Machine Learning Model for Language Classification: Bag-of-words and Multilayer Perceptron

The availability of data today has become a great asset for research that is used for various purposes such as for machine learning. One of the basic machine learning methods for natural language processing is bag-of-words. The problem in this study is the difficulty in classifying texts because texts still have unstructured characteristics, so this study will apply a model to classify the language of texts. Texts will be placed in four categories, English, Indonesian, German and French. Research was conducted using Bag-of-words and Multilayer Perceptron to solve this supervised machine learning problem. The use of Bag-of-words to perform text representation for simple patterns, easy processing and good performance. On the other hand, a multilayer perceptron has the ability to study complex data patterns in the form of images, text or videos. This study will collect data using text mining techniques, namely crawling Twitter social media as many as 4000 data records. This study produces a model with an accuracy of 98 percent with a loss of 0.14 percent which shows good model performance in classifying languages based on text data

The Effect of Bilingualism on Perceptual Processing in Adults

abstract: The experience of language can, as any other experience, change the way that the human brain is organized and connected. Fluency in more than one language should, in turn, change the brain in the same way. Recent research has focused on the differences in processing between bilinguals and monolinguals, and has even ventured into using different neuroimaging techniques to study why these differences exist. What previous research has failed to identify is the mechanism that is responsible for the difference in processing. In an attempt to gather information about these effects, this study explores the possibility that bilingual individuals utilize lower signal strength (and by comparison less biological energy) to complete the same tasks that monolingual individuals do. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG), signal strength is retrieved during two perceptual tasks, the Landolt C and the critical flicker fusion threshold, as well as one executive task (the Stroop task). Most likely due to small sample size, bilingual participants did not perform better than monolingual participants on any of the tasks they were given, but they did show a lower EEG signal strength during the Landolt C task than monolingual participants. Monolingual participants showed a lower EEG signal strength during the Stroop task, which stands to support the idea that a linguistic processing task adds complexity to the bilingual brain. Likewise, analysis revealed a significantly lower signal strength during the critical flicker fusion task for monolingual participants than for bilingual participants. Monolingual participants also had a significantly different variability during the critical flicker fusion threshold task, suggesting that becoming bilingual creates an entirely separate population of individuals. Future research should perform analysis with the addition of a prefrontal cortex electrode to determine if less collaboration during processing is present for bilinguals, and if signal complexity in the prefrontal cortex is lower than other electrodes.Dissertation/ThesisMasters Thesis Psychology 201

The Bilingual Lexicon, Back and Forth: Electrophysiological Signatures of Translation Asymmetry

Available online 2 December 2021Mainstream theories of first and second language (L1, L2) processing in bilinguals are crucially informed by word translation research. A core finding is the translation asymmetry effect, typified by slower performance in forward translation (FT, from L1 into L2) than in backward translation (BT, from L2 into L1). Yet, few studies have explored its neural bases and none has employed (de)synchronization measures, precluding the integration of bilingual memory models with neural (de)coupling accounts of word processing. Here, 27 proficient Spanish-English bilinguals engaged in FT and BT of single words as we obtained high-density EEG recordings to perform cluster-based oscillatory and non-linear functional connectivity analyses. Relative to BT, FT yielded slower responses, higher frontal theta (4–7 Hz) power in an early window (0–300 ms), reduced centro-posterior lower-beta (14–20 Hz) and centro-frontal upper-beta (21–30 Hz) power in a later window (300–600 ms), and lower fronto-parietal connectivity below 10 Hz in the early window. Also, the greater the behavioral difference between FT and BT, the greater the power of the early theta cluster for FT over BT. These results reveal key (de)coupling dynamics underlying translation asymmetry, offering frequency-specific constraints for leading models of bilingual lexical processing.This work was supported by CONICET and FONCYT-PICT [grant numbers 2017-1818, 2017-1820]. Agustín Ibáñez is supported by grants of the Alzheimer’s Association GBHI ALZ UK-20-639295; Takeda CW2680521; ANID/FONDECYT Regular (1210195); ANID/FONDAP 15150012, Sistema General de Regalías (BPIN2018000100059), Universidad del Valle (CI 5316), and the Multi-Partner Consortium to Expand Dementia Research in Latin America (ReDLat), funded by the National Institutes of Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number R01AG057234, an Alzheimer’s Association grant (SG-20-725707-ReDLat), the Rainwater Foundation, and the Global Brain Health Institute. Adolfo García is an Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) and is supported with funding from GBHI, Alzheimer’s Association, and Alzheimer’s Society (Alzheimer’s Association GBHI ALZ UK-22-865742); ANID, FONDECYT Regular (1210176); and Programa Interdisciplinario de Investigación Experimental en Comunicación y Cognición (PIIECC), Facultad de Humanidades, USACH. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer’s Association, Rainwater Charitable Foundation, or Global Brain Health Institute

Symbiosis, Parasitism and Bilingual Cognitive Control: A Neuroemergentist Perspective

Interest in the intersection between bilingualism and cognitive control and accessibility to neuroimaging methods has resulted in numerous studies with a variety of interpretations of the bilingual cognitive advantage. Neurocomputational Emergentism (or Neuroemergentism for short) is a new framework for understanding this relationship between bilingualism and cognitive control. This framework considers Emergence, in which two small elements are recombined in an interactive manner, yielding a non-linear effect. Added to this is the notion that Emergence can be captured in neural systems using computationally inspired models. This review poses that bilingualism and cognitive control, as examined through the Neuroemergentist framework, are interwoven through development and involve the non-linear growth of cognitive processing encompassing brain areas that combine and recombine, in symbiotic and parasitic ways, in order to handle more complex types of processing. The models that have sought to explain the neural substrates of bilingual cognitive differences will be discussed with a reinterpretation of the entire bilingual cognitive advantage within a Neuroemergentist framework incorporating its neural bases. It will conclude by discussing how this new Neuroemergentist approach alters our view of the effects of language experience on cognitive control. Avenues to move beyond the simple notion of a bilingual advantage or lack thereof will be proposed

Functional lateralization of tool-sound and action-word processing in a bilingual brain

The impact of bilingualism on lateralized brain functions such as praxis – the control of skilled actions – and language representations themselves, particularly in the auditory domain, is still largely unknown. Recent studies suggest that bilingualism affects both basic (fundamental frequency) sound and action-related speech processing. Whether it can impact non-verbal action sound processing is a question of debate. Here we examined twenty bilinguals using a dichotic listening paradigm, in which in addition to repeating the just heard action words, participants named – in Polish or English – one of two simultaneously presented tool sounds from attended ears. The results were compared with data from these same participants tested with reading the same words in a visual-half field paradigm. In contrast to typical outcomes from monolinguals, the laterality indices of action-related sound processing (verbal and non-verbal) were not left lateralized but hemispherically balanced. Notably, despite similar organization of tool- and action-word sound processing, their auditory (balanced) and visual-language (left-lateralized) representations might be independent because there were no significant correlations between any of their laterality indices. This indicates that bilingualism might involve reshuffling/reorganization of typically lateralized brain functions and such plasticity will have consequences for second language learning strategies, as well as for neurorehabilitation

Spatiotemporal complexity patterns of resting‐state bioelectrical activity explain fluid intelligence : sex matters

Neural complexity is thought to be associated with efficient information processing but the exact nature of this relation remains unclear. Here, the relationship of fluid intelligence (gf) with the resting‐state EEG (rsEEG) complexity over different timescales and different electrodes was investigated. A 6‐min rsEEG blocks of eyes open were analyzed. The results of 119 subjects (57 men, mean age = 22.85 ± 2.84 years) were examined using multivariate multiscale sample entropy (mMSE) that quantifies changes in information richness of rsEEG in multiple data channels at fine and coarse timescales. gf factor was extracted from six intelligence tests. Partial least square regression analysis revealed that mainly predictors of the rsEEG complexity at coarse timescales in the frontoparietal network (FPN) and the temporo‐parietal complexities at fine timescales were relevant to higher gf. Sex differently affected the relationship between fluid intelligence and EEG complexity at rest. In men, gf was mainly positively related to the complexity at coarse timescales in the FPN. Furthermore, at fine and coarse timescales positive relations in the parietal region were revealed. In women, positive relations with gf were mostly observed for the overall and the coarse complexity in the FPN, whereas negative associations with gf were found for the complexity at fine timescales in the parietal and centro‐temporal region. These outcomes indicate that two separate time pathways (corresponding to fine and coarse timescales) used to characterize rsEEG complexity (expressed by mMSE features) are beneficial for effective information processing

Is there electrophysiological evidence for a bilingual advantage in neural processes related to executive functions?

Available online 3 August 2020Over the last two decades, a large number of studies have concluded that bilingualism enhances executive functions. However, other studies have reported no significant results. In addition, it is not clear how bilingualism might modulate specific executive control processes. Event-related potentials (ERP) are an excellent technique for identifying whether the neural correlates of executive control processes are strengthened by bilingualism, given their high temporal resolution. On the basis of previous research into the ERP correlates of executive functions, we hypothesize that specific ERP differences between monolinguals and bilinguals can be considered to indicate a bilingual advantage in executive functions. We then review the very limited number of studies that have investigated ERP differences between monolinguals and bilinguals during the performance of executive control tasks. Overall, we conclude that the existence of a bilingual advantage in neural processing related to executive functions remains uncertain and further studies are required. We highlight the utility of investigating several ERPs that have been ignored by previous studies.This study was funded by the Spanish government (Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación Postdoctoral Grant), European Commission (Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions 838536_BILINGUALPLAS), Basque Government (BERC 2018-2021 program), BCBL Severo Ochoa excellence accreditation SEV-2015-0490, and Grant RTI2018-093547-BI00 from the Agencia Estatal de Investigación

Executive Functioning and Brain Activation in Young Monolingual and Bilingual Children: An fNIRS Study

Over the past 40 years, the prevalence of bilingualism in the United States has increased. As bilingualism is increasing, it is important to examine potential benefits or drawbacks that early household bilingual exposure has on child development and how bilingualism may facilitate those benefits or drawbacks. This study included 5 monolingual and 6 bilingual children and compared differences in brain activation location and executive functioning skills. Results from this project show a trend of activation differences where the monolingual children had less activation of the middle area of the prefrontal cortex while there was similar activation in both the left and right side of the prefrontal cortex for both groups. Also shown is a pattern of better performance on the executive functioning tasks for the bilingual group. This could potentially be explained by the greater use of that middle area of the prefrontal cortex for the bilingual group compared to the monolingual group. The implications of this project suggest that there may be differences in abilities between bilingual and monolingual children and warrant further exploration of these trends

Le point sur l’avantage cognitif du bilinguisme : deux langues, deux mesures

Le présent mémoire vise à éclaircir la question de l’avantage du bilinguisme sur les cognitions. Une revue de la littérature s’impose afin de départager si le fait de parler plus d’une langue entraîne ou non un quelconque avantage cognitif pouvant se généraliser ailleurs que dans la fonction langagière. Ce travail nécessitera une redéfinition exhaustive et moderne des concepts du bilinguisme et des fonctions exécutives comme objet de recherche de manière à cibler les aspects comportementaux, cognitifs et neurologiques en jeu dans la pluralité linguistique.The present thesis aims to clarify the bilingual cognitive advantage debate. A review of the scientific literature must be realized to determine if speaking more than one language truly generates a cognitive improvement which can generalize itself further than within the sole language faculty. This will necessitate a modern and exhaustive redefinition of bilingualism and executive functions as research concepts in order to target the behavioral, cognitive and neurologic aspects at stake within the plurality of language