In many domains, learners extract recurring units from continuous sequences. For example, in unknown languages, fluent speech is perceived as a continuous signal. Learners need to extract the underlying words from this continuous signal and then memorize them. One prominent candidate mechanism is statistical learning, whereby learners track how…

Early conceptions of aptitude were concerned with explicit learning abilities in formal learning settings, which according to MLAT (Modern Language Aptitude Test) were measurable based on a phonemic coding ability, an inductive learning ability, an associative memory, and a grammatical sensitivity (Carroll, 1962). However, recent understanding on…

Recent semantic space models learn vector representations for word meanings by observing statistical redundancies across a text corpus. A word's meaning is represented as a point in a high-dimensional semantic space, and semantic similarity between words is quantified by a function of their spatial proximity (typically the cosine of the angle…

This dissertation uses the processing of anaphoric relations to probe how linguistic information is encoded in and retrieved from memory during real-time sentence comprehension. More specifically, the dissertation attempts to resolve a tension between the demands of a linguistic processor implemented in a general-purpose cognitive architecture and…

Sixty of the possible beginning phonemes of English monosyllables were paired with the vowel /a/ in nonsense syllables, and used in illustrative one-syllable words. The sixty manners of commencing words had been scaled in terms of their relative perceptual similarity-dissimilarity in sounds. Both syllables and words were divided into three levels…

Three experiments are reported investigating the relationship between response recall and the spacing of repetitions as a function of the retention interval. The results of the experiments support the theory which emphasizes the nature of the cues available for retrieval. (Author/RM)

Article describes two processes in free recall: a retrieval process and a recognition process. Experiments confirmed the predicted dissociation of recognition and retrieval. (Author/ML)

Four experiments are reported in which relations of semantic distance to response latencies in similarity judgments, to reaction times in a same-different classification task, and to proximity of recall in a free recall task were investigated. (Author/RM)

Investigated whether the pseudoword repetition difference between poor and normal readers in the Netherlands could be explained by differences in memory for verbal materials or in familiarity with the composition of verbal materials. Concludes that the pseudoword repetition of poor readers is already operative in early, perceptual states of…

After intensively studying for several years the thinking processes of members of a tribal group in Western Africa, the Kpelle, the authors examine the relation between culture and cognitive development. The following issues are discussed: (1) an analysis of the terms "culture" and "cognition"; (2) an ethnographic description of the Kpelle…

Developed to improve the language skills of culturally disadvantaged preschool children, the activities can be adapted for use with the retarded or those with learning disabilities. Communication processes considered are derived from the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities. Activities are described for the following areas: listening skills…

This document is the seventh report in the Language Research in Progress (LRIP) series, and lists a wide variety of language-related research projects current between April 1968 and November 1968. Research projects terminated in the six months prior to publication are included as well. Approximately 250 projects in the U.S. and abroad are…