RAZNOLIKOST UPORABE IMENA BOJA U OPISIMA UČENIKA MLAĐE ŠKOLSKE DOBI

In the phase of language acquisition process that starts when a child reaches the first year of age and lasts until the third year when a child has gained command over the basics of the mother tongue, nouns and verbs are the most important parts of speech that children use in the process of communication. Language acquisition will depend on a number of factors: a child's gender, the number of children in the family, a child's environment, the media they consume, the way older members of the family speak to the child, attending kindergarten, parents' education and the organic idiom that a child is exposed to. At that early age a child names everything that surrounds them thus gaining knowledge about the world around them. Colours are a part of a child's world and after naming things and people, the child starts acquiring the names of primary colours. In the same way, if a child is learning a foreign language, one of the first words to be learned are the names of the colours so the content of numerous cartoons intended for nursery school children is connected with colours. With time, a child expands their vocabulary acquiring new words, listening to stories and especially fairy tales that are rich with various adjectives and colour names in denotative and connotative meanings. It is interesting that children often use colours to describe people, exterior and interior space both in speaking and writing. Even though their knowledge about colours increases with age, in the active lexis there are very often only basic colours: blue, red, yellow, brown, black, white and green. Therefore, it is the goal of this research to examine how younger school children (7 to10-year- olds) use colours in their descriptions of people, exterior and interior space. The research was made in the form of an experiment taking place in the Croatian language (mother tongue) lesson during which the students had to activate the lexemes connected with colours using texts about colours and language play. After that, the students wrote compositions in which active use of colours in written expression was tested. The research confirmed the expectation that students use up to five basic colours in their speech and a small number of different adjectives which implies that younger school children's vocabulary size is getting smaller despite numerous spoken language impulses that children today receive.U procesu usvajanja jezika u jezičnoj fazi, koja započinje kada dijete navrši prvu godinu, pa sve do treće godine, kada dijete ovlada temeljima materinskoga jezika, imenice i glagoli temeljne su vrste riječi koje djeca koriste u procesu komunikacije. Usvajanje jezika ovisit će o mnogim čimbenicima: spolu djeteta, broju djece u obitelji, okolini kojoj je dijete izloženo, medijima koje dijete konzumira, načinu obraćanja starijih ukućana, uključenosti u dječji vrtić, obrazovanju roditelja te organskom idiomu kojemu je dijete izloženo. U toj ranoj dobi dijete imenuje sve što ga okružuje te na taj način upoznaje svijet oko sebe. Boje su sastavni dio njegova svijeta te vrlo brzo nakon što imenuje određenu stvar ili osobu započinje usvajati imena osnovnih boja. Jednako tako, ukoliko dijete uči strani jezik, jedan od privih poticaja usmjeren je ovladavanju imena boja pa su tako i mnogi crtani filmovi namijenjeni djeci jasličke dobi sadržajno povezani s bojama. S vremenom dijete proširuje svoj vokabular usvajajući nove riječi, slušajući priče te osobito bajke koje obiluju raznolikim pridjevima i uporabom boja u denotativnom, ali i konotativnom značenju. Zanimljivo je da djeca boje često rabe u opisu osobe, vanjskoga i unutrašnjega prostora, kako u usmenom, tako i u pisanome obliku. Iako svoje znanje o bojama s godinama proširuju, vrlo često u aktivnom leksiku ostaju prisutne tek temeljne boje: plava, crvena, žuta, smeđa, crna, bijela i zelena. Upravo zato cilj je ovoga istraživanja ispitati koliko djeca rane školske dobi (7. - 10. godine) u svom pisanom radu koriste boje u opisu osobe, unutarnjeg i vanjskog prostora. Istraživanje će biti eksperimentalno tako što će se učenicima održati jedan sat Hrvatskoga (materinskoga) jezika koji će aktivirati lekseme vezane uz boje uz pomoć tekstova o bojama i jezičnim igrama. Potom će učenici pisati sastavke kojima će se provjeriti aktivna uporaba „boja“ u pisanome izrazu. Istraživanjem je potvrđeno da će učenici u svojim radovima upotrijebiti do pet osnovnih boja te vrlo malen broj različitih pridjeva, što upućuje na sve siromašniji rječnik djece mlađe školske dobi unatoč brojnim poticajima kojima su djeca današnjice izložena

Electrophysiological connectivity of logical deduction: Early cortical MEG study

Complex human reasoning involves minimal abilities to extract conclusions implied in the available information. These abilities are considered “deductive” because they exemplify certain abstract relations among propositions or probabilities called deductive arguments. However, the electrophysiological dynamics which supports such complex cognitive pro- cesses has not been addressed yet. In this work we consider typically deductive logico- probabilistically valid inferences and aim to verify or refute their electrophysiological functional connectivity differences from invalid inferences with the same content (same relational variables, same stimuli, same relevant and salient features). We recorded the brain electrophysiological activity of 20 participants (age 1⁄4 20.35 ± 3.23) by means of an MEG system during two consecutive reasoning tasks: a search task (invalid condition) without any specific deductive rules to follow, and a logically valid deductive task (valid condition) with explicit deductive rules as instructions. We calculated the functional connectivity (FC) for each condition and conducted a seed-based analysis in a set of cortical regions of interest. Finally, we used a cluster-based permutation test to compare the dif- ferences between logically valid and invalid conditions in terms of FC. As a first novel result we found higher FC for valid condition in beta band between regions of interest and left prefrontal, temporal, parietal, and cingulate structures. FC analysis allows a second novel result which is the definition of a propositional network with operculo-cingular, parietal and medial nodes, specifically including disputed medial deductive “core” areas. The experiment discloses measurable cortical processes which do not depend on content but on truth-functional propositional operators. These experimental novelties may contribute to understand the cortical bases of deductive processes

Formalizing graphical notations

The thesis describes research into graphical notations for software engineering, with a principal interest in ways of formalizing them. The research seeks to provide a theoretical basis that will help in designing both notations and the software tools that process them. The work starts from a survey of literature on notation, followed by a review of techniques for formal description and for computational handling of notations. The survey concentrates on collecting views of the benefits and the problems attending notation use in software development; the review covers picture description languages, grammars and tools such as generic editors and visual programming environments. The main problem of notation is found to be a lack of any coherent, rigorous description methods. The current approaches to this problem are analysed as lacking in consensus on syntax specification and also lacking a clear focus on a defined concept of notated expression. To address these deficiencies, the thesis embarks upon an exploration of serniotic, linguistic and logical theory; this culminates in a proposed formalization of serniosis in notations, using categorial model theory as a mathematical foundation. An argument about the structure of sign systems leads to an analysis of notation into a layered system of tractable theories, spanning the gap between expressive pictorial medium and subject domain. This notion of 'tectonic' theory aims to treat both diagrams and formulae together. The research gives details of how syntactic structure can be sketched in a mathematical sense, with examples applying to software development diagrams, offering a new solution to the problem of notation specification. Based on these methods, the thesis discusses directions for resolving the harder problems of supporting notation design, processing and computer-aided generic editing. A number of future research areas are thereby opened up. For practical trial of the ideas, the work proceeds to the development and partial implementation of a system to aid the design of notations and editors. Finally the thesis is evaluated as a contribution to theory in an area which has not attracted a standard approach

Conference on Artificial Intelligence: Question-Answering Systems

The last decade has produced several profound and exciting results in computer science theory and application. Some of these results have prepared the ground for disciplines now recognized as significant branches of computer based science: the theory of formal grammars and automatic compiler construction, information retrieval and data base management, the theory of communication and computer networks, and problem solving and artificial intelligence are examples of new computer sciences. In the area of artificial intelligence (AI), theoretical and applied research related to knowledge representation in computers, natural language analysis, deductive inference and automatic learning represent the most interesting topics and promise to become the basis for a new style of computer use. The general idea of this style consists in allowing the user to tell the computer "what to do" instead of "how to do". The computer system in this case behaves as an intelligent adviser and interpreter of predefined rules of the game in any particular problem area. Its advantages over human advisers and interpreters are based on the ability to store and handle gigantic amounts of structured data of which the end user can have only a vague idea. This approach becomes particularly attractive in different areas of applied systems analysis where computer programmed mathematical models give additional analytical power to an "intelligent" computer system. The challenging and promising features of AI research resulted in the organization by IIASA of an international Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Question-Answering Systems in June 1975. This Conference was held in accordance with the long range research strategy of the Computer Science Project and attracted 27 computer specialists from 12 National Member Organizations. Two basic points were discussed: scientific problems and basic results in the development of question-answering systems with natural language input and inference capability, and possible IIASA efforts in establishing an intelligent question-answering system with a data base for IIASA's applied projects. This publication contains papers devoted mostly to the first point. The particular subjects that were covered include natural language analysis, knowledge representation and deductive inference mechanisms. An important practical consequence of the Conference was a proposal from the Conference Working Group to IIASA for the implementation of a question-answering system for data base management at IIASA. Apart from the obvious scientific results, the meeting also helped to establish contacts between the NMO's involved in AI research. Participants agreed on future cooperation among their institutions in various AI areas

The Roots of Deductive Reasoning: Neuroimaging and Behavioral Investigations

Deductive reasoning has been an object of investigation in psychology for almost a century now. Yet, key questions remain unanswered. These include (but are not limited to) the relationship between deductive reasoning and other psychological processes (such as language and memory), the identity of the neurological structures that are core to the deductive process, the source of the hierarchical structures on which deduction depends, whether deduction is a modular or domain general process, and what the source is of the facilitation that is frequently observed when deductive problems are framed in different ways. In order to address these questions, this thesis will present three experiments that shed light on different aspects of deduction. Study 1 is an fMRI study which replicates prior findings regarding the relationship between language and deduction and reveals a new dissociation between deduction and working memory. Study 2, a neuromodulation study, is a logical extension of the findings regarding deduction and language from Study 1 and other prior studies. Here, a form of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is used to manipulate brain function in order to establish a causal dissociation between brain areas that support language and those believed to support deduction, specifically with regard to the hierarchical frameworks on which both language and deduction depend. Finally, in Study 3, a large online study is used to test the Social Exchange Theory of facilitated performance on the Wason Card selection Task on a more diverse sample than has been the case in the past, especially with regard to the cues that have been suggested to trigger the underlying cognitive “modules.” This study also tests the relationship between facilitation on the Wason Task and a number of individual differences, revealing novel associations with personality traits and with psychopathology. Together, these three studies provide a clearer picture of how deductive reasoning, one of our most distinctively human capacities, is situated amongst our other cognitive abilities

The Roots of Deductive Reasoning: Neuroimaging and Behavioral Investigations

Deductive reasoning has been an object of investigation in psychology for almost a century now. Yet, key questions remain unanswered. These include (but are not limited to) the relationship between deductive reasoning and other psychological processes (such as language and memory), the identity of the neurological structures that are core to the deductive process, the source of the hierarchical structures on which deduction depends, whether deduction is a modular or domain general process, and what the source is of the facilitation that is frequently observed when deductive problems are framed in different ways. In order to address these questions, this thesis will present three experiments that shed light on different aspects of deduction. Study 1 is an fMRI study which replicates prior findings regarding the relationship between language and deduction and reveals a new dissociation between deduction and working memory. Study 2, a neuromodulation study, is a logical extension of the findings regarding deduction and language from Study 1 and other prior studies. Here, a form of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is used to manipulate brain function in order to establish a causal dissociation between brain areas that support language and those believed to support deduction, specifically with regard to the hierarchical frameworks on which both language and deduction depend. Finally, in Study 3, a large online study is used to test the Social Exchange Theory of facilitated performance on the Wason Card selection Task on a more diverse sample than has been the case in the past, especially with regard to the cues that have been suggested to trigger the underlying cognitive “modules.” This study also tests the relationship between facilitation on the Wason Task and a number of individual differences, revealing novel associations with personality traits and with psychopathology. Together, these three studies provide a clearer picture of how deductive reasoning, one of our most distinctively human capacities, is situated amongst our other cognitive abilities