The Effectiveness of Visual vs. Auditory Presentation of Information on Memory

This research project aimed to determine whether it was easier for individuals to memorize and recall words when being presented with a visual presentation than with an auditory presentation. Method: To gather data, an online survey was designed and conducted to test participants more sufficiently. This study consisted of individuals that were 18 years or older and who have good visual and auditory abilities. This study was conducted using two lists of 10 words that contained six letters, three syllables, and were nouns. Half of my participants were presented with 10 words visually whereas the other half of the participants were shown the 10 words auditorily. Specifically, half of the participants received List A either visually or auditorily while the other half received List B either visually or auditorily. Each participant only received one list of words during the trial, presented in different ways. After collecting the data, the difference between the two groups of subjects and the number of words correctly recalled were compared using an independent samples t-test. Results: The analysis then revealed which presentation, visual or auditory, was easier to memorize and recall. Discussion: Thus, I hypothesized that it would be more challenging to memorize and recall a list of words when presented auditorily than visually

Anaphoric Structure Emerges Between Neural Networks

Pragmatics is core to natural language, enabling speakers to communicate efficiently with structures like ellipsis and anaphora that can shorten utterances without loss of meaning. These structures require a listener to interpret an ambiguous form - like a pronoun - and infer the speaker's intended meaning - who that pronoun refers to. Despite potential to introduce ambiguity, anaphora is ubiquitous across human language. In an effort to better understand the origins of anaphoric structure in natural language, we look to see if analogous structures can emerge between artificial neural networks trained to solve a communicative task. We show that: first, despite the potential for increased ambiguity, languages with anaphoric structures are learnable by neural models. Second, anaphoric structures emerge between models 'naturally' without need for additional constraints. Finally, introducing an explicit efficiency pressure on the speaker increases the prevalence of these structures. We conclude that certain pragmatic structures straightforwardly emerge between neural networks, without explicit efficiency pressures, but that the competing needs of speakers and listeners conditions the degree and nature of their emergence.Comment: Published as a conference paper at the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society 2023: 6 Pages, 3 Figures, code available at https://github.com/hcoxec/emerg

Anaphoric Structure Emerges Between Neural Networks

Pragmatics is core to natural language, enabling speakers to communicate efficiently with structures like ellipsis and anaphora that can shorten utterances without loss of meaning. These structures require a listener to interpret an ambiguous form—like a pronoun—and infer the speaker’s intended meaning—who that pronoun refers to. Despite potential to introduce ambiguity, anaphora is ubiquitous across human language. In an effort to better understand the origins of anaphoric structure in natural language, we look to see if analogous structures can emerge between artificial neural networks trained to solve a communicative task. We show that: first, despite the potential for increased ambiguity, languages with anaphoric structures are learnable by neural models. Second, anaphoric structures emerge between models ‘naturally’ without need for additional constraints. Finally, introducing an explicit efficiency pressure on the speaker increases the prevalence of these structures. We conclude that certain pragmatic structures straightforwardly emerge between neural networks, without explicit efficiency pressures, but that the competing needs of speakers and listeners conditions the degree and nature of their emergence

Tentative hope: an exploration of the impact of Cystic Fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator modulators on people with Cystic Fibrosis and their families.

Background. Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a rare, life-limiting genetic condtion, which impacts the functioning of multiple organ systems (Bierlaagh et al., 2021). People with CF (pwCF) experience a range of difficulties, which affect their physical and psychological health (Ernst et al., 2010), as well as that of their families (Daly et al., 2022). Cystic Fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulator therapies are a new and highly anticipated treatment for CF (Bierlaagh et al., 2021). They have been found to significantly improve the physical health of pwCF and are hoped to improve life-expectancy (Balfour-Lynn & King, 2022). There is, however, little known about the psychological experience of starting these potentially lifechanging medications, for either pwCF or their families. Indeed, early research has intimated possible negative psychological experiences (Talwalkar et al., 2017). It is therefore important to understand the nature of the relationship between CFTR modulators and the psychological experiences of pwCF and their families. Aims. This thesis aims to understand the impact of CFTR modulators on the psychological wellbeing of pwCF and to gain insight into the experiences of parents whose children have started CFTR modulators. Methods. A systematic review was conducted on the impact of CFTR modulators on the psychological wellbeing of pwCF. Ten papers were identified and reviewed using narrative synthesis. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to explore parental experiences. Results. In the systematic review, CFTR modulators were observed to have a slight positive impact on the quality of life of pwCF, but not on levels of anxiety and depression. Several themes emerged in the qualitative paper, illustrating parents’ complex feelings towards the medication and the factors that influenced this including hope, uncertainty, and adjustment. Conclusion. PwCF and their families have a complex psychological relationship to starting CFTR modulators influenced by nonphysical factors such as hope and uncertainty