Memory encoding of syntactic information involves domain-general attentional resources:evidence from dual-task studies

We investigate the type of attention (domain-general or language-specific) used during syntactic processing. We focus on syntactic priming: In this task, participants listen to a sentence that describes a picture (prime sentence), followed by a picture the participants need to describe (target sentence). We measure the proportion of times participants use the syntactic structure they heard in the prime sentence to describe the current target sentence as a measure of syntactic processing. Participants simultaneously conducted a motion-object tracking (MOT) task, a task commonly used to tax domain-general attentional resources. We manipulated the number of objects the participant had to track; we thus measured participants’ ability to process syntax while their attention is not-, slightly-, or overly-taxed. Performance in the MOT task was significantly worse when conducted as a dual-task compared to as a single task. We observed an inverted U-shaped curve on priming magnitude when conducting the MOT task concurrently with prime sentences (i.e., memory encoding), but no effect when conducted with target sentences (i.e., memory retrieval). Our results illustrate how, during the encoding of syntactic information, domain-general attention differentially affects syntactic processing, whereas during the retrieval of syntactic information domain-general attention does not influence syntactic processin

Stronger Syntactic Alignment in the Presence of an Interlocutor

Speakers are influenced by the linguistic context: hearing one syntactic alternative leads to an increased chance that the speaker will repeat this structure in the subsequent utterance (i.e., syntactic priming, or structural persistence). Top-down influences, such as whether a conversation partner (or, interlocutor) is present, may modulate the degree to which syntactic priming occurs. In the current study, we indeed show that the magnitude of syntactic alignment increases when speakers are interacting with an interlocutor as opposed to doing the experiment alone. The structural persistence effect for passive sentences is stronger in the presence of an interlocutor than when no interlocutor is present (i.e., when the participant is primed by a recording). We did not find evidence, however, that a speaker’s syntactic priming magnitude is influenced by the degree of their conversation partner’s priming magnitude. Together, these results support a mediated account of syntactic priming, in which syntactic choices are not only affected by preceding linguistic input, but also by top-down influences, such as the speakers’ communicative intent

In dialogue with an avatar, language behaviour is identical compared to dialogue with a human partner.

The use of virtual reality (VR) as a methodological tool is becoming increasingly popular in behavioral research as its flexibility allows for a wide range of applications. This new method has not been as widely accepted in the field of psycholinguistics, however, possibly due to the assumption that language processing during human-computer interactions does not accurately reflect human-human interactions. Yet at the same time there is a growing need to study human-human language interactions in a tightly controlled context, which has not been possible using existing methods. VR, however, offers experimental control over parameters that cannot be (as finely) controlled in the real world. As such, in this study we aim to show that human-computer language interaction is comparable to human-human language interaction in virtual reality. In the current study we compare participants’ language behavior in a syntactic priming task with human versus computer partners: we used a human partner, a human-like avatar with human-like facial expressions and verbal behavior, and a computer-like avatar which had this humanness removed. As predicted, our study shows comparable priming effects between the human and human-like avatar suggesting that participants attributed human-like agency to the human-like avatar. Indeed, when interacting with the computer-like avatar, the priming effect was significantly decreased. This suggests that when interacting with a human-like avatar, sentence processing is comparable to interacting with a human partner. Our study therefore shows that VR is a valid platform for conducting language research and studying dialogue interactions in an ecologically valid manner

Age-related effects on lexical, but not syntactic, processes during sentence production

We investigated the effect of healthy ageing on the lexical and syntactic processes involved in sentence production. Young and older adults completed a semantic interference sentence production task: we manipulated whether the target picture and distractor word were semantically related or unrelated and whether they fell within the same phrase (“the watch and the clock/hippo move apart”) or different phrases (“the watch moves above the clock/hippo”). Both age groups were slower to initiate sentences containing a larger, compared to a smaller, initial phrase, indicating a similar phrasal scope of advanced planning. However, older adults displayed significantly larger semantic interference effects (slower to initiate sentences when the target picture and distractor word were related) than young adults, indicating an age-related increase in lexical competition. Thus, while syntactic planning is preserved with age, older speakers encounter problems managing the temporal co-activation of competing lexical items during sentence production

Healthy Aging and Sentence Production:Disrupted Lexical Access in the Context of Intact Syntactic Planning

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Functional neural architecture of cognitive control mediates the relationship between individual differences in bilingual experience and behaviour

Bilinguals have often, but not always, been found to outperform monolinguals on domain-general attentional control. Inconsistent findings have been argued to stem, at least partly, from treating bilingualism as a uniform category and from not considering how neural adaptations to bilingual experiences modulate behavioural outcomes. The present study investigated how patterns of language experience, including language switching behaviour, duration and intensity/diversity of bilingual language use, influence the brain processes underlying cognitive control, and how these in turn translate to cognitive control performance. We examined reaction times and spectral dynamics of the electroencephalograms (EEG) of two-hundred-and-thirty-nine participants (about 70% bilinguals) with diverse language experiences during two cognitive control paradigms testing interference suppression (flanker and Simon task). Using structural equation modelling, we found that different bilingual experience factors were related with neurocognitive measures, which in turn were related with behavioural interference effects, for the flanker but not the Simon task. More specifically, increased frequency of language switching and intensity/diversity of bilingual language usage was negatively related to induced top-down control measures (especially midline-frontal theta), which in turn was beneficial for interference control. In contrast, duration of bilingual engagement correlated negatively with evoked bottom-up control measures (especially P3) and was therefore detrimental to interference control. We demonstrate here for the first time how the different factors of bilingual experience lead to different neural adaptations which impact behavioural outcomes. Significance statement Like other intensive experiences, bilingualism leads to brain adaptations. It results in structural changes in language areas, and, due to demands on language control, in brain areas associated with domain-general cognitive control. Related to this, bilinguals often outperform monolinguals on cognitive control tasks. But what is often ignored is that bilingualism is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, with variations such as diversity of language usage and duration of language use. The present large-scale study of neural functioning in bilingualism revealed for the first time how individual differences in bilingual experience lead to adaptations to brain functioning which in turn affect cognitive control behaviour. It exemplifies how the complexity of individual experiences plays a fundamental role in brain function

Higher physical fitness levels are associated with less language decline in healthy ageing

publishedVersio

Stronger syntactic alignment in the presence of an interlocutor

Speakers are influenced by the linguistic context: hearing one syntactic alternative leads to an increased chance that the speaker will repeat this structure in the subsequent utterance (i.e., syntactic priming, or structural persistence). Top-down influences, such as whether a conversation partner (or, interlocutor) is present, may modulate the degree to which syntactic priming occurs. In the current study, we indeed show that the magnitude of syntactic alignment increases when speakers are interacting with an interlocutor as opposed to doing the experiment alone. The structural persistence effect for passive sentences is stronger in the presence of an interlocutor than when no interlocutor is present (i.e., when the participant is primed by a recording). We did not find evidence, however, that a speaker’s syntactic priming magnitude is influenced by the degree of their conversation partner’s priming magnitude. Together, these results support a mediated account of syntactic priming, in which syntactic choices are not only affected by preceding linguistic input, but also by top-down influences, such as the speakers’ communicative intent

The role of nondeclarative memory in the skill for language::Evidence from syntactic priming in patients with amnesia

Contains fulltext : 172885.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)Syntactic priming, the phenomenon in which participants adopt the linguistic behaviour of their partner, is widely used in psycholinguistics to investigate syntactic operations. Although the phenomenon of syntactic priming is well documented, the memory system that supports the retention of this syntactic information long enough to influence future utterances, is not as widely investigated. We aim to shed light on this issue by assessing patients with Korsakoff's amnesia on an active-passive syntactic priming task and compare their performance to controls matched in age, education, and premorbid intelligence. Patients with Korsakoff's syndrome display deficits in all subdomains of declarative memory, yet their nondeclarative memory remains intact, making them an ideal patient group to determine which memory system supports syntactic priming. In line with the hypothesis that syntactic priming relies on nondeclarative memory, the patient group shows strong priming tendencies (12.6% passive structure repetition). Our healthy control group did not show a priming tendency, presumably due to cognitive interference between declarative and nondeclarative memory. We discuss the results in relation to amnesia, aging, and compensatory mechanisms.9 p