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PubMed1999

Linguistic threat activates the human amygdala.

Studies in animals demonstrate a crucial role for the amygdala in emotional and social behavior, especially as related to fear and aggression. Whereas lesion and functional-imaging studies in humans indicate the amygdala's participation in assessing the significance of nonverbal as well as paralinguistic cues, direct evidence for its role in the emotional processing of linguistic cues is lacking. In this study, we use a modified Stroop task along with a high-sensitivity neuroimaging technique to target the neural substrate engaged specifically when processing linguistic threat. Healthy volunteer subjects were instructed to name the color of words of either threat or neutral valence, presented in different color fonts, while neural activity was measured by using H(2)(15)O positron-emission tomography. Bilateral amygdalar activation was significantly greater during color naming of threat words than during color naming of neutral words. Associated activations were also noted in sensory-evaluative and motor-planning areas of the brain. Thus, our results demonstrate the amygdala's role in the processing of danger elicited by language. In addition, the results reinforce the amygdala's role in the modulation of the perception of, and response to, emotionally salient stimuli. The current study further suggests conservation of phylogenetically older mechanisms of emotional evaluation in the context of more recently evolved linguistic function.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Language disorder: a functional linguistic perspective.

This paper explores the issues involved in the linguistic characterisation of disordered discourse and the ways in which a Systemic Functional Linguistic framework addresses these issues. For many years, language disorders were described in terms of formal grammars, with "breakdown" discussed in terms of one or more of the traditional levels of language, i.e., phonology, syntax, and semantics. While it was acknowledged that an individual could have difficulty at one or more of these levels, each was viewed quite separately, with semantics viewed largely from a referential perspective. More recent approaches using functional grammar have broadened this view of language and have provided a model of language that re-conceptualizes the notion of meaning and embraces context as integral to its organisation. Such a model has introduced a different perspective on language into clinical fields, and has enabled researchers and clinicians to explore the skills of speakers with language disorders across a variety of situations and contextual variables, examining the linguistic resources still available to them. This paper introduces principles involved in a functional framework and provides an overview of how these principles have been applied to language disorders to date. In addition, the notion of "disorder" itself is discussed as it is situated in this alternative model.

Aphasia↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Written discourse and acquired brain impairment: evaluation of structural and semantic features of personal letters from a Systemic Functional Linguistic perspective.

This qualitative study investigated written discourse in the form of personal letters written by ten people with aphasia following stroke and ten people with cognitive-language disorder as a consequence of traumatic brain injury, and compared their performance with 15 non brain-damaged writers. Personal letters perform the dual function of providing information and maintaining social relationships. Using the Systemic Functional Linguistics framework for investigation, letters were examined in terms of their dual functions, and at two different strata of language--generic structure and semantic organisation. A small quantum of research suggests that the dissociation between different strata of language (i.e., macro and micro linguistic abilities), identified in the spoken discourse of people with aphasia and people with cognitive-language disorder is mirrored in written discourse. Aphasic writers largely maintain coherent text structure while writers with cognitive-language impairment demonstrate problems with global text coherence and the episodic structure of texts. Results of the generic structure analysis did not support the hypothesis. However, the semantic Move analysis revealed how diminished linguistic resources, most evident in the letters written by the subjects with aphasia, impacted upon the semantic diversity of the text, as well as the interpersonal function of the personal letter. Variable performance as a feature pathology and normality is highlighted and clinical implications discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Early lexical and syntactic development in Quebec French and English: implications for cross-linguistic and bilingual assessment.

BACKGROUND: Although a number of studies have been conducted on normal acquisition in French, systematic methods for analysis of French and normative group data have been lacking. AIMS: To develop a systematic method for the analysis of language samples in Quebec French, and to provide preliminary normative data on early lexical and syntactic development in French with a comparison with English. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Language samples were collected for groups of monolingual French- and English-speaking children (n=39, age range 21-47 months) with normal language development. Coding conventions for French were developed based on similar principles as English SALT conventions. However, due to structural differences between the languages, coding of inflectional morphology was considerably more complex in French than in English. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The French procedure provided developmentally sensitive measures of lexical and syntactic development, including mean length of utterance in morphemes and in words, and number of different words, and should be an important addition to the assessment procedures available for French. Cross-linguistic similarities and differences were noted in the language sample measures. Although the same elicitation context was used in the English and the French language samples, and the analysis methods were designed to rest on similar principles across languages, systematic differences emerged such that the French-speaking children exhibited a higher mean length of utterance, but smaller vocabulary sizes. Differences were also noted in error patterns, with much lower error rates occurring in samples of the French-speaking children. CONCLUSIONS: The findings have important implications for language assessment involving cross-linguistic comparisons, such as occurs in the assessment of bilingual children, and in the matching of participants in cross-linguistic studies. Given differences in the mean length of utterance and vocabulary scores across the languages, the finding of the same mean length of utterance or vocabulary obtained in the two languages for a given bilingual child or for monolingual speakers of the two languages does not imply equivalent levels of language development in the two languages.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed2006

The concept of coherence in attachment interviews: comparing attachment experts, linguists, and non-experts.

Coherence is a central construct in attachment interviews. Nevertheless, the concept has never been the main focus of a study in the attachment field. The present study examined whether coherence in attachment interviews is defined differently by experts trained in attachment theory, by linguists, and by non-experts. The 72-item Coherence Q-sort (CQS) was used to determine the profile of a prototypical coherent interview. Results indicated that attachment experts could be reliably distinguished from the (combined) other groups: attachment experts emphasized quality and manner more than all other groups, linguists emphasized quantity and relevance more than attachment experts, and higher educated non-experts valued relevance more than attachment experts. Defining coherence in attachment interviews is thus more than just applying Grice's linguistic maxims; expertise in attachment theory is critical for defining interview coherence. Consequences for the coding of the AAI by non-attachment experts, as well as computer coding (im)possibilities are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Changes in semantic uses of first person pronouns as possible linguistic markers of recovery in psychotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in linguistic markers in the course of psychotherapy, drawing on Frege's logic of relations to define semantic variables distinct from syntactic variables. METHOD: From a sample of 73 patients, 10 patients with the best and 10 patients with the worst outcomes were selected. Forty transcribed sessions of each outcome group were compared statistically for change between commencement and termination of psychotherapy in: (i) the syntactic usage of first person pronouns ('I', 'me', 'we', 'us', 'implied I', 'implied me'); (ii) semantic usage of first person pronouns (expressing alpha, omega, or unclear positions); and (iii) non-pronoun linguistic variables (passive voice, negative, copula, auxiliary verbs expressing a sense of obligation). RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the best and worst outcome groups in the change of either syntactic usage, or of the non-pronoun linguistic variables. However, the outcome groups differed significantly in the change of their semantic usage (alpha: p = 0.002; omega: p = 0.028): The best outcome group showed an increase of alpha positions and a decrease of omega positions, whereas the worst outcome group showed the inverse (i.e. decrease of alpha and increase of omega positions). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest only semantic, that is meaning-driven, usage of first person pronouns marks recovery in the course of psychotherapy. If replicated, this finding could be used to monitor treatment responses. Replication in other kinds of treatment could mean these semantic changes are markers of recovery more generally than in psychotherapy.

Humans↗
PubMed2006

Processing linguistic complexity and grammaticality in the left frontal cortex.

We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to directly compare the hemodynamic responses associated with varying degrees of linguistic complexity with those engendered by the processing of ungrammatical utterances. We demonstrate a dissociation within the left inferior frontal cortex between the deep frontal operculum, which responds to syntactic violations, and a core region of Broca's area, that is, the inferior portion of the left pars opercularis in Brodmann area 44, the activation of which is modulated as a function of the complexity of well-formed sentences. The data demonstrate that different brain regions in the prefrontal cortex support distinct mechanisms in the mapping from a linguistic form onto meaning, thereby separating ungrammaticality from linguistic complexity.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Linguistic diversity in a deaf prison population: implications for due process.

The entire deaf prison population in the state of Texas formed the basis for this research. The linguistic skills of prison inmates were assessed using the following measures: (1) Kannapell's categories of bilingualism, (2) adaptation of the diagnostic criteria for Primitive Personality Disorder, (3) reading scores on the Test of Adult Basic Education, and (4) an evaluation of sign language use and skills by a certified sign language interpreter who had worked with deaf inmates for the past 17 years. Deaf inmates with reading scores below the federal standard for literacy (grade level 2.9) were the group most likely to demonstrate linguistic incompetence to stand trial, meaning that they probably lacked the ability to understand the charges against them and/or were unable to participate in their own defenses. Based on the language abilities and reading scores of this population, up to 50% of deaf state prison inmates may not have received due process throughout their arrest and adjudication. Despite their adjudicative and/or linguistic incompetence, these individuals were convicted in many cases, possibly violating their constitutional rights and their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Deafness↗
PubMed2004

A linguistic framework for assessing the quality of written patient information: its use in assessing methotrexate information for rheumatoid arthritis.

Patient information leaflets are an important adjunct to verbal exchange between doctor and patient. Their value is dependent upon whether they contain useful information from the viewpoint of the patient and are easily understood. We developed a framework based upon linguistic theory for assessing the quality of written patient information and applied it to a set of leaflets about methotrexate treatment. Items included the overall structure of the text, the technicality of the vocabulary used, the number of content words per clause ('lexical density'), and the clarity of the role relationship between author and reader. The leaflets consisted of up to nine identifiable sections (range 3-8): background information about the drug, summary of its use, dosage instructions, outline of benefits and side-effects, monitoring information, constraints on patient behavior, storage instructions, and clinical contact availability. Most leaflets contained a high number of content words per clause and the identity of the author was clear in only three (17%). Linguistic analysis provides highly relevant information about written patient information. Together with critical assessment of factual and visual aspects, consideration of key linguistic features should improve the quality of informational texts for our patients.

Antirheumatic Agents↗
PubMedDate not supplied

How much does a shared name make things similar? Linguistic labels, similarity, and the development of inductive inference.

This article examines the development of inductive generalization, and presents a model of young children's induction and two experiments testing the model. The model specifies contribution of linguistic labels and perceptual similarity to young children's induction and predicts a correspondence between similarity judgment and induction of young children. In Experiment 1, 4- to 5-year-olds, 7- to 8-year-olds, and 11- to 12-year-olds were presented with triads of schematic faces (a Target and two Test stimuli), which varied in perceptual similarity, with one of the Test stimuli sharing a linguistic label with the Target, and another having a different label. Participants were taught an unobservable biological property about the Target and asked to generalize the property to one of the Test stimuli. Although 4- to 5-year-olds' proportions of label-based inductive generalizations varied with the degree of perceptual similarity among the compared stimuli, 11- to 12-year-olds relied exclusively on labels, and 7- to 8-year-olds appeared to be a transitional group. In Experiment 2 these findings were replicated using naturalistic stimuli (i.e., photographs of animals), with perceptual similarity manipulated by "morphing" naturalistic pictures into each other in a fixed number of steps. Overall results support predictions of the model and point to a developmental shift from treating linguistic labels as an attribute contributing to similarity to treating them as markers of a common category-a shift that appears to occur between 8 and 11 years of age.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Preschool children use linguistic form class and pragmatic cues to interpret generics.

Generic noun phrases (e.g., "Bats live in caves") are important for expressing knowledge about abstract kinds. Past work has found that parents frequently use generic noun phrases in their speech to young children. However, little is known regarding how children understand these expressions, nor which cues signal generic meaning. The present set of 5 studies examined the influence of linguistic form class (e.g., "What color are dogs?" [generic] versus "What color are the dogs?" [nongeneric]) and of pragmatic context (e.g., "What color are they?" in the presence of either a single exemplar [generic] or multiple exemplars [nongeneric]). Participants were 2-year-olds (N = 42), 3-year-olds (N = 40), 4-year-olds (N = 40), and adults (N = 51). The data indicate that by 2 years of age, children use linguistic form class, and by 3 years of age, children use pragmatic context. These findings demonstrate that young children have begun to understand the distinction between generic and nongeneric noun phrases from a very young age, and that identification of generics is signaled not by formal or pragmatic cues alone, but by a combination of information from both language form and pragmatic context. It is suggested that children make use of multiple linguistic and conceptual cues to acquire and interpret generics.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

Computer-assisted linguistic analysis of an autistic adolescent's language: implications for the diagnosis of Aspberger's syndrome and atypical psychoses.

This study illustrates the use of a computer-assisted linguistic analysis technique to compare the spoken language of an adolescent, diagnosed in childhood as autistic, with that of normal and schizophrenic individuals. A distinctive profile, in keeping with accounts in the literature of autistic speech, was noted to be radically different from that found in linguistic analysis of schizophrenic speech. This distinctive profile was mirrored by her written linguistic analysis. Changes indicative of some improvement in language function were seen on re-recording after 5 years. Implications of this technique for differential diagnosis of Aspberger's syndrome and atypical psychoses are mentioned.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Computer-assisted linguistic analysis of two mentally retarded psychotic female's texts.

Prompted monologues from a schizophrenic and manic mentally handicapped female were analysed using a computer program designed to generate 118 syntactic variables. The procedure was repeated after several years. The linguistic profiles and their change over time were characteristic of chronic schizophrenia and mania, respectively: the schizophrenic-illness-based profile showed further linguistic disintegration; the manic-illness-based profile showed linguistic recovery, mirroring clinical improvement.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Links between social and linguistic processing of speech in preschool children with autism: behavioral and electrophysiological measures.

Data on typically developing children suggest a link between social interaction and language learning, a finding of interest both to theories of language and theories of autism. In this study, we examined social and linguistic processing of speech in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing chronologically matched (TDCA) and mental age matched (TDMA) children. The social measure was an auditory preference test that pitted 'motherese' speech samples against non-speech analogs of the same signals. The linguistic measure was phonetic discrimination assessed with mismatch negativity (MMN), an event-related potential (ERP). As a group, children with ASD differed from controls by: (a) demonstrating a preference for the non-speech analog signals, and (b) failing to show a significant MMN in response to a syllable change. When ASD children were divided into subgroups based on auditory preference, and the ERP data reanalyzed, ASD children who preferred non-speech still failed to show an MMN, whereas ASD children who preferred motherese did not differ from the controls. The data support the hypothesis of an association between social and linguistic processing in children with ASD.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1996

Genetic analysis of Sardinia: I. data on 12 polymorphisms in 21 linguistic domains.

(1) The microgeographic structure of Sardinia, well documented from a historical and linguistic point of view, further supported by archaeological evidence, can also be dissected at the genetic level: gene frequencies show heterogeneities which are statistically significant. (2) Dendrogram analyses performed with different methods lead to the same result: even if gene frequencies cluster linguistically defined geographic domains in agreement with historical and archaeological evidence, no phylogenetic tree can be inferred, very likely because the assumptions which allow a phylogenetic tree to be a valid model of evolution (mainly constant evolutionary rates and independence between branches) do not apply to the genetic history of Sardinia. (3) Evidence of a qualitative association between distribution of genes and distribution of languages or dialects seems to emerge also at the microgeographic level of our analysis. More linguistic and genetic data are planned to be considered.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Achieving linguistic clarity: a model to aid translations.

An international validation study of selected NANDA nursing diagnoses prompted the development of a linguistic model for standardizing and operationalizing the defining characteristics. The translation of NANDA-approved defining characteristics into Portuguese illuminated problems related to the way that sentences, phrases, and words are used. Defining characteristics were reduced into the simplest linguistic components--words. In Portuguese translation, all of the major NANDA-defining characteristics were classified into two alphabetized lists as single-word phenomena/states or qualifiers. Linguistic standardization permitted similar expressions of the defining characteristics in Portuguese and English.

Linguistics↗
PubMed1998

Auditory and linguistic factors in the perception of voice offset time as a cue for preaspiration.

Previous research [J. Pind, Acta Psychol. 89, 53-81 (1995)] has shown that preaspiration in Icelandic, an [h]-like sound inserted between a vowel and the following closure, can be cued by Voice Offset Time (VOffT), a speech cue which is the mirror image of Voice Onset Time (VOT). Research has also revealed that VOffT is much more sensitive to the duration of the neighboring vowel than is VOT [J. Pind, Q. J. Exp. Psychol. 49A, 745-764 (1996)]. This paper explores the hypothesis that it is primarily the perceived quantity of the vowel that is responsible for the effect of the vowel on the perception of preaspiration. This hypothesis is based on the linguistic fact that preaspiration can only follow a phonemically short vowel. This linguistic hypothesis is contrasted with an auditory hypothesis in terms of forward masking. Perceptual experiments show that the perceptual boundaries for preaspiration can be affected either by changing the preceding vowel's duration or its spectrum. If the spectrum of the vowel changes towards that of a long vowel, longer VOffT's are needed for listeners to perceive preaspiration, thus lending support to the linguistic hypothesis.

Cues↗
PubMed1984

A linguist's view of the Bellman-Goldberg thesis.

From a linguistic perspective, the Bellman-Goldberg thesis of a necessary relationship between the abilities of organisms to move and communicate is very interesting. Since several concepts and terms are represented in both the thesis and contemporary linguistic literature, these items are discussed in further detail. Questions of the implicit assumptions of the homology of the motor and linguistic systems are also raised here. Finally, there are requests for further clarification on issues of evolution in this test of the strength of the thesis.

Humans↗