Lack of semantic parafoveal preview benefit in reading revisited

In contrast to earlier research, evidence for semantic preview benefit in reading has been reported by Hohenstein and Kliegl (Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40, 166–190, 2013) in an alphabetic writing system; they also implied that prior demonstrations of lack of a semantic preview benefit needed to be reexamined. In the present article, we report a rather direct replication of an experiment reported by Rayner, Balota, and Pollatsek (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473–483, 1986). Using the gaze-contingent boundary paradigm, subjects read sentences that contained a target word (razor), but different preview words were initially presented in the sentence. The preview was identical to the target word (i.e., razor), semantically related to the target word (i.e., blade), semantically unrelated to the target word (i.e., sweet), or a visually similar nonword (i.e., razar). When the reader’s eyes crossed an invisible boundary location just to the left of the target word location, the preview changed to the target word. Like Rayner et al. (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473–483, 1986), we found that fixations on the target word were significantly shorter in the identical condition than in the unrelated condition, which did not differ from the semantically related condition; when an orthographically similar preview had been initially present in the sentence, fixations were shorter than when a semantically unrelated preview had been present. Thus, the present experiment replicates the earlier data reported by Rayner et al. (Canadian Journal of Psychology, 40, 473–483, 1986), indicating evidence for an orthographic preview benefit but a lack of semantic preview benefit in reading English

Minimax Trees in Linear Time with Applications

A minimax tree is similar to a Huffman tree except that, instead of minimizing the weighted average of the leaves\u27 depths, it minimizes the maximum of any leaf\u27s weight plus its depth. Golumbic (1976) introduced minimax trees and gave a Huffman-like, $O (n log n)$-time algorithm for building them. Drmota and Szpankowski (2002) gave another $O (n log n)$-time algorithm, which takes linear time when the weights are already sorted by their fractional parts. In this paper we give the first linear-time algorithm for building minimax trees for unsorted real weights

Ontological imagination: transcending methodological solipsism and the promise of interdisciplinary studies

This text is a presentation of the notion of ontological imagination. It constitutes an attempt to merge two traditions: critical sociology and science and technology studies - STS. By contrasting these two intellectual traditions, I attempt to bring together: a humanist ethical-political sensitivity and a posthumanist ontological insight. My starting point is the premise that contemporary world needs new social ontology and new critical theory based on it in order to overcome the unconsciously adapted, “slice-based” modernist vision of social ontology. I am convinced that we need new ontological frameworks of the social combined with a research disposition which I refer to as ontological imagination

The effects of mnemonics on letter recognition and letter sound acquisition of at-risk kindergarten students

This study examined the effectiveness of embedded picture mnemonic alphabet cards on the acquisition of letter name and letter sound knowledge with at-risk kindergarten students in a rural Texas public school. The study compared student achievement against a zero baseline when the student(s) are trained using a dissassociated picture mnemonic to an embedded picture mnemonic. A secondary area of investigation was the “Degree of Difficulty in Learning Letter Names” theory proposed by Treiman, Tincoff, Rodriguez, Mouzaki, & Francis. The theory states that consonant letter names can be divided into three categories based on phoneme characteristics: Easy to learn letters have a consonant-vowel pattern (the letter name for “D” is /d/ /e/); hard letters have a converse pattern of vowel-consonant (the letter name for “M” is /e/ /m/); and the other category has no phoneme pattern reflective to the letter name (the letter name “W” is “double” “you”). Students were randomly selected to either the treatment or the control group and after a ten-day (two week) training period, the students were given one week with no intervention then administered a posttest, followed by another week with no intervention followed by a post-posttest. The purpose for this assessment design was to determine if the training had an effect on long-term memory. Results revealed that children taught with the embedded picture mnemonics learned more letter name associations than did the control group. The embedded picture mnemonic had a positive effect on long term memory reflecting an increase from a moderate effect sizes for letter naming (d = .69) on the first week post test to a large effect size for letter naming (d =1.12) on the second week post test. The results also revealed inconclusive support for Treiman’s et al. (1998) degree of difficulty in learning letter names theory

On the Huffman and Alphabetic Tree Problem with General Cost Functions

We address generalized versions of the Huffman and Alphabetic Tree Problem where the cost caused by each individual leaf i, instead of being linear, depends on its depth in the tree by an arbitrary function. The objective is to minimize either the total cost or the maximum cost among all leaves. We review and extend the known results in this direction and devise a number of new algorithms and hardness proofs. It turns out that the Dynamic Programming approach for the Alphabetic Tree Problem can be extended to arbitrary cost functions, resulting in a time O(n (4)) optimal algorithm using space O(n (3)). We identify classes of cost functions where the well-known trick to reduce the runtime by a factor of n via a "monotonicity" property can be applied. For the generalized Huffman Tree Problem we show that even the k-ary version can be solved by a generalized version of the Coin Collector Algorithm of Larmore and Hirschberg (in Proc. SODA'90, pp. 310-318, 1990) when the cost functions are nondecreasing and convex. Furthermore, we give an O(n (2)logn) algorithm for the worst case minimization variants of both the Huffman and Alphabetic Tree Problem with nondecreasing cost functions. Investigating the limits of computational tractability, we show that the Huffman Tree Problem in its full generality is inapproximable unless P = NP, no matter if the objective function is the sum of leaf costs or their maximum. The alphabetic version becomes NP-hard when the leaf costs are interdependent.ArticleALGORITHMICA. 69(3): 582-604 (2014)journal articl

Developing Automaticity in Children with Learning Disabilities: A Functional Perspective Part One: Theory and Assessment

The current chapter is the first of two chapters in this book to describe an instructional programme based on Luria’s theories, which can be used to develop basic skills and automaticity in reading, as well as basic skills and automaticity in writing and spelling. This chapter focuses on the theory behind the programme and then describes how assessment is used to develop an individual programme relating to both basic skill and fluency needs in reading, writing and spelling. The process is illustrated with one detailed case study, in which instructional needs identified in the assessment process are linked to particular areas of the programme. The results of this child and other case studies are then presented in the second chapter, Developing Automaticity in Children with Learning Disabilities: A Functional Perspective. Part Two: Programme Methods and Materials, in which the results of children exposed to the programme are analysed to identify key implementation variables affecting the development of reading, writing and spelling fluency