{"title":"Analysis of Verbal Fluency Output on Semantic Categories of ‘Food’ and ‘Vehicle’ in Typically Developing Malayalam Speaking Children","authors":"John Sunila, B. Rajashekhar, V. Guddattu","doi":"10.2478/plc-2018-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2018-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In the wake of limited knowledge on verbal fluency performance in typically developing children, the present study aims at investigating the semantic fluency performance of Malayalam speaking children across age, gender and tasks. Using a cross-sectional study design, semantic fluency performance (on food and vehicle fluency tasks) was investigated in 1015 Malayalam speaking typically developing children aged 5 to 15 years. The findings revealed the positive influence of age and task with no substantial difference between gender groups, with good inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. The study outcomes depicted a distinct pattern of continuous and linear developmental trend in organizational strategies, with no specific age band showing any dramatic increase in performance. Semantic fluency as a task has great potential within the developmental context for understanding the highly language, culture, and task based word retrieval mechanism.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"22 1","pages":"328 - 353"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69250412","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Do Parents Use Mental State Language During Narration To Their 2- and 4-Year-Old Children?","authors":"Joanna Jakubowska, M. Szpak, M. Białecka-Pikul","doi":"10.2478/plc-2018-0023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2018-0023","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Parents influence the development of children’s social understanding by using mental state terms that denote concepts which children are about to develop (Taumoepeau & Ruffman, 2006, 2008) or via the usage of contrastive and/or causal mental state talk (Peterson & Slaughter, 2003). The present longitudinal study examined parent-child dyads and assessed parental mental state talk (MST) during picture-book narration. Seventy-four parents told their children a story twice, when the children were 2 and 4 years old. The same wordless picture book was used to elicit the narration at each time point. Two criteria were used to classify MST: type of utterance (affective, perceptual, or cognitive) and complexity of utterance (simple or clarifying). Parental MST was more frequent in narrations to 4-yearolds than to 2-year-olds. Parents directed more complex MST to 4-year-old children than to 2-year-olds. Affective references were most common at both time points, while cognitive utterances hardly occurred. Nevertheless, growing trends were observed in all types of MST. The results suggest that parents match their MST to the children’s level of social understanding development.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"22 1","pages":"516 - 533"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69250649","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intersubjectivity and the domains of social interaction: proposal of a cross-sectional approach","authors":"Melisa Stevanovic, S. Koski","doi":"10.2478/plc-2018-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2018-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Intersubjectivity is a concept central to human interaction, broadly understood as the sharing of minds. There is a rich diversity of conceptualizations of intersubjectivity, but detailed operationalization for its component processes in social interactions are scarce. We propose a novel approach to examine detailed variation in intersubjectivity in interaction. Our approach combines two previously formulated frameworks: the hierarchically organized developmental levels of intersubjectivity put forth in the field of developmental psychology, and three domains or orders of social interaction - affect, deontics, and epistemics - discussed in conversation analytic research literature. The interdisciplinary integration of these two frameworks allows a more crystallized view of intersubjectivity, which will benefit our understanding of the fine-scale social interaction processes as they vary in the course of the moment-to-moment unfolding of social action, across different stages of human social development, and between individuals belonging to different clinical groups and even to different species.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"22 1","pages":"39 - 70"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69250201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interrelations Between Perspective Taking and Reading Experience: A Longitudinal View on Students in the Fifth Year of School","authors":"Anett Wolgast, Yvonne Barnes-Holmes, Ulrike Hartmann, Jasmin Decristan","doi":"10.2478/plc-2018-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2018-0019","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Social perspective taking (SPT) and the coordination of subjective and alternative perspectives are paramount to social behavior. Scholars tend to agree that approaches to conceptualizing SPT relate to interpersonal understanding and to language skills. The aim of this study was to determine whether interrelations exist between children’s SPT and experience in reading because reading requires the reader to take various perspectives. Additionally, receptive vocabulary and reading fluency of 2,105 children were assessed and they completed a questionnaire at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of fifth grade. Results indicated that the students’ SPT was determined by gender and reading experience with books and newspapers. We conclude that this reading experience affects students’ SPT levels positively; that finding can contribute to the development of school-based activities to enhance SPT levels.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"22 1","pages":"417 - 440"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69250480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Metaphorical Competence in Multilingual Context of Language Acquisition and Learning","authors":"H. Batoréo","doi":"10.2478/plc-2018-0024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2478/plc-2018-0024","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract It has been defended since Gibbs (1994) that in proper contexts people mostly use the metaphorical asset of a message rather than its literal meaning, which means that we tend to express ourselves metaphorically and that conceptual metaphors and metonymies are features of communicative interaction. In the present paper we discuss the notion of metaphorical competence (Aleshtar & Dowlatabadi, 2014: 1895) in the process of language acquisition and learning of a (multilingual) speaker in a multilingual context. Based on previous studies by Sinha and Jansen (2004), Kövecses (2005), Palmer & Sharifian (2007), Gibbs & Colston (2012) and Sharifian (2015), among others, we postulate that research in the area should be centred not exclusively on Language but on interaction in a triangle Cognition - Language - Culture, We defend the way one conceptualises the world is based on bodily experience, and is mediated by culture (cf. Yu, 2003, 2009; Batoréo, 2017a). In this study we present research from different language backgrounds both occidental (European Portuguese, English and Polish) and oriental ones (Mandarin Chinese). It focuses on conceptualization of emotions (e.g., emotional expression of feeling hungry) and moral values (e.g. courage). The analysis shows that it implies culture anchorage and/or physiological and cultural embodiment. We defend that conceptual appropriateness and metaphor awareness play a fundamental role in the acquisition of figurative language (cf. Doiz & Elizari, 2013), which is at least partially motivated, and thus can be object of insightful learning (cf. Boers et al., 2004).","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"16 1","pages":"534 - 556"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2018-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69250664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Soile Loukusa, L. Mäkinen, I. Gabbatore, P. Laukkanen-Nevala, E. Leinonen
{"title":"Understanding Contextual and Social Meaning in Typically Developing Finnish-Speaking Four- To Eight-Year-Old Children","authors":"Soile Loukusa, L. Mäkinen, I. Gabbatore, P. Laukkanen-Nevala, E. Leinonen","doi":"10.1515/plc-2017-0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/plc-2017-0020","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study examined the development of social-pragmatic comprehension in 170 Finnish four- to eight-year-old children. The children were asked to respond to socially and contextually demanding questions targeting their social-pragmatic language processing, and to explain their correct answers in order to elicit their awareness of how they had derived the answers from the context. The results showed that the number of correct answers increased especially between the ages of four and seven years. We found that questions demanding contextual processing without mind-reading were the easiest to understand, followed by questions demanding processing of feelings of others and false beliefs. The questions demanding understanding of relevant language use and processing of contextual factors including mental states and intentions were the most challenging for the children. Between four and five years of age there was a remarkable developmental phase in children’s ability to give proper explanations.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"21 1","pages":"408 - 428"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/plc-2017-0020","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47413884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Processing Metaphors in the Elderly: Does Valence Matter?","authors":"M. Bartczak","doi":"10.1515/plc-2017-0017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/plc-2017-0017","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Much evidence from theory and research points towards difficulties in processing metaphors by elderly people. These difficulties are usually associated with working memory and inhibitory control deficits observed in this age group, as these very functions play a crucial part in efficient metaphor processing. However, results of research on understanding metaphorical content by elderly people are inconclusive. The following article reviews studies showing that metaphor processing relies on a set of complex variables, which might explain the inconclusiveness of previous results. Though we acknowledge the role of interindividual factors (differences in cognitive functioning among the elderly), we focus on the properties of the metaphor stimuli themselves, especially those of conventionalization and valence, as they might influence the processing of verbal metaphors by people in older age groups.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"21 1","pages":"352 - 379"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42060877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Editorial Remarks: Beyond Literal Meaning. Metaphors","authors":"B. Bokus, Piotr Kałowski","doi":"10.1515/plc-2017-0018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/plc-2017-0018","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Following up on the previous special issue of Psychology of Language and Communication, devoted to irony, the current one concerns metaphors - another major form of non-literal language. The authors of the presented papers examine metaphor use and understanding in a wide variety of contexts, both in adult and child, as well as normal and abnormal populations. The result is a comprehensive survey of the current state of research, which opens further avenues of potentially fruitful inquiry.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"21 1","pages":"380 - 385"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44719784","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does Grammatical Gender Influence Perception? A Study of Polish and French Speakers","authors":"Izabella Haertlé","doi":"10.1515/plc-2017-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/plc-2017-0019","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Can the perception of a word be influenced by its grammatical gender? Can it happen that speakers of one language perceive an object to have masculine features, while speakers of another language perceive the same object to have feminine features? Previous studies suggest that this is the case, and also that there is some supra-language gender categorisation of objects as natural/feminine and artefact/masculine. This study was an attempt to replicate these findings on another population of subjects. This is the first Polish study of this kind, comparing the perceptions of objects by Polish- and French-speaking individuals. The results of this study show that grammatical gender may cue people to assess objects as masculine or feminine. However, the findings of some previous studies, that feminine features are more often ascribed to natural objects than artifacts, were not replicated.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"21 1","pages":"386 - 407"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42391829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lexical Substitution and Paraphasia in Advanced Dementia of the Alzheimer Type","authors":"Irina Ovchinnikova, A. Pavlova","doi":"10.1515/plc-2017-0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/plc-2017-0015","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The paper presents the case study of lexical selection in Alzheimer-type dementia. Lexical substitutions in poem recitation and conversations of a Russian speaker, who suffered Alzheimer-type dementia, were analyzed on the background of the lexical retrieval and slip-of-the-tongue phenomena. The classification of the substitutions is worked out on the basis of the links between a target word and its substitutions. The current context plays an essential role as natural priming for a substitution in a poem recitation. Some words have predisposition to be lost; the units belong to the figurative language or to the category of infrequent lexemes. In conversation, the patient masked failures by referring to the circumstances and appealing to the sense of humor. Positive emotions facilitate recollecting of words, involved in the description of real-life events, due to the relatively spared nondeclarative memory. The changes in the substitutions and paraphasias categories between AD stages are statistically significant.","PeriodicalId":20768,"journal":{"name":"Psychology of Language and Communication","volume":"21 1","pages":"306 - 324"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45284511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}