Proposes a top-down procedural model for the dynamic extraction and use of context structure to resolve references. (FL)

The purpose of this study was to determine what effect exposure to linguistic input pertinent to kinship terms and kinship relations has on the acquisition of the meaning of such terms. The subjects were 84 German children living in families, and 84 orphans. (Author/CFM)

Presents a model of high-dimensional context space, the Hyperspace Analogue to Language (HAL), with a series of simulations modelling human empirical results. Proposes that HAL's context space can be used to provide a basic categorization of semantic and grammatical concepts; model certain aspects of morphological ambiguity in verbs; and provide…

A theory of deductive reasoning is presented for inferences that depend on multiply quantified premises. It is argued that reasoners construct mental models based on their knowledge of the meaning of the quantifiers. Three experiments, with 54 university students and adults, corroborated the theory. (SLD)

A discourse comprehension model is developed in which the initial processing is bottom-up. Word meanings are activated, propositions are formed, and inferences and elaborations are produced, regardless of the discourse context. A network of interrelated items is created which can be integrated into a coherent structure. (SLD)

Examines the limits of Julia Kristeva's approach to modernist language. The article argues that Kristeva draws on a structuralist model of language and the unconscious, utilizing a code and deviation framework, thereby restricting her ability to elucidate explicit effects of modernist dislocation of language. The article also probes the problems…

Presents the Semantic Distance Model (SDM) of Relevance Assessment, a cognitive model of the relationship between semantic distance and relevance assessment. Discusses premises of the model such as the subjective nature of information and the metaphor of semantic distance. Empirical results illustrate the effects of semantic distance and semantic…

Aims to foster discussion of the means by which bilinguals control their two language systems. Proposes an inhibitory control model that embodies the principle that there are multiple levels of control. The model is used to expand the explanation of the effect of category blocking in translation proposed by Kroll and Stewart (1994). (Author/VWL)

What is the role of oral language in reading competence during the transition to school? Is oral language in preschool best conceptualized as vocabulary knowledge or as more comprehensive language including grammar, vocabulary, and semantics? These questions were examined longitudinally using 1,137 children from the National Institute of Child…

Framed by a "personal constructivist" perspective, this study analyses visitors' use of spontaneous memories in understanding different types of interactive exhibits, the nature and sources of the retrieved memories, and the way that visitors relate an exhibit analogically to memories of previous exhibits. One hundred and thirteen…

We introduce a new method of sign language subtitling aimed at young deaf children who have not acquired reading skills yet, and can communicate only via signs. The method is based on: 1) the recently developed concept of "semantroid[TM]" (an animated 3D avatar limited to head and hands); 2) the design, development, and psychophysical evaluation…

Simple name-retrieval models of spoken word planning (Bloem & La Heij, 2003; Starreveld & La Heij, 1996) maintain (1) that there are two levels in word planning, a conceptual and a lexical phonological level, and (2) that planning a word in both object naming and oral reading involves the selection of a lexical phonological representation.…

This study investigates the influence of changes in the wording of simple addition and subtraction problems without affecting their semantic structure on the level of difficulty of those problems for first and second graders and on the nature of their errors. The objective is to contribute to a better understanding of the process of constructing a…

The Computer-Based Memorization System (CBMS), which specifies the facts that students are to know and how well the facts are to be known, uses a compiled form of an associative network for its knowledge database. (An associative network is a knowledge representation that uses associations for its basic representation of knowledge.) The CBMS…

The skilled performance of conference interpreters has aroused some interest of late, both on the part of interpreters interested in studying their own complex skills, and of psychologists interested in cognitive behavior. Recent theories in this field have concentrated on information processing aspects of the task, and on the role of anticipatory…