Subjects learned meanings for 16 invented words and practiced categorizing each word according to its meaning. Each word appeared consistently in either script or uppercase type. Subsequently subjects categorized words in both versions; at first, categorization was slower for unfamiliar versions. Subjects relied on both configuration information…

Points out what children's stories reveal about the significance of the individual word. (DD)

This study examined correlations between hard (low-associate) and easy (high-associate) verbal paired associates and episodic and semantic memory in a mixed clinical sample of 91 male veterans. The study concludes that hard paired-associate learning should not be presumed to measure episodic memory selectively. (SLD)

Examined whether the preferences of verbs for appearing in particular subcategory structures can influence parsing and whether this influence is graded according to the strength of the preferences. Findings suggest that the verb subcategory preferences do produce a graded influence on the parse, according to their strength. (28 references)…

Presents two different types of progressive construction in Spanish and Catalan, one referring to a state or event, and the other to the development of an event. The article argues that the first is predicated of a homogenous period of time, whereas the other is predicated of a period of time divided into consecutive phases. (23 references)…

Analyzes numerous examples of English and German verbs with respect to alternations they undergo and concludes that the semantic classes of verbs that undergo a particular alternation differ between these two languages but that there are some semantic constraints on this variation. The article stresses the limited nature of the study. (Seven…

Argues that adult educators use "learning" when they mean "education" and that this confounds and demeans incidental and informal learning processes. Suggests that intended, purposeful planned learning should properly be termed education and that there is no such thing as a nonlearner. (SK)

Explores the prospects for a "general nativist" theory of first- and second-language acquisition (SLA), outlines a modular acquisition device not including Universal Grammar, and considers the role of universal grammar in the emergence of a first language (L1). (50 references) (Author/CK)

Presents a literature review that covers the following topics related to Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA): (1) LSA overview; (2) applications of LSA, including information retrieval (IR), information filtering, cross-language retrieval, and other IR-related LSA applications; (3) modeling human memory, including the relationship of LSA to other…

Discusses XML (extensible markup language), particularly as it relates to libraries. Topics include organizing information; cataloging; metadata; similarities to HTML; organizations dealing with XML; making XML useful; a history of XML; the semantic Web; related technologies; XML at the Library of Congress; and its role in improving the…

Compared words used in five languages to describe different types of bullying and social exclusion. Data from parents of children age 6-13 in Italy, Spain, Portugal, England, and Japan highlighted six categories: nonaggression, fighting, severe physical aggression, verbal aggression, exclusion, and severe exclusion. There were clear differences…

Discusses Austin's ideas about language in relation to the ideas of Roy Harris, and, more specifically, the Austinian attitude toward language and integrational linguistics.(seven references) (CK)

Librarians often have communication "accidents" with reference questions as initially presented. This article presents linguistic analysis of query categories, including: simple failures of hearing, accidents involving pronunciation or homophones, accidents where users repeat earlier misinterpretations to librarians, and accidents where…

Discussion of image database systems focuses on semantic queries and shows how an image is abstracted into a hierarchy of entity names and features; how relations are established between entities visible in the image; and how a "fuzzy" matching technique is used to compare semantic queries to image abstractions. (Author/LRW)

A theory of acquired similarity and knowledge representation, latent semantic analysis (LSA), is presented to explain how people know as much as they do with the little information they get. LSA suggests that some domains of knowledge contain vast numbers of weak intercorrelations that amplify learning by inference. (SLD)