Language Comprehension: Examining the Dynamic Changes in Activation of Mental Simulations

This dissertation studies how language comprehension works by examining the changes in the activation of mental simulations that occur naturally during reading. Five studies were conducted which dive deeper into the underlying mechanisms of these mental simulations and provide evidence for the grounded theories of cognition

Cameron-Liebler k-sets in subspaces and non-existence conditions

In this article we generalize the concepts that were used in the PhD thesis of Drudge to classify Cameron-Liebler line classes in PG$(n,q), n\geq 3$, to Cameron-Liebler sets of $k$-spaces in PG$(n,q)$ and AG$(n,q)$. In his PhD thesis, Drudge proved that every Cameron-Liebler line class in PG$(n,q)$ intersects every $3$-dimensional subspace in a Cameron-Liebler line class in that subspace. We are using the generalization of this result for sets of $k$-spaces in PG$(n,q)$ and AG$(n,q)$. Together with a basic counting argument this gives a very strong non-existence condition, $n\geq 3k+3$. This condition can also be improved for $k$-sets in AG$(n,q)$, with $n\geq 2k+2$

Enabling Normalized Systems in Practice – Exploring a Modeling Approach

Contemporary organizations are required to adapt to a changing environment in an agile way, which is often deemed very challenging. Normalized Systems (NS) theory attempts to build highly evolvable software systems by using systems theory as its theoretical underpinning. A modeling method which supports the identification of the NS elements, required for building NS sofware in practice, is currently missing. Therefore, the paper introduces an approach for creating both data models and processing models in the context of NS, as well as their integration. It is discussed how these models can be taken as the input for the actual creation of evolutionary prototypes by using an earlier developed supporting tool. The modeling approach and its suitability for feeding the tool are evaluated to discover their current strengths and weaknesses

Is color an integral part of a rich mental simulation?

Research suggests that language comprehenders simulate visual features such as shape during language comprehension. In sentence-picture verification tasks, whenever pictures match the shape or orientation implied by the previous sentence, responses are faster than when the pictures mismatch implied visual aspects. However, mixed results have been demonstrated when the sentence-picture paradigm was applied to color (Connell, Cognition, 102(3), 476–485, 2007; Zwaan & Pecher, PLOS ONE, 7(12), e51382, 2012). One of the aims of the current investigation was to resolve this issue. This was accomplished by conceptually replicating the original study on color, using the same paradigm but a different stimulus set. The second goal of this study was to assess how much perceptual information is included in a mental simulation. We examined this by reducing color saturation, a manipulation that does not sacrifice object identifiability. If reduction of one aspect of color does not alter the match effect, it would suggest that not all perceptual information is relevant for a mental simulation. Our results did not support this: We found a match advantage when objects were shown at normal levels of saturation, but this match advantage disappeared when saturation was reduced, yet still aided in object recognition compared to when color was entirely removed. Taken together, these results clearly show a strong match effect for color, and the perceptual richness of mental simulations during language comprehension

On mm-ovoids of Q+(7,q)Q^+(7,q) with qq odd

In this paper, we provide a construction of $(q+1)$-ovoids of the hyperbolic quadric $Q^+(7,q)$, $q$ an odd prime power, by glueing $(q+1)/2$-ovoids of the elliptic quadric $Q^-(5,q)$. This is possible by controlling some intersection properties of (putative) $m$-ovoids of elliptic quadrics. It yields eventually $(q+1)$-ovoids of $Q^+(7,q)$ not coming from a $1$-system. Secondly, we also construct $m$-ovoids for $m \in \{ 2,4,6,8,10\}$ in $Q^+(7,3)$. Therefore we first investigate how to construct spreads of \pg(3,q) that have as many secants to an elliptic quadric as possible

Situation model updating in young and older adults

Over the past decade or so, developments in language comprehension research in the domain of cognitive aging have converged on support for resilience in older adults with regard to situation model updating when reading texts. Several studies have shown that even though age-related declines in language comprehension appear at the level of the surface form and text base of the text, these age differences do not apply to the creation and updating of situation models. In fact, older adults seem more sensitive to certain manipulations of situation model updating. This article presents a review of theories on situation model updating as well how they match with research on situation model updating in younger and older adults. Factors that may be responsible for the resilience of language comprehension in older age will be discussed as well as avenues for future research

Cameron-Liebler kk-sets in AG(n,q)\text{AG}(n,q)

We study Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets in the affine geometry, so sets of $k$-spaces in $\text{AG}(n, q)$. This generalizes research on Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets in the projective geometry $\text{PG}(n, q)$. Note that in algebraic combinatorics, Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets of $\text{AG}(n, q)$ correspond to certain equitable bipartitions of the Association scheme of $k$-spaces in $\text{AG}(n, q)$, while in the analysis of Boolean functions, they correspond to Boolean degree $1$ functions of $\text{AG}(n, q)$. We define Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets in $\text{AG}(n, q)$ by intersection properties with $k$-spreads and show the equivalence of several definitions. In particular, we investigate the relationship between Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets in $\text{AG}(n, q)$ and $\text{PG}(n, q)$. As a by-product, we calculate the character table of the association scheme of affine lines. Furthermore, we characterize the smallest examples of Cameron-Liebler $k$-sets. This paper focuses on $\text{AG}(n, q)$ for $n > 3$, while the case for Cameron-Liebler line classes in $\text{AG}(3, q)$ was already treated separately

How are mental simulations updated across sentences?

We examined how grounded mental simulations are updated when there is an implied change of shape, over the course of two (Experiment 1) and four (Experiment 2) sentences. In each preregistered experiment, 84 psychology students completed a sentence–picture verification task in which they judged as quickly and accurately as possible whether the pictured object was mentioned in the previous sentence. Participants had significantly higher accuracy scores and significantly shorter response times when pictures matched the shape implied by the previous sentence than when pictures mismatched the implied shape. These findings suggest that during language comprehension, mental simulations can be actively updated to reflect new incoming information