Nobody Doesn't Like Negative Concord.

Languages vary with respect to whether sentences with two negative elements give rise to double negation or negative concord meanings. We explore an influential hypothesis about what governs this variation: namely, that whether a language exhibits double negation or negative concord is partly determined by the phonological and syntactic nature of its negative marker (Zeijlstra 2004; Jespersen 1917). For example, one version of this hypothesis argues that languages with affixal negation must be negative concord (Zeijlstra 2008). We use an artificial language learning experiment to investigate whether English speakers are sensitive to the status of the negative marker when learning double negation and negative concord languages. Our findings fail to provide evidence supporting this hypothesised connection. Instead, our results suggest that learners find it easier to learn negative concord languages compared to double negation languages independently of whether the negative marker is an adverb or an affix. This is in line with evidence from natural language acquisition (Thornton et al. 2016).

Mouse tracking as a window into decision making.

Mouse tracking promises to be an efficient method to investigate the dynamics of cognitive processes: It is easier to deploy than eyetracking, yet in principle it is much more fine-grained than looking at response times. We investigated these claimed benefits directly, asking how the features of decision processes-notably, decision changes-might be captured in mouse movements. We ran two experiments, one in which we explicitly manipulated whether our stimuli triggered a flip in decision, and one in which we replicated more ecological, classical mouse-tracking results on linguistic negation (Dale & Duran, Cognitive Science, 35, 983-996, 2011). We concluded, first, that spatial information (mouse path) is more important than temporal information (speed and acceleration) for detecting decision changes, and we offer a comparison of the sensitivities of various typical measures used in analyses of mouse tracking (area under the trajectory curve, direction flips, etc.). We do so using an "optimal" analysis of our data (a linear discriminant analysis explicitly trained to classify trajectories) and see what type of data (position, speed, or acceleration) it capitalizes on. We also quantify how its results compare with those based on more standard measures.

Revealing abstract semantic mechanisms through priming: The distributive/collective contrast.

Sentences such as The bags are light allow both collective (they are light together) and distributive interpretations (each bag is light). We report the results of two experiments showing that this collective/distributive contrast gives rise to priming effects. These findings suggest that collective and distributive readings involve different interpretative mechanisms, which are at play during real comprehension and can be targeted by priming, independently of the specific verification strategy associated with each interpretation.

Priming methods in semantics and pragmatics.

Structural priming is a powerful method to inform linguistic theories. We argue that this method extends nicely beyond syntax to theories of meaning. Priming, however, should still be seen as only one of the tools available for linguistic data collection. Specifically, because priming can occur at different, potentially conflicting levels, it cannot detect every aspect of linguistic representations.

Pupillary dynamics reveal computational cost in sentence planning.

This study investigated the computational cost associated with grammatical planning in sentence production. We measured people's pupillary responses as they produced spoken descriptions of depicted events. We manipulated the syntactic structure of the target by training subjects to use different types of sentences following a colour cue. The results showed higher increase in pupil size for the production of passive and object dislocated sentences than for active canonical subject-verb-object sentences, indicating that more cognitive effort is associated with more complex noncanonical thematic order. We also manipulated the time at which the cue that triggered structure-building processes was presented. Differential increase in pupil diameter for more complex sentences was shown to rise earlier as the colour cue was presented earlier, suggesting that the observed pupillary changes are due to differential demands in relatively independent structure-building processes during grammatical planning. Task-evoked pupillary responses provide a reliable measure to study the cognitive processes involved in sentence production.

Adherencia al taatamiento de pacientes hipertenos atendidos en assbasalud ese,, manizales (Colombia) 2011 / Treatment adherence of hypertensive patients' being attended by Assbasalud ESE, Manizales (Colombia) 2011

Antecedentes. Por ser la enfermedad hipertensiva de carácter asintomático, el problema de la adherencia al tratamiento de pacientes hipertensos puede ser grave. Objetivo. Estudiar la adherencia al tratamiento de los pacientes hipertensos atendidos en la ciudad de Manizales (Colombia) por el programa ASSBASALUD E.S.E en el año 2011. Materiales y métodos. Estudio de corte transversal en el cual se empleó una población de 200 personas hipertensas (73,5% femenino, edad media 63,76 años) atendidas en ASSBASALUD ESE, Manizales, en el segundo semestre de 2011. Se empleó el cuestionario Martín-Bayarre-Grau (MBG) y el cuestionario de Morinsky-Green para evaluar la red de apoyo social y se empleó el cuestionario Medical OutcomesStudy (MOS). Resultados. Adherentes totales 45% según Morinsky-Green, adherentes totales 51% según MBG, respecto al cuestionario MOS se tiene, 12,29 personas en promedio en su red de apoyo social, apoyo emocional de 74,83%, ayuda material 80,45%, relaciones sociales de ocio y distracción de 78,61%, apoyo afectivo de 83,28%, el fármaco más empleado fue enalapril 17,9%, seguido de verapamilo 10,1%. La adherencia según el cuestionario MBG mostró dependencia significativa entre variables como: educación (p=0,000), conocimientos de la patología (p=0,032), y con los resultados del cuestionario de apoyo social, MOS (p=0,000). La adherencia según Morinsky-Green mostró muy pocas relaciones significativas. Conclusión. La población en estudio presenta bajos niveles de adherencia asociada a baja educación, bajos conocimientos de la patología, bajo apoyo social, se hace necesario una intervención efectiva de ASSBASALUD ESE, a través de su personal de salud. El cuestionario MBG mostró mayor consistencia en la descripción de la adherencia que el cuestionario de Morinsky-Green.

Background. Difficulties regarding patient adherence when treating hypertension could be extremely serious as one is dealing with an asymptomatic hypertensive disease. Objective. Studying adherence to treatment concerning hypertensive patients being attended in Manizales, Colombia, by the state-run Assbasalud programme in 2011. Materials and Methods. This was a cross-sectional study involving a population of 200 hypertensive people (73.5% were female, average age was 63.76 years) being attended by the state-run Assbasalud ESE, Manizales, during the second half of 2011. The Martín-Bayarre-Grau (MBG) and Morisky-Green (MG) questionnaires were used for evaluating the social support network, as well as the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) questionnaire. Results.45% of patients were totally adherent according to MG and 51% totally adherent according to MBG. Regarding the MOS questionnaire, 12.29 people on average were in a patient's social support network, 74.83% received emotional support, 80.45% material aid, 78.61% were involved in leisure and entertainment-related activities, 83.28% were receiving affective support and enalapril was the drug most used in treatment (17.9%), followed by verapamil (10.1%). According to the MBG questionnaire, adherence significantly depended on variables such as education (p=0.000), knowledge about the disease (p=0.032) and MOS social support questionnaire results (p=0.000). The MG questionnaire revealed very few significant relationships for treatment adherence. Conclusion. The study revealed low adherence levels associated with having a low educational level, poor knowledge regarding the disease and poor social support, thereby making it necessary that Assbasalud ESE take more effective action, especially through its healthcare personnel. The MBG questionnaire had greater consistency regarding a description of adherence than the MG questionnaire.