Author: Kathryn Tower
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description

Author: Emily Rebecca Cohen-Shikora
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Electronic dissertations
Languages : en
Pages : 101

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Book Description
Visual word recognition has been a central area of psychological inquiry over the past century. The current dissertation examines how visual word recognition changes as a function of age by focusing on the influence of word frequency, or how commonly a word is encountered. Word frequency is arguably the strongest predictor of visual word recognition performance across a variety of language tasks, and the most influential factor in models of language processing. All models of visual word recognition include a strong role for word frequency but often assume different underlying mechanisms, which produce differing predictions for age changes. Although there is already a literature examining word frequency effects in younger and older adults, these studies have produced inconsistent results, possibly due to procedural limitations and task-specific processes. This dissertation explores the influence of task and age on the word frequency effect, while directly examining individual differences (e.g., changes in vocabulary, vision, education) in order to better understand the mechanisms underlying word frequency effects. In contrast to the dichotomous approach of examining extreme groups of young and older adults, or extreme bands of word frequency, the present study examined both variables in a continuous manner. The primary finding is that the word frequency effect does not appear to change as a function of age across all three tasks considered. This finding is discussed in reference to previous inconsistent findings in the literature and important theoretical implications.

Author: P.A. Allen
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080526861
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 467

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Book Description
Component cognitive processes have played a critical role in the development of experimental aging research and theory in psychology as attested by articles published on this theme. However, in the last five to ten years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of articles attempting to isolate a single factor (or small subset of factors) responsible for age differences in information processing. This view of aging is frequently termed the complexity model of the generalized slowing model, the primary assumption being that age differences in cognition are due simply to a relatively larger performance decrement on the part of older adults (compared to younger adults) as task complexity increases. Because generalized complexity theorists have questioned the utility of using component cognitive processes as theoretical constructs, the editors feel it is time to restate why component cognitive processes are critical to any thorough understanding of age differences in cognition. Thus the present edited volume represents an attempt to demonstrate the utility of the process-specific approach to cognitive aging. Central to this effort are illustrations of how regression analyses may provide evidence for general slowing by maximizing explained variance while at the same time obscuring local sources of variance. The book concentrates on age differences in word and language processing, because these factors relate to reading which is a critical cognitive process used in everyday life. Furthermore, age differences in word and language processing illustrate the importance of taking component cognitive processes into consideration. The breadth of coverage of the book attests to the wide range of cognitive processes involved in word and language processing.

Author: Heather Harris Wright
Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company
ISBN: 9027267316
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Age-related changes in cognitive and language functions have been extensively researched over the past half-century. The older adult represents a unique population for studying cognition and language because of the many challenges that are presented with investigating this population, including individual differences in education, life experiences, health issues, social identity, as well as gender. The purpose of this book is to provide an advanced text that considers these unique challenges and assembles in one source current information regarding (a) language in the aging population and (b) current theories accounting for age-related changes in language function. A thoughtful and comprehensive review of current research spanning different disciplines that study aging will achieve this purpose. Such disciplines include linguistics, psychology, sociolinguistics, neurosciences, cognitive sciences, and communication sciences. As of January 2019, this e-book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched.

Author: Robert A. Laidlaw
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aging
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description

Author: Willemijn M. Klein
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400984537
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
It was in the course of 1980 that it dawned upon several friends and colleagues of Manfred Bierwisch that a half century had passed since his birth in 1930. Manfred's youthful appearance had prevented a timely appreciation of this fact, and these friends and co11eagues are, therefore, not at ali embarrassed to be presenting him, almost a year late, with a Festschrift which willleave a trace of this noteworthy occasion in the archives of linguistics. It should be realized, however, that the deIay would have easily extended to 1990 if alI those who had wanted to contribute to this book had in fact written their chapters. Under the pressure of actuality, several co11eagues who had genu ineIy hoped or even promised to contribute, just couIdn't make it in time. Still, their greetings and best wishes are also, be it tacitly, expressed by this volume. Especia11y important for the archives would be a record of the celebrated one's works and physical appearance. For the convenience of present and future generations this Festschrift contains a bibliography of Manfred Bierwisch's scientific publications, which forms a chapter in itself. The frontispiece photograph was taken unawares by one of our accomplices. The title of this Festschrift may alIow for free associations of various sorts.

Author: Martin Hetu
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Verbal ability
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description

Author: D. Kimbrough Oller
Publisher: Multilingual Matters
ISBN: 9781853595707
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
This book sets a high standard for rigor and scientific approach to the study of bilingualism and provides new insights regarding the critical issues of theory and practice, including the interdependence of linguistic knowledge in bilinguals, the role of socioeconomic status, the effect of different language usage patterns in the home, and the role of schooling by single-language immersion as opposed to systematic training in both home and target languages. The rich landscape of outcomes reported in the volume will provide a frame for interpretation and understanding of effects of bilingualism for years to come.

Author: Susan Kemper
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9781475771909
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Susan Kemper A debate about the role of working memory in language processing has become center-most in psycholinguistics (Caplan & Waters, in press; Just & Carpenter, 1992; Just, Carpenter, & Keller, 1996; Waters & Caplan, 1996). This debate concerns which aspects of language processing are vulnerable to working memory limitations, how working memory is best measured, and whether compensatory processes can offset working memory limitations. Age-comparative studies are particularly relevant to this debate for several reasons: difficulties with language and communication are frequently mentioned by older adults and signal the onset of Alzheimer's dementia and other pathologies associated with age; older adults commonly experience working memory limitations that affect their ability to perform everyday activities; the rapid aging of the United States population has forced psychologists and gerontologists to examine the effects of aging on cognition, drawing many investigators to the study of cognitive aging. Older adults constitute ideal population for studying how working memory limitations affect cognitive performance, particularly language and communication. Age-comparative studies of cognitive processes have advanced our understanding of the temporal dynamics of cognition as well as the working memory demands of many types of tasks (Kliegl, Mayr, & Krampe, 1994; Mayr & Kliegl, 1993). The research findings reviewed in this volume have clear implications - for addressing the practical problems of older adults as consumers of leisure ti- reading, radio and television broadcasts, as targets of medical, legal, and financial documents, and as participants in a web of service agencies and volunteer activities.

Author: Gillian Cohen
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780863779183
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 250

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Book Description
This special issue brings together studies that analyse the nature of retrieval failure for proper names and evaluate whether a common memory system can adequately account for the representation and retrieval of both proper and common names.