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Weaver H, Zettersten M, Saffran JR. Becoming word meaning experts: Infants' processing of familiar words in the context of typical and atypical exemplars. Child Dev 2024. [PMID: 38822689 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.14120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/03/2024]
Abstract
How do infants become word meaning experts? This registered report investigated the structure of infants' early lexical representations by manipulating the typicality of exemplars from familiar animal categories. 14- to 18-month-old infants (N = 84; 51 female; M = 15.7 months; race/ethnicity: 64% White, 8% Asian, 2% Hispanic, 1% Black, and 23% multiple categories; participating 2022-2023) were tested on their ability to recognize typical and atypical category exemplars after hearing familiar basic-level category labels. Infants robustly recognized both typical (d = 0.79, 95% CI [0.54, 1.03]) and atypical (d = 0.70, 95% CI [0.46, 0.94]) exemplars, with no significant difference between typicality conditions (d = 0.14, 95% CI [-0.08, 0.35]). These results support a broad-to-narrow account of infants' early word meanings. Implications for the role of experience in the development of lexical knowledge are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haley Weaver
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Martin Zettersten
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
| | - Jenny R Saffran
- Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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Tuckute G, Sathe A, Srikant S, Taliaferro M, Wang M, Schrimpf M, Kay K, Fedorenko E. Driving and suppressing the human language network using large language models. Nat Hum Behav 2024; 8:544-561. [PMID: 38172630 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01783-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024]
Abstract
Transformer models such as GPT generate human-like language and are predictive of human brain responses to language. Here, using functional-MRI-measured brain responses to 1,000 diverse sentences, we first show that a GPT-based encoding model can predict the magnitude of the brain response associated with each sentence. We then use the model to identify new sentences that are predicted to drive or suppress responses in the human language network. We show that these model-selected novel sentences indeed strongly drive and suppress the activity of human language areas in new individuals. A systematic analysis of the model-selected sentences reveals that surprisal and well-formedness of linguistic input are key determinants of response strength in the language network. These results establish the ability of neural network models to not only mimic human language but also non-invasively control neural activity in higher-level cortical areas, such as the language network.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta Tuckute
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Aalok Sathe
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Shashank Srikant
- Computer Science & Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Maya Taliaferro
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Mingye Wang
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Martin Schrimpf
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Quest for Intelligence, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Neuro-X Institute, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Kendrick Kay
- Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Evelina Fedorenko
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
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Johns BT. Determining the Relativity of Word Meanings Through the Construction of Individualized Models of Semantic Memory. Cogn Sci 2024; 48:e13413. [PMID: 38402448 DOI: 10.1111/cogs.13413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 11/11/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2024] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Distributional models of lexical semantics are capable of acquiring sophisticated representations of word meanings. The main theoretical insight provided by these models is that they demonstrate the systematic connection between the knowledge that people acquire and the experience that they have with the natural language environment. However, linguistic experience is inherently variable and differs radically across people due to demographic and cultural variables. Recently, distributional models have been used to examine how word meanings vary across languages and it was found that there is considerable variability in the meanings of words across languages for most semantic categories. The goal of this article is to examine how variable word meanings are across individual language users within a single language. This was accomplished by assembling 500 individual user corpora attained from the online forum Reddit. Each user corpus ranged between 3.8 and 32.3 million words each, and a count-based distributional framework was used to extract word meanings for each user. These representations were then used to estimate the semantic alignment of word meanings across individual language users. It was found that there are significant levels of relativity in word meanings across individuals, and these differences are partially explained by other psycholinguistic factors, such as concreteness, semantic diversity, and social aspects of language usage. These results point to word meanings being fundamentally relative and contextually fluid, with this relativeness being related to the individualized nature of linguistic experience.
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Banks B, Borghi AM, Fargier R, Fini C, Jonauskaite D, Mazzuca C, Montalti M, Villani C, Woodin G. Consensus Paper: Current Perspectives on Abstract Concepts and Future Research Directions. J Cogn 2023; 6:62. [PMID: 37841672 PMCID: PMC10573588 DOI: 10.5334/joc.238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 08/12/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2023] Open
Abstract
concepts are relevant to a wide range of disciplines, including cognitive science, linguistics, psychology, cognitive, social, and affective neuroscience, and philosophy. This consensus paper synthesizes the work and views of researchers in the field, discussing current perspectives on theoretical and methodological issues, and recommendations for future research. In this paper, we urge researchers to go beyond the traditional abstract-concrete dichotomy and consider the multiple dimensions that characterize concepts (e.g., sensorimotor experience, social interaction, conceptual metaphor), as well as the mediating influence of linguistic and cultural context on conceptual representations. We also promote the use of interactive methods to investigate both the comprehension and production of abstract concepts, while also focusing on individual differences in conceptual representations. Overall, we argue that abstract concepts should be studied in a more nuanced way that takes into account their complexity and diversity, which should permit us a fuller, more holistic understanding of abstract cognition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Briony Banks
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, UK
| | - Anna M. Borghi
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy
| | - Raphaël Fargier
- Department of Special Needs Education, University of Oslo, Norway
| | - Chiara Fini
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - Domicele Jonauskaite
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Claudia Mazzuca
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - Martina Montalti
- Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Italy
- Department of Medicine and Surgery – Unit of Neuroscience, University of Parma, Italy
| | - Caterina Villani
- Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Bologna, Italy
| | - Greg Woodin
- Department of English Language and Linguistics, University of Birmingham, UK
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Borghi AM, Shaki S, Fischer MH. Abstract concepts: external influences, internal constraints, and methodological issues. PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2022; 86:2370-2388. [PMID: 35788903 DOI: 10.1007/s00426-022-01698-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
There is a longstanding and widely held misconception about the relative remoteness of abstract concepts from concrete experiences. This review examines the current evidence for external influences and internal constraints on the processing, representation, and use of abstract concepts, like truth, friendship, and number. We highlight the theoretical benefit of distinguishing between grounded and embodied cognition and then ask which roles do perception, action, language, and social interaction play in acquiring, representing and using abstract concepts. By reviewing several studies, we show that they are, against the accepted definition, not detached from perception and action. Focussing on magnitude-related concepts, we also discuss evidence for cultural influences on abstract knowledge and explore how internal processes such as inner speech, metacognition, and inner bodily signals (interoception) influence the acquisition and retrieval of abstract knowledge. Finally, we discuss some methodological developments. Specifically, we focus on the importance of studies that investigate the time course of conceptual processing and we argue that, because of the paramount role of sociality for abstract concepts, new methods are necessary to study concepts in interactive situations. We conclude that bodily, linguistic, and social constraints provide important theoretical limitations for our theories of conceptual knowledge.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M Borghi
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italian National Research Council, 00185, Rome, Italy.
| | - Samuel Shaki
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, Ariel University, 44837, Ariel, Israel
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Wojcik EH, Zettersten M, Benitez VL. The map trap: Why and how word learning research should move beyond mapping. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2022; 13:e1596. [PMID: 35507459 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Revised: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
A pervasive goal in the study of how children learn word meanings is to explain how young children solve the mapping problem. The mapping problem asks how language learners connect a label to its referent. Mapping is one part of word learning, however, it does not reflect other critical components of word meaning construction, such as the encoding of lexico-semantic relations and socio-pragmatic context. In this paper, we argue that word learning researchers' overemphasis of mapping has constrained our experimental paradigms and hypotheses, leading to misconceived theories and policy interventions. We first explain how the mapping focus limits our ability to study the richness and complexity of what infants and children learn about, and do with, word meanings. Then, we describe how our focus on mapping has constrained theory development. Specifically, we show how it has led to (a) the misguided emphasis on referent selection and ostensive labeling, and (b) the undervaluing of diverse pathways to word knowledge, both within and across cultures. We also review the consequences of the mapping focus outside of the lab, including myopic language learning interventions. Last, we outline an alternative, more inclusive approach to experimental study and theory construction in word learning research. This article is categorized under: Psychology > Language Psychology > Theory and Methods Psychology > Learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica H Wojcik
- Department of Psychology, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
| | - Martin Zettersten
- Department of Psychology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
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Borghi AM. Concepts for Which We Need Others More: The Case of Abstract Concepts. CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/09637214221079625] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The capability to form and use concepts is a core component of human cognition. Although all concepts are grounded in sensorimotor processes, more abstract concepts (e.g., “truth”) collect more heterogeneous and perceptually dissimilar exemplars; thus, linguistic interaction and social interaction are particularly crucial for their acquisition and use. Because of their indeterminacy, abstract concepts generate more uncertainty than more concrete concepts; hence, they induce people to monitor their inner knowledge longer and then to consult others to ask for information and negotiate the concept’s meaning. I propose that people need others more for abstract concepts than for concrete concepts: Other people are essential to acquire, process, and use abstract concepts. Conceiving abstract concepts in these terms requires the employment of novel, interactive methods to investigate how people represent them during their use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M. Borghi
- Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, and Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Italian National Research Council, Rome, Italy
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