Non-Māori-speaking New Zealanders have a Māori proto-lexicon

We investigate implicit vocabulary learning by adults who are exposed to a language in their ambient environment. Most New Zealanders do not speak Māori, yet are exposed to it throughout their lifetime. We show that this exposure leads to a large proto-lexicon – implicit knowledge of the existence of words and sub-word units without any associated meaning. Despite not explicitly knowing many Māori words, non-Māori-speaking New Zealanders are able to access this proto-lexicon to distinguish Māori words from Māori-like nonwords. What's more, they are able to generalize over the proto-lexicon to generate sophisticated phonotactic knowledge, which lets them evaluate the well-formedness of Māori-like nonwords just as well as fluent Māori speakers

Ko te mōhiotanga huna o te hunga kore kōrero i te reo Māori (The implicit knowledge of non-Māori speakers)

This article outlines recent experiments on the implicit knowledge of non-Māori speakers living in New Zealand. It expands on the work of Oh et al. (2020) who show that, despite not knowing the language, non-Māori speakers have impressive phonotactic and lexical knowledge, which has presumably been built through ambient exposure to the language. In this paper, we extend this work by investigating morphological and syntactic knowledge. Experiment 1 asks non-Māori speakers to morphologically segment Māori words. It shows that they have an impressive degree of ability to recognize Māori morphs, and also that their false segmentations are in the locations that are phonotactically most likely to be morpheme boundaries. Experiment 2 asks non-Māori speakers to rate the likelihood that Māori sentences are grammatical. They rate grammatical Māori sentences significantly higher than matched sentences containing the same words in the wrong order. Their error patterns reveal significant sensitivity to legal versus non-legal sentence endings. Taken together, the results reveal that ambient exposure to te reo Māori leads to extensive subconscious knowledge regarding te reo Māori, and provide a strong real-world example of implicit language learning

Gendered associations of English morphology

Morphological systems arise from language experience encoded in the lexicon, which includes much statistical and episodic information (see Pierrehumbert, 2006; Rácz, Pierrehumbert, Hay, & Papp, 2015). Lexical statistics have been successfully applied in theories of morphological learning and change (Bybee, 1995), but there remains much unexplained variation in speakers’ morphological choices and patterns of generalization. A promising route for explanation is the role of social-indexical information in shaping morphological systems. We present a quantitative experimental study on the relationship of morphological perception to speaker gender, a highly salient aspect of the linguistic context that is known to be important in language variation and change. We show that people have significant success in associating English words with speaker gender, and that their implicit knowledge generalizes to gender associations of novel words (pseudowords) on the basis of their component morphemes. By analyzing judgments of morphological decomposition in conjunction with these indexical judgments, we also make inferences about the cognitive architecture for social-indexical effects in morphology

Unsupervised morphological segmentation in a language with reduplication

We present an extension of the Morfessor Baseline model of unsupervised morphological segmentation (Creutz and Lagus, 2007) that incorporates abstract templates for reduplication, a typologically common but computationally underaddressed process. Through a detailed investigation that applies the model to Māori, the Indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand, we show that incorporating templates improves Morfessor’s ability to identify instances of reduplication, and does so most when there are multiple minimally-overlapping templates. We present an error analysis that reveals important factors to consider when applying the extended model and suggests useful future directions

Gradient Maori phonotactics

This paper provides a descriptive analysis of segmental distributions in the Mäori lexicon. Focussing on the strict-CV subset of the lexicon, we examine co-occurrence restrictions of consonantal onsets and vowel nuclei of adjacent syllables. For consonants, we find that sequences that share the same place of articulation are under-represented. This shows a similarity avoidance effect in Mäori, reported for other languages (Frisch et al., 2004; McCarthy, 1986). When we correct for the presence of reduplicants in the data-set, this under-representation includes sequences of identical consonants. Sequences of identical vowels are overrepresented, even when reduplicated syllables are taken into account. The results show that gradient phonotactic processes are operating in Mäori beyond the categorical restrictions on syllable shape

Ko te mōhiotanga huna o te hunga kore kōrero i te reo Māori

This article outlines recent experiments on the implicit knowledge of non-Māori speakers living in New Zealand. It expands on the work of Oh et al. (2020) who show that, despite not knowing the language, non-Māori speakers have impressive phonotactic and lexical knowledge, which has presumably been built through ambient exposure to the language. In this paper, we extend this work by investigating morphological and syntactic knowledge. Experiment 1 asks non-Māori speakers to morphologically segment Māori words. It shows that they have an impressive degree of ability to recognize Māori morphs, and also that their false segmentations are in the locations that are phonotactically most likely to be morpheme boundaries. Experiment 2 asks non-Māori speakers to rate the likelihood that Māori sentences are grammatical. They rate grammatical Māori sentences significantly higher than matched sentences containing the same words in the wrong order. Their error patterns reveal significant sensitivity to legal versus non-legal sentence endings. Taken together, the results reveal that ambient exposure to te reo Māori leads to extensive subconscious knowledge regarding te reo Māori, and provide a strong real-world example of implicit language learning

Multiple injections per injection episode: High-risk injection practice among people who injected pills during the 2015 HIV outbreak in Indiana

Background Misuse of prescription opioid analgesics (POA) has increased dramatically in the US, particularly in non-urban areas. We examined injection practices among persons who inject POA in a rural area that experienced a large HIV outbreak in 2015. Methods Between August-September 2015, 25 persons who injected drugs within the past 12 months were recruited in Scott County, Indiana for a qualitative study. Data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews were analyzed. Results All 25 participants were non-Hispanic white and the median age was 33 years (range: 19–57). All had ever injected extended-release oxymorphone (Opana® ER) and most (n = 20) described preparing Opana® ER for multiple injections per injection episode (MIPIE). MIPIE comprised 2–4 injections during an injection episode resulting from needing >1 mL water to prepare Opana® ER solution using 1 mL syringes and the frequent use of “rinse shots.” MIPIE occurred up to 10 times/day (totaling 35 injections/day), often in the context of sharing drug and injection equipment. Conclusions We describe a high-risk injection practice that may have contributed to the rapid spread of HIV in this community. Efforts to prevent bloodborne infections among people who inject POA need to assess for MIPIE so that provision of sterile injection equipment and safer injection education addresses the MIPIE risk environment

What works for whom with telemental health: A rapid realist review

BACKGROUND: Telemental health (delivering mental health care via video calls, telephone calls or text messages) is increasingly widespread. Telemental health appears to be useful and effective in providing care to some service users in some settings, especially during an emergency restricting face-to-face contact such as the COVID-19 pandemic. However, important limitations have been reported, and telemental health implementation risks reinforcing pre-existing inequalities in service provision. If it is to be widely incorporated in routine care, a clear understanding is needed of when and for whom it is an acceptable and effective approach, and when face-to-face care is needed. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this rapid realist review was to develop theory about which telemental health approaches work, or do not work, for whom, in which contexts and through what mechanisms. METHODS: Rapid realist reviewing involves synthesising relevant evidence and stakeholder expertise to allow timely development of context-mechanism-outcome (CMO) configurations in areas where evidence is urgently needed to inform policy and practice. The CMOs encapsulate theories about what works for whom, and by what mechanisms. Sources included eligible papers from (a) two previous systematic reviews conducted by our team on telemental health, (b) an updated search using the strategy from these reviews, (c) a call for relevant evidence, including "grey literature", to the public and key experts, and (d) website searches of relevant voluntary and statutory organisations. CMOs formulated from these sources were iteratively refined, including through (a) discussion with an expert reference group including researchers with relevant lived experience and front-line clinicians and (b) consultation with experts focused on three priority groups: 1) children and young people, 2) users of inpatient and crisis care services, and 3) digitally excluded groups. RESULTS: A total of 108 scientific and grey literature sources were included. From our initial CMOs, we derived 30 overarching CMOs within four domains: 1) connecting effectively; 2) flexibility and personalisation; 3) safety, privacy, and confidentiality; and 4) therapeutic quality and relationship. Reports and stakeholder input emphasised the importance of personal choice, privacy and safety, and therapeutic relationships in telemental health care. The review also identified particular service users likely to be disadvantaged by telemental health implementation, and a need to ensure that face-to-face care of equivalent timeliness remains available. Mechanisms underlying successful and unsuccessful application of telemental health are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Service user choice, privacy and safety, the ability to connect effectively and fostering strong therapeutic relationships, need to be prioritised in delivering telemental health care. Guidelines and strategies co-produced with service users and frontline staff are needed to optimise telemental health implementation in real-world settings. CLINICALTRIAL