papermaking sewage treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zi Sheng; Xie, Chang; Qing Xiong, Yan; Liu, Zhi Qiang; Li, Qing

2013-03-01

A sewage treatment control system is designed to improve the efficiency of papermaking wastewater treatment system. The automation control system is based on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), coded with Very-High-Speed Integrate Circuit Hardware Description Language (VHDL), compiled and simulated with Quartus. In order to ensure the stability of the data used in FPGA, the data is collected through temperature sensors, water level sensor and online PH measurement system. The automatic control system is more sensitive, and both the treatment efficiency and processing power are increased. This work provides a new method for sewage treatment control.

Program Helps Simulate Neural Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Villarreal, James; Mcintire, Gary

1993-01-01

Neural Network Environment on Transputer System (NNETS) computer program provides users high degree of flexibility in creating and manipulating wide variety of neural-network topologies at processing speeds not found in conventional computing environments. Supports back-propagation and back-propagation-related algorithms. Back-propagation algorithm used is implementation of Rumelhart's generalized delta rule. NNETS developed on INMOS Transputer(R). Predefines back-propagation network, Jordan network, and reinforcement network to assist users in learning and defining own networks. Also enables users to configure other neural-network paradigms from NNETS basic architecture. Small portion of software written in OCCAM(R) language.

Lexical Activation during Sentence Comprehension in Adolescents with History of Specific Language Impairment

PubMed Central

Borovsky, Arielle; Burns, Erin; Elman, Jeffrey L.; Evans, Julia L.

2015-01-01

One remarkable characteristic of speech comprehension in typically developing (TD) children and adults is the speed with which the listener can integrate information across multiple lexical items to anticipate upcoming referents. Although children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) show lexical deficits (Sheng & McGregor, 2010) and slower speed of processing (Leonard et al., 2007), relatively little is known about how these deficits manifest in real-time sentence comprehension. In this study, we examine lexical activation in the comprehension of simple transitive sentences in adolescents with a history of SLI and age-matched, TD peers. Participants listened to sentences that consisted of the form, Article-Agent-Action-Article-Theme, (e.g., The pirate chases the ship) while viewing pictures of four objects that varied in their relationship to the Agent and Action of the sentence (e.g., Target, Agent-Related, Action-Related, and Unrelated). Adolescents with SLI were as fast as their TD peers to fixate on the sentence’s final item (the Target) but differed in their post-action onset visual fixations to the Action-Related item. Additional exploratory analyses of the spatial distribution of their visual fixations revealed that the SLI group had a qualitatively different pattern of fixations to object images than did the control group. The findings indicate that adolescents with SLI integrate lexical information across words to anticipate likely or expected meanings with the same relative fluency and speed as do their TD peers. However, the failure of the SLI group to show increased fixations to Action-Related items after the onset of the action suggests lexical integration deficits that result in failure to consider alternate sentence interpretations. PMID:24099807

Cognitive and neuropathologic correlates of Stroop Color-Word Test performance in Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Bondi, Mark W; Serody, Adam B; Chan, Agnes S; Eberson-Shumate, Sonja C; Delis, Dean C; Hansen, Lawrence A; Salmon, David P

2002-07-01

The Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT; C. Golden, 1978) was examined in 59 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in 51 demographically comparable normal control (NC) participants. AD patients produced significantly larger Stroop interference effects than NC participants, and level of dementia severity significantly influenced SCWT performance. Principal-components analyses demonstrated a dissociation in the factor structure of the Stroop trials between NC participants and AD patients, suggesting that disruption of semantic knowledge and speeded verbal processing in AD may be a major contributor to impairment on the incongruent trial. Results of clinicopathologic correlations in an autopsy-confirmed AD subgroup further suggest the invocation of a broad network of integrated cortical regions and executive and language processes underlying successful SCWT performance.

Finger agnosia and cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Davis, Andrew S; Trotter, Jeffrey S; Hertza, Jeremy; Bell, Christopher D; Dean, Raymond S

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the presence of finger agnosia in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to determine if level of finger agnosia was related to cognitive impairment. Finger agnosia is a sensitive measure of cerebral impairment and is associated with neurofunctional areas implicated in AD. Using a standardized and norm-referenced approach, results indicated that patients with AD evidenced significantly decreased performance on tests of bilateral finger agnosia compared with healthy age-matched controls. Finger agnosia was predictive of cognitive dysfunction on four of seven domains, including: Crystallized Language, Fluid Processing, Associative Learning, and Processing Speed. Results suggest that measures of finger agnosia, a short and simple test, may be useful in the early detection of AD.

A Common Function of Basal Ganglia-Cortical Circuits Subserving Speed in Both Motor and Cognitive Domains.

PubMed

Hanakawa, Takashi; Goldfine, Andrew M; Hallett, Mark

2017-01-01

Distinct regions of the frontal cortex connect with their basal ganglia and thalamic counterparts, constituting largely segregated basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical (BTC) circuits. However, any common role of the BTC circuits in different behavioral domains remains unclear. Indeed, whether dysfunctional motor and cognitive BTC circuits are responsible for motor slowing and cognitive slowing, respectively, in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a matter of debate. Here, we used an effortful behavioral paradigm in which the effects of task rate on accuracy were tested in movement, imagery, and calculation tasks in humans. Using nonlinear fitting, we separated baseline accuracy ( A base ) and "agility" (ability to function quickly) components of performance in healthy participants and then confirmed reduced agility and preserved A base for the three tasks in PD. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tractography, we explored the neural substrates underlying speeded performance of the three tasks in healthy participants, suggesting the involvement of distinct BTC circuits in cognitive and motor agility. Language and motor BTC circuits were specifically active during speeded performance of the calculation and movement tasks, respectively, whereas premotor BTC circuits revealed activity for speeded performance of all tasks. Finally, PD showed reduced task rate-correlated activity in the language BTC circuits for speeded calculation, in the premotor BTC circuit for speeded imagery, and in the motor BTC circuits for speeded movement, as compared with controls. The present study casts light on the anatomo-functional organization of the BTC circuits and their parallel roles in invigorating movement and cognition through a function of dopamine.

A Common Function of Basal Ganglia-Cortical Circuits Subserving Speed in Both Motor and Cognitive Domains

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Abstract Distinct regions of the frontal cortex connect with their basal ganglia and thalamic counterparts, constituting largely segregated basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical (BTC) circuits. However, any common role of the BTC circuits in different behavioral domains remains unclear. Indeed, whether dysfunctional motor and cognitive BTC circuits are responsible for motor slowing and cognitive slowing, respectively, in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a matter of debate. Here, we used an effortful behavioral paradigm in which the effects of task rate on accuracy were tested in movement, imagery, and calculation tasks in humans. Using nonlinear fitting, we separated baseline accuracy (Abase) and “agility” (ability to function quickly) components of performance in healthy participants and then confirmed reduced agility and preserved Abase for the three tasks in PD. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tractography, we explored the neural substrates underlying speeded performance of the three tasks in healthy participants, suggesting the involvement of distinct BTC circuits in cognitive and motor agility. Language and motor BTC circuits were specifically active during speeded performance of the calculation and movement tasks, respectively, whereas premotor BTC circuits revealed activity for speeded performance of all tasks. Finally, PD showed reduced task rate-correlated activity in the language BTC circuits for speeded calculation, in the premotor BTC circuit for speeded imagery, and in the motor BTC circuits for speeded movement, as compared with controls. The present study casts light on the anatomo-functional organization of the BTC circuits and their parallel roles in invigorating movement and cognition through a function of dopamine. PMID:29379873

MobileASL: intelligibility of sign language video over mobile phones.

PubMed

Cavender, Anna; Vanam, Rahul; Barney, Dane K; Ladner, Richard E; Riskin, Eve A

2008-01-01

For Deaf people, access to the mobile telephone network in the United States is currently limited to text messaging, forcing communication in English as opposed to American Sign Language (ASL), the preferred language. Because ASL is a visual language, mobile video phones have the potential to give Deaf people access to real-time mobile communication in their preferred language. However, even today's best video compression techniques can not yield intelligible ASL at limited cell phone network bandwidths. Motivated by this constraint, we conducted one focus group and two user studies with members of the Deaf Community to determine the intelligibility effects of video compression techniques that exploit the visual nature of sign language. Inspired by eye tracking results that show high resolution foveal vision is maintained around the face, we studied region-of-interest encodings (where the face is encoded at higher quality) as well as reduced frame rates (where fewer, better quality, frames are displayed every second). At all bit rates studied here, participants preferred moderate quality increases in the face region, sacrificing quality in other regions. They also preferred slightly lower frame rates because they yield better quality frames for a fixed bit rate. The limited processing power of cell phones is a serious concern because a real-time video encoder and decoder will be needed. Choosing less complex settings for the encoder can reduce encoding time, but will affect video quality. We studied the intelligibility effects of this tradeoff and found that we can significantly speed up encoding time without severely affecting intelligibility. These results show promise for real-time access to the current low-bandwidth cell phone network through sign-language-specific encoding techniques.

Repeated Reading for Japanese Language Learners: Effects on Reading Speed, Comprehension, and Comprehension Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gorsuch, Greta; Taguchi, Etsuo; Umehara, Hiroaki

2015-01-01

A perennial challenge to second language educators and learners is getting sufficient input in settings where the L2 is not widely used, in this case beginning-level American university students learning Japanese. Reading is a significant means of getting L2 input, with recent calls for attention to reading and authentic texts as curriculum…

Television Subtitles and Literacy: Where Do We Go from Here?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hefer, Esté

2013-01-01

Subtitling is a valuable tool for improving literacy and aiding language learning, but what happens when people are unable to read the subtitles? In a recent study on the reading of second language subtitles, participants were shown a subtitled short film while their eye movements were recorded by an SMI iViewX Hi-Speed eye tracker. It was found…

Exceptional Lexical Skills but Executive Language Deficits in School Starters and Young Adults with Turners Syndrome: Implications for X Chromosome Effects on Brain Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Temple, Christine M.; Shephard, Elizabeth E.

2012-01-01

TS school starters had enhanced receptive and expressive language on standardised assessment (CELF-P) and enhanced rhyme judgements, spoonerisms, and lexical decision, indicating enhanced phonological skills and word representations. There was marginal but consistent advantage across lexico-semantic tasks. On executive tasks, speeded naming of…

Using the Radio To Teach English as a Second Language.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kitay, Julia Farthing

The short-wave radio provides an excellent and cost-effective tool for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), especially in remote or poor areas where Internet access may not be readily available. It allows the learner to hear multiple native English speakers talk in normal speed in a variety of accents. It also allows students to encounter…

Attention Demands of Spoken Word Planning: A Review

PubMed Central

Roelofs, Ardi; Piai, Vitória

2011-01-01

Attention and language are among the most intensively researched abilities in the cognitive neurosciences, but the relation between these abilities has largely been neglected. There is increasing evidence, however, that linguistic processes, such as those underlying the planning of words, cannot proceed without paying some form of attention. Here, we review evidence that word planning requires some but not full attention. The evidence comes from chronometric studies of word planning in picture naming and word reading under divided attention conditions. It is generally assumed that the central attention demands of a process are indexed by the extent that the process delays the performance of a concurrent unrelated task. The studies measured the speed and accuracy of linguistic and non-linguistic responding as well as eye gaze durations reflecting the allocation of attention. First, empirical evidence indicates that in several task situations, processes up to and including phonological encoding in word planning delay, or are delayed by, the performance of concurrent unrelated non-linguistic tasks. These findings suggest that word planning requires central attention. Second, empirical evidence indicates that conflicts in word planning may be resolved while concurrently performing an unrelated non-linguistic task, making a task decision, or making a go/no-go decision. These findings suggest that word planning does not require full central attention. We outline a computationally implemented theory of attention and word planning, and describe at various points the outcomes of computer simulations that demonstrate the utility of the theory in accounting for the key findings. Finally, we indicate how attention deficits may contribute to impaired language performance, such as in individuals with specific language impairment. PMID:22069393

Fort Hamilton High School Project SPEED: Special Education to Eliminate Dropouts. O.E.E. Evaluation Report, 1982-1983.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicolaidis, Mary; Sica, Michael

The major goal of Project SPEED (at Fort Hamilton High School, Brooklyn, New York) was dropout prevention. In its first year of operation, 1982-83, the project provided English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction, bilingual instruction in basic skills required for graduation, and guidance services to approximately 300 limited English proficient…

The Effect of Speed Reading Instruction on Japanese High School Students' English Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Underwood, Paul; Myskow, Gordon; Hattori, Takahiko

2012-01-01

This study investigated the effects of a six-month course in speed reading in three areas of reading proficiency development: 1) general reading comprehension, 2) knowledge of high-frequency vocabulary, and 3) reading-rate and accuracy. The participants (N = 105) were Japanese students studying English as a foreign language in Grade 10 at a…

Examining the Association between Patient-Reported Symptoms of Attention and Memory Dysfunction with Objective Cognitive Performance: A Latent Regression Rasch Model Approach.

PubMed

Li, Yuelin; Root, James C; Atkinson, Thomas M; Ahles, Tim A

2016-06-01

Patient-reported cognition generally exhibits poor concordance with objectively assessed cognitive performance. In this article, we introduce latent regression Rasch modeling and provide a step-by-step tutorial for applying Rasch methods as an alternative to traditional correlation to better clarify the relationship of self-report and objective cognitive performance. An example analysis using these methods is also included. Introduction to latent regression Rasch modeling is provided together with a tutorial on implementing it using the JAGS programming language for the Bayesian posterior parameter estimates. In an example analysis, data from a longitudinal neurocognitive outcomes study of 132 breast cancer patients and 45 non-cancer matched controls that included self-report and objective performance measures pre- and post-treatment were analyzed using both conventional and latent regression Rasch model approaches. Consistent with previous research, conventional analysis and correlations between neurocognitive decline and self-reported problems were generally near zero. In contrast, application of latent regression Rasch modeling found statistically reliable associations between objective attention and processing speed measures with self-reported Attention and Memory scores. Latent regression Rasch modeling, together with correlation of specific self-reported cognitive domains with neurocognitive measures, helps to clarify the relationship of self-report with objective performance. While the majority of patients attribute their cognitive difficulties to memory decline, the Rash modeling suggests the importance of processing speed and initial learning. To encourage the use of this method, a step-by-step guide and programming language for implementation is provided. Implications of this method in cognitive outcomes research are discussed. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Executive Functions Contribute Uniquely to Reading Competence in Minority Youth

PubMed Central

Jacobson, Lisa A.; Koriakin, Taylor; Lipkin, Paul; Boada, Richard; Frijters, Jan; Lovett, Maureen; Hill, Dina; Willcutt, Erik; Gottwald, Stephanie; Wolf, Maryanne; Bosson-Heenan, Joan; Gruen, Jeffrey R.; Mahone, E. Mark

2018-01-01

Competent reading requires various skills beyond those for basic word reading (i.e., core language skills, rapid naming, phonological processing). Contributing “higher-level” or domain-general processes include information processing speed and executive functions (working memory, strategic problem solving, attentional switching). Research in this area has relied on largely Caucasian samples, with limited representation of children from racial or ethnic minority groups. This study examined contributions of executive skills to reading competence in 761 children of minority backgrounds. Hierarchical linear regressions examined unique contributions of executive functions (EF) to word reading, fluency, and comprehension. EF contributed uniquely to reading performance, over and above reading-related language skills; working memory contributed uniquely to all components of reading; while attentional switching, but not problem solving, contributed to isolated and contextual word reading and reading fluency. Problem solving uniquely predicted comprehension, suggesting that this skill may be especially important for reading comprehension in minority youth. Attentional switching may play a unique role in development of reading fluency in minority youth, perhaps as a result of the increased demand for switching between spoken versus written dialects. Findings have implications for educational and clinical practice with regard to reading instruction, remedial reading intervention, and assessment of individuals with reading difficulty. PMID:26755569

Reading and visual processing in Greek dyslexic children: an eye-movement study.

PubMed

Hatzidaki, Anna; Gianneli, Maria; Petrakis, Eftichis; Makaronas, Nikolaos; Aslanides, Ioannis M

2011-02-01

We examined the impact of the effects of dyslexia on various processing and cognitive components (e.g., reading speed and accuracy) in a language with high phonological and orthographic consistency. Greek dyslexic children were compared with a chronological age-matched group on tasks that tested participants' phonological and orthographic awareness during reading and spelling, as well as their efficiency to detect a specific target-letter during a sequential visual search task. Dyslexic children showed impaired reading and spelling that was reflected in slow reading speed and error-prone performance, especially for non-words. Eye movement measures of text reading also provided supporting evidence for a reading deficit, with dyslexic participants producing more fixations and longer fixation duration as opposed to non-dyslexic participants. The results of the visual search task showed similar performance between the two groups, but when they were compared with the results of text reading, dyslexic participants were found to be able to process fewer stimuli (i.e., letters) at each fixation than non-dyslexics. Our findings further suggest that, although Greek dyslexics have the advantage of a consistent orthographic system which facilitates acquisition of reading and phonological awareness, they demonstrate more impaired access to orthographic forms than dyslexics of other transparent orthographies. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Rise time and formant transition duration in the discrimination of speech sounds: the Ba-Wa distinction in developmental dyslexia.

PubMed

Goswami, Usha; Fosker, Tim; Huss, Martina; Mead, Natasha; Szucs, Dénes

2011-01-01

Across languages, children with developmental dyslexia have a specific difficulty with the neural representation of the sound structure (phonological structure) of speech. One likely cause of their difficulties with phonology is a perceptual difficulty in auditory temporal processing (Tallal, 1980). Tallal (1980) proposed that basic auditory processing of brief, rapidly successive acoustic changes is compromised in dyslexia, thereby affecting phonetic discrimination (e.g. discriminating /b/ from /d/) via impaired discrimination of formant transitions (rapid acoustic changes in frequency and intensity). However, an alternative auditory temporal hypothesis is that the basic auditory processing of the slower amplitude modulation cues in speech is compromised (Goswami et al., 2002). Here, we contrast children's perception of a synthetic speech contrast (ba/wa) when it is based on the speed of the rate of change of frequency information (formant transition duration) versus the speed of the rate of change of amplitude modulation (rise time). We show that children with dyslexia have excellent phonetic discrimination based on formant transition duration, but poor phonetic discrimination based on envelope cues. The results explain why phonetic discrimination may be allophonic in developmental dyslexia (Serniclaes et al., 2004), and suggest new avenues for the remediation of developmental dyslexia. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

A UMLS-based spell checker for natural language processing in vaccine safety.

PubMed

Tolentino, Herman D; Matters, Michael D; Walop, Wikke; Law, Barbara; Tong, Wesley; Liu, Fang; Fontelo, Paul; Kohl, Katrin; Payne, Daniel C

2007-02-12

The Institute of Medicine has identified patient safety as a key goal for health care in the United States. Detecting vaccine adverse events is an important public health activity that contributes to patient safety. Reports about adverse events following immunization (AEFI) from surveillance systems contain free-text components that can be analyzed using natural language processing. To extract Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts from free text and classify AEFI reports based on concepts they contain, we first needed to clean the text by expanding abbreviations and shortcuts and correcting spelling errors. Our objective in this paper was to create a UMLS-based spelling error correction tool as a first step in the natural language processing (NLP) pipeline for AEFI reports. We developed spell checking algorithms using open source tools. We used de-identified AEFI surveillance reports to create free-text data sets for analysis. After expansion of abbreviated clinical terms and shortcuts, we performed spelling correction in four steps: (1) error detection, (2) word list generation, (3) word list disambiguation and (4) error correction. We then measured the performance of the resulting spell checker by comparing it to manual correction. We used 12,056 words to train the spell checker and tested its performance on 8,131 words. During testing, sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) for the spell checker were 74% (95% CI: 74-75), 100% (95% CI: 100-100), and 47% (95% CI: 46%-48%), respectively. We created a prototype spell checker that can be used to process AEFI reports. We used the UMLS Specialist Lexicon as the primary source of dictionary terms and the WordNet lexicon as a secondary source. We used the UMLS as a domain-specific source of dictionary terms to compare potentially misspelled words in the corpus. The prototype sensitivity was comparable to currently available tools, but the specificity was much superior. The slow processing speed may be improved by trimming it down to the most useful component algorithms. Other investigators may find the methods we developed useful for cleaning text using lexicons specific to their area of interest.

A UMLS-based spell checker for natural language processing in vaccine safety

PubMed Central

Tolentino, Herman D; Matters, Michael D; Walop, Wikke; Law, Barbara; Tong, Wesley; Liu, Fang; Fontelo, Paul; Kohl, Katrin; Payne, Daniel C

2007-01-01

Background The Institute of Medicine has identified patient safety as a key goal for health care in the United States. Detecting vaccine adverse events is an important public health activity that contributes to patient safety. Reports about adverse events following immunization (AEFI) from surveillance systems contain free-text components that can be analyzed using natural language processing. To extract Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) concepts from free text and classify AEFI reports based on concepts they contain, we first needed to clean the text by expanding abbreviations and shortcuts and correcting spelling errors. Our objective in this paper was to create a UMLS-based spelling error correction tool as a first step in the natural language processing (NLP) pipeline for AEFI reports. Methods We developed spell checking algorithms using open source tools. We used de-identified AEFI surveillance reports to create free-text data sets for analysis. After expansion of abbreviated clinical terms and shortcuts, we performed spelling correction in four steps: (1) error detection, (2) word list generation, (3) word list disambiguation and (4) error correction. We then measured the performance of the resulting spell checker by comparing it to manual correction. Results We used 12,056 words to train the spell checker and tested its performance on 8,131 words. During testing, sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) for the spell checker were 74% (95% CI: 74–75), 100% (95% CI: 100–100), and 47% (95% CI: 46%–48%), respectively. Conclusion We created a prototype spell checker that can be used to process AEFI reports. We used the UMLS Specialist Lexicon as the primary source of dictionary terms and the WordNet lexicon as a secondary source. We used the UMLS as a domain-specific source of dictionary terms to compare potentially misspelled words in the corpus. The prototype sensitivity was comparable to currently available tools, but the specificity was much superior. The slow processing speed may be improved by trimming it down to the most useful component algorithms. Other investigators may find the methods we developed useful for cleaning text using lexicons specific to their area of interest. PMID:17295907

The adaptation of GDL motion recognition system to sport and rehabilitation techniques analysis.

PubMed

Hachaj, Tomasz; Ogiela, Marek R

2016-06-01

The main novelty of this paper is presenting the adaptation of Gesture Description Language (GDL) methodology to sport and rehabilitation data analysis and classification. In this paper we showed that Lua language can be successfully used for adaptation of the GDL classifier to those tasks. The newly applied scripting language allows easily extension and integration of classifier with other software technologies and applications. The obtained execution speed allows using the methodology in the real-time motion capture data processing where capturing frequency differs from 100 Hz to even 500 Hz depending on number of features or classes to be calculated and recognized. Due to this fact the proposed methodology can be used to the high-end motion capture system. We anticipate that using novel, efficient and effective method will highly help both sport trainers and physiotherapist in they practice. The proposed approach can be directly applied to motion capture data kinematics analysis (evaluation of motion without regard to the forces that cause that motion). The ability to apply pattern recognition methods for GDL description can be utilized in virtual reality environment and used for sport training or rehabilitation treatment.

QuantumOptics.jl: A Julia framework for simulating open quantum systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krämer, Sebastian; Plankensteiner, David; Ostermann, Laurin; Ritsch, Helmut

2018-06-01

We present an open source computational framework geared towards the efficient numerical investigation of open quantum systems written in the Julia programming language. Built exclusively in Julia and based on standard quantum optics notation, the toolbox offers speed comparable to low-level statically typed languages, without compromising on the accessibility and code readability found in dynamic languages. After introducing the framework, we highlight its features and showcase implementations of generic quantum models. Finally, we compare its usability and performance to two well-established and widely used numerical quantum libraries.

Lightning attachment process to common buildings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saba, M. M. F.; Paiva, A. R.; Schumann, C.; Ferro, M. A. S.; Naccarato, K. P.; Silva, J. C. O.; Siqueira, F. V. C.; Custódio, D. M.

2017-05-01

The physical mechanism of lightning attachment to grounded structures is one of the most important issues in lightning physics research, and it is the basis for the design of the lightning protection systems. Most of what is known about the attachment process comes from leader propagation models that are mostly based on laboratory observations of long electrical discharges or from observations of lightning attachment to tall structures. In this paper we use high-speed videos to analyze the attachment process of downward lightning flashes to an ordinary residential building. For the first time, we present characteristics of the attachment process to common structures that are present in almost every city (in this case, two buildings under 60 m in São Paulo City, Brazil). Parameters like striking distance and connecting leaders speed, largely used in lightning attachment models and in lightning protection standards, are revealed in this work.