Morphological productivity and the decomposition of complex words

This thesis addresses the role that morphological productivity plays in the process of morphological decomposition. Understanding the role of productivity is crucial, as previ-ous literature has shown words to be decomposable across-the-board into their morphem-ic parts or employing both decomposition into morphemic parts and whole-word storage. Previous research has also shown that in a masked priming experiment, morphologically complex words are decomposed in terms of morphological parts (e.g., cleaner; clean + -er) and potential morphological parts (e.g., corner; corn + -er). However, the extent to which properties beyond morpho-orthographic segmentation, such as productivity, con-strains this process remains unclear. In a masked priming experiment, we examined the role of productivity in morpholog-ically complex word processing, testing whether both morphologically complex words with productive (e.g., -ness) and unproductive (e.g., -ity) suffixes are decomposed into morpheme-level constituents or whether only productive suffixes are decomposed while unproductive are stored. Our response time results did not support morpheme-level pro-cessing, as all of our conditions showed similar priming results. However, our accuracy results argue for a decomposition process sensitive to potential morphologically-complex and potential morphological words. We conclude based on the response time and accuracy differences that the priming effects in our experiment were not modulated by our productivity manipulation. Therefore, productivity is not a factor that constrains the ini-tial stages of lexical access

Clustering of affective categories in scandinavian and romance languages

[Abstract] Cross-cultural comparable data collected in several Romance and Scandinavian languages with the help of a series of tasks inspired by Fehr and Rusell’s prototype approach to emotions are analyzed from a perspective that goes beyond the interpretation of prototype theory and aligns with the theorybased approaches to categorization (cfr. the seminal paper by Murphy and Medin 1985). Due to space limitations, only the data obtained with the help of a supplemented version of the traditional free-listing task will be considered here. Special attention is devoted, not as much to frequency of mention, order of mention and indexes of salience – parameters that are usually discussed in categorization and cultural domain studies – but first and foremost to the patterns of clustering and the relationships holding between the various categories mentioned by every single informant and across the lists, as made obvious by the data. Domain access point is identified as a privileged position that tends to coincide with categories promoting richest conceptual connections with other category members, while the prevailing relationships between mentioned categories appear to be metonymic, metaphoric, similarity or contras

Brief Report: A Phase II Study of Sunitinib in Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. The NCIC Clinical Trials Group

IntroductionMalignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive malignancy that most often presents at an advanced, incurable stage. After the failure of standard first-line cisplatin/antifolate chemotherapy, there is no accepted treatment. The vascular endothelial growth factor pathway may be a relevant therapeutic target in MPM.MethodsThis open-labeled phase II trial evaluated single-agent sunitinib, an inhibitor of multiple receptor tyrosine kinases including the vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, given at 50 mg daily orally for 4 weeks followed by a 2-week rest, in patients with advanced MPM. Two cohorts were studied: cohort 1, in which patients had previously received cisplatin-based chemotherapy, and cohort 2, consisting of previously untreated patients. A two-stage design was used for both cohorts; the primary outcome was objective response rate as determined by the RECIST criteria modified for MPM. Secondary outcomes included rates and duration of disease control, progression-free survival and overall survival, and safety and tolerability.ResultsA total of 35 eligible patients were enrolled (17 to cohort 1 and 18 to cohort 2). Neither cohort met the criteria for continuing to the second stage of accrual; only one objective response, confirmed by independent review, was observed in a previously untreated patient. Median progression-free and overall survivals were 2.8 and 8.3 months in cohort 1, and 2.7 and 6.7 months in cohort 2, respectively. Observed toxicity was within that expected for sunitinib.ConclusionsSunitinib, similar to other angiogenesis inhibitors, has limited activity in MPM. Future trials of angiogenesis inhibitors given as single agents in unselected patients with MPM are not warranted

The Evolution of Primate Short-Term Memory.

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of short-term memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The evolution of primate short-term memory

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of shortterm memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities

The Evolution of Primate Short-Term Memory

Short-term memory is implicated in a range of cognitive abilities and is critical for understanding primate cognitive evolution. To investigate the effects of phylogeny, ecology and sociality on short-term memory, we tested the largest and most diverse primate sample to date (421 non-human primates across 41 species) in an experimental delayed-response task. Our results confirm previous findings that longer delays decrease memory performance across species and taxa. Our analyses demonstrate a considerable contribution of phylogeny over ecological and social factors on the distribution of short-term memory performance in primates; closely related species had more similar short-term memory abilities. Overall, individuals in the branch of Hominoidea performed better compared to Cercopithecoidea, who in turn performed above Platyrrhini and Strepsirrhini. Interdependencies between phylogeny and socioecology of a given species presented an obstacle to disentangling the effects of each of these factors on the evolution of short-term memory capacity. However, this study offers an important step forward in understanding the interspecies and individual variation in short-term memory ability by providing the first phylogenetic reconstruction of this trait’s evolutionary history. The dataset constitutes a unique resource for studying the evolution of primate cognition and the role of short-term memory in other cognitive abilities

THE EFFECTS OF PAY RAISE FREQUENCY WITHIN GROUPS ON COLLUSION

This study examines how the frequency of performance-based pay raise opportunities affects collusion within groups. I predict that expectations of future reciprocity between group members will increase the likelihood of collusion during raise periods compared to non-raise periods, even in a setting subject to deterrent controls (e.g., mutual monitoring). Furthermore, the frequency of these raise periods determines which of two theoretical reporting norms develops. I find that groups with relatively infrequent pay raises oscillate between collusion during raise periods and truthful reporting during non-raise periods, consistent with moral licensing theory. Conversely, when pay raise frequency is high, I document a bleed-over effect whereby collusion spreads into the non-raise periods, consistent with ethical erosion. Specifically, while fewer participants in the high (vs. low) frequency conditions colluded during raise periods, those that did tended to collude throughout

The Role of Metaphor in the Structuring of Emotion Concepts

Conceptual metaphor theory (CMT) is one of the most prolific frameworks in the study of emotion concepts. Following the seminal work of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) and subsequent work by Kövecses (1986, 1990) and Kövecses and Lakoff (1987), an impressive number of studies in cognitive linguistics and psycholinguistics have sought to document and confirm the claim that conceptual metaphor (CM) structures affective concepts. I attempt a brief overview of CMT claims about and CMT-inspired research on emotion concepts. I continue by presenting a study based on data collected in six languages, to assess the role of CM in the structuring of emotion concepts. I introduce the procedure, the corpus, and the analyses that have been carried out, including a detailed discussion of the considerations that informed the coding decisions applied to the corpus in a tentative quantitative analysis. Finally, I highlight a series of difficulties and controversies raised by CMT-driven analysis of emotion concepts that could be employed in hypothesis-driven experiments to test conceptual processing claims made within CMT

The Effects of Pay Raise Frequency within Groups on Collusion

This study examines how the frequency of performance-based pay raise opportunities affects collusion within groups. I predict that expectations of future reciprocity between group members will increase the likelihood of collusion during raise periods compared to non-raise periods, even in a setting subject to deterrent controls (e.g., mutual monitoring). Furthermore, the frequency of these raise periods determines which of two theoretical reporting norms develops. I find that groups with relatively infrequent pay raises oscillate between collusion during raise periods and truthful reporting during non-raise periods, consistent with moral licensing theory. Conversely, when pay raise frequency is high, I document a bleed-over effect whereby collusion spreads into the non-raise periods, consistent with ethical erosion. Specifically, while fewer participants in the high (vs. low) frequency conditions colluded during raise periods, those that did tended to collude throughout