241 research outputs found
Experimental Semiotics: A Review
No full textIn the last few years a new line of research has appeared in the literature. This line of research, which may be referred to as experimental semiotics (ES; Galantucci, 2009; Galantucci and Garrod, 2010), focuses on the experimental investigation of novel forms of human communication. In this review we will (a) situate ES in its conceptual context, (b) illustrate the main varieties of studies thus far conducted by experimental semioticians, (c) illustrate three main themes of investigation which have emerged within this line of research, and (d) consider implications of this work for cognitive neuroscience
The use of content and timing to predict turn transitions
No full textFor addressees to respond in a timely fashion, they cannot simply process the speaker's utterance as it occurs and wait till it finishes. Instead, they predict both when the speaker will conclude and what linguistic forms will be used. While doing this, they must also prepare their own response. To explain this, we draw on the account proposed by Pickering and Garrod (2013a), in which addressees covertly imitate the speaker's utterance and use this to determine the intention that underlies their upcoming utterance. They use this intention to predict when and how the utterance will end, and also to drive their own production mechanisms for preparing their response. Following Arnal and Giraud (2012), we distinguish between mechanisms that predict timing and content. In particular, we propose that the timing mechanism relies on entrainment of low-frequency oscillations between speech envelope and brain. This constrains the context that feeds into the determination of the speaker's intention and hence the timing and form of the upcoming utterance. This approach typically leads to well-timed contributions, but also provides a mechanism for resolving conflicts, for example when there is unintended speaker overlap
Self-, other-, and joint monitoring using forward models
No full textIn the psychology of language, most accounts of self-monitoring assume that it is based on comprehension. Here we outline and develop the alternative account proposed by Pickering and Garrod (2013), in which speakers construct forward models of their upcoming utterances and compare them with the utterance as they produce them. We propose that speakers compute inverse models derived from the discrepancy (error) between the utterance and the predicted utterance and use that to modify their production command or (occasionally) begin anew. We then propose that comprehenders monitor other people’s speech by simulating their utterances using covert imitation and forward models, and then comparing those forward models with what they hear. They use the discrepancy to compute inverse models and modify their representation of the speaker’s production command, or realize that their representation is incorrect and may develop a new production command. We then discuss monitoring in dialogue, paying attention to sequential contributions, concurrent feedback, and the relationship between monitoring and alignment
Shared destiny: understanding the relationship between national identity and Canadian Medicare.
No full textAesthetic representations of community
No full textThis teacher/action-research inquiry investigated awareness and understanding about students’ sense of place (community) through arts-based lessons within a classroom ethnography framework. Two Teacher Candidates used social constructivist pedagogy to plan and teach the same lessons to two groups of elementary students in two different locales, Kamloops (small city) and Ashcroft (rural). Soundscapes, visual imagery maps, role play and reflective writing were the aesthetic media utilized. Interpretation of the data collected (video, audio, observation and field notes, class discussion and informal teacher-student and student-student conversation) were developed and created using autobiographical, reflective narratives by the teacher-researchers involved. Findings included: (1) shared creative experiences utilizing acoustic awareness and the use of aural representation as a way of expressing understanding was a new and effective learning tool for students in this study; (2) sounds and images, as concrete representations of reality as well as symbolic abstractions, metaphorically reflected broad socio-cultural associations and norms, which were represented as strikingly similar in the two different communities; (3) unexpectedly, community aspects represented on both the map and soundscape were exclusively focused on place, without people; (4) the various art forms permitted students multiple ways to understand, express and communicate understanding that addressed a diversity of learning styles as students built skills in, and made connections between, the art forms and notably, these modalities made learning more accessible and enjoyable for some reluctant learners in both classes; and (5) generative, collaborative decisions about representing ideas had to be negotiated, thereby requiring critical thinking skills of students as they demonstrated personal attitudes, values and beliefs, providing opportunities for peer leadership and scaffolding.Peer reviewe
Aesthetic Representations of Community
No full textThis teacher/action-research inquiry investigated awareness and understanding about students’ sense of
place (community) through arts-based lessons within a classroom ethnography framework. Two
Teacher Candidates used social constructivist pedagogy to plan and teach the same lessons to two
groups of elementary students in two different locales, Kamloops (small city) and Ashcroft (rural).
Soundscapes, visual imagery maps, role play and reflective writing were the aesthetic media utilized.
Interpretation of the data collected (video, audio, observation and field notes, class discussion and
informal teacher-student and student-student conversation) were developed and created using
autobiographical, reflective narratives by the teacher-researchers involved.
Findings included: (1) shared creative experiences utilizing acoustic awareness and the use of aural
representation as a way of expressing understanding was a new and effective learning tool for students in this study; (2) sounds and images, as concrete representations of reality as well as symbolic abstractions, metaphorically reflected broad socio-cultural associations and norms, which were represented as strikingly similar in the two different communities; (3) unexpectedly, community aspects represented on both the map and soundscape were exclusively focused on place, without people; (4) the
various art forms permitted students multiple ways to understand, express and communicate understanding that addressed a diversity of learning styles as students built skills in, and made connections between, the art forms and notably, these modalities made learning more accessible and enjoyable for some reluctant learners in both classes; and (5) generative, collaborative decisions about representing ideas had to be negotiated, thereby requiring critical thinking skills of students as they
demonstrated personal attitudes, values and beliefs, providing opportunities for peer leadership and scaffolding.Peer reviewe
Attention and memory play different roles in syntactic choice during sentence production
No full textAttentional control of referential information is an important contributor to the structure of discourse (Sanford, 2001; Sanford & Garrod, 1981). We investigated how attention and memory interplay during visually situated sentence production. We manipulated speakers’ attention to the agent or the patient of a described event by means of a referential or a dot visual cue (Posner, 1980). We also manipulated whether the cue was implicit or explicit by varying its duration (70 ms versus 700 ms). Participants used passive voice more often when their attention was directed to the patient’s location, regardless of whether the cue duration. This effect was stronger when the cue was explicit rather than implicit, especially for passive-voice sentences. Analysis of sentence onset latencies showed a divergent pattern: Latencies were shorter (1) when the agent was cued, (2) when the cue was explicit and (3) when the (explicit) cue was referential; (1) and (2) indicate facilitated sentence planning when the cue supports a canonical (active voice) sentence frame and when speakers had more time to plan their sentences; (3) suggests that sentence planning was sensitive to whether the cue was informative with regard to the cued referent. We propose that differences between production likelihoods and production latencies indicate distinct contributions from attentional focus and memorial activation to sentence planning: While the former partly predicts syntactic choice, the latter facilitates syntactic assembly (i.e., initiating overt sentence generation)
The development of school geography in Canada and the United States: its place in the curriculum and relationship to academic geography/The transition from indigenous to Spanish colonial urban patterns in the Valley of Mexico
No full textErratum: The chemistry of transient molecular cloud cores
No full textWe assume that some, but not all, of the structure observed in molecular clouds is associated with transient features which are not bound by self-gravity. We investigate the chemistry of a transient density fluctuation, with properties similar to those of a core within a molecular cloud. We run a multipoint chemical code through a core's condensation from a diffuse medium to its eventual dispersion, over a period of ∼1 Myr. The dynamical description adopted for our study is based on an understanding of a particular mechanism, involving slow-mode wave excitation, for transient structure formation which so far has been studied in detail only with plane-parallel models in which self-gravity has not been included. We find a significant enhancement of the chemical composition of the core material on its return to diffuse conditions, whilst the expansion of the core as it disperses moves this material out to large distances from the core centre. This process transports molecular species formed in the high-density regions out into the diffuse medium. Chemical enrichment of the cloud as a whole also occurs, as other cores of various sizes, life-spans and separations evolve throughout. Enrichment is strongly affected by freeze-out on to dust grains, which takes place in high-density, high visual extinction regions. As the core disperses after reaching its peak density and the visual extinction drops below a critical value, grain mantles are evaporated back into the gas phase, initiating more chemistry. The influence of the sizes, masses and cycle periods of cores will be large both for the level of chemical enrichment of a dark cloud and ultimately for the low-mass star formation rate. The cores in which stars form are almost certainly bound by their self-gravity and are not transient in the sense that the cores on which most of our study is focused are transient. Obviously, enrichment of the chemistry of low-density material will not take place if self-gravity prevents the re-expansion of a core. We also consider the case of a self-gravitating core, by holding its peak density conditions for a further 0.4 Myr. We find that the differences near the peak densities between transient and gravitationally bound cores are generally small, and the resultant column densities for objects near the peak densities do not provide definitive criteria for discriminating between transient and bound cores. However, increases in fractional abundances due to reinjection of mantle-borne species may provide a criterion for detection of a non-bound core
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