Analyzing hope speech from psycholinguistic and emotional perspectives.

Hope is a vital coping mechanism, enabling individuals to effectively confront life's challenges. This study proposes a technique employing Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools like Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), NRC-emotion-lexicon, and vaderSentiment to analyze social media posts, extracting psycholinguistic, emotional, and sentimental features from a hope speech dataset. The findings of this study reveal distinct cognitive, emotional, and communicative characteristics and psycholinguistic dimensions, emotions, and sentiments associated with different types of hope shared in social media. Furthermore, the study investigates the potential of leveraging this data to classify different types of hope using machine learning algorithms. Notably, models such as LightGBM and CatBoost demonstrate impressive performance, surpassing traditional methods and competing effectively with deep learning techniques. We employed hyperparameter tuning to optimize the models' parameters and compared their performance using both default and tuned settings. The results highlight the enhanced efficiency achieved through hyperparameter tuning for these models.

The "Small World of Words" free association norms for Rioplatense Spanish.

Large-scale word association datasets are both important tools used in psycholinguistics and used as models that capture meaning when considered as semantic networks. Here, we present word association norms for Rioplatense Spanish, a variant spoken in Argentina and Uruguay. The norms were derived through a large-scale crowd-sourced continued word association task in which participants give three associations to a list of cue words. Covering over 13,000 words and +3.6 M responses, it is currently the most extensive dataset available for Spanish. We compare the obtained dataset with previous studies in Dutch and English to investigate the role of grammatical gender and studies that used Iberian Spanish to test generalizability to other Spanish variants. Finally, we evaluated the validity of our data in word processing (lexical decision reaction times) and semantic (similarity judgment) tasks. Our results demonstrate that network measures such as in-degree provide a good prediction of lexical decision response times. Analyzing semantic similarity judgments showed that results replicate and extend previous findings demonstrating that semantic similarity derived using spreading activation or spectral methods outperform word embeddings trained on text corpora.

Onde está o sujeito? Reflexões sobre o materialismo e a dialética / Where's the subject? Reflections on materialism and dialectics / ¿Dónde está el sujeto? Reflexiones sobre el materialismo y la dialéctica

Buscamos uma análise acerca dos desdobramentos da questão do sujeito à luz das diversas críticas que a ela se levantaram nos anos pós-estruturalistas e diante da ascensão do neoliberalismo como ideologia dominante em todo o mundo. Relegada como questão metafísica da modernidade, ou como resíduo do cientificismo positivista, a categoria de sujeito tem sido notadamente objeto de desconstrução, ou, quando não, de simples rejeição. Se apoiando sobre um duplo questionamento, de sua possível pertinência para o pensamento psicológico e filosófico atual, como dos possíveis atores da transformação social diante das transformações sofridas que o capitalismo tardio impõe à categoria de proletariado, através do pensamento de Alain Badiou e Slavoj Zizek, tentamos afastar a tendência linguística que hoje pauta grande parte das análises sobre o sujeito e os processos subjetivos para tentar apontar a importância de uma teoria das verdades que renove as bases ontológicas do pensamento e a visão sobre a dialética materialista. Uma teoria do sujeito assentada sobre um conceito de verdade se mostra assim um potencial para repensar o homem enquanto criador. (AU)

We seek an analysis of the developments surrounding the issue of the subject in light of various critiques that have emerged in the post-structuralist years and in the face of the rise of neoliberalism as the dominant ideology worl-dwide. Relegated as a metaphysical question of modernity or as a residue of positivist scientism, the category of the subject has notably been a target of deconstruction, or, when not, outright rejection. Grounded in a dual inquiry into its possible relevance for current psychological and philosophical thought, as well as the potential actors of social transformation in the face of the changes imposed by late capitalism on the proletariat category, through the prospectives of Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek, we attempt to move away from the linguistic trend that currently guides a significant portion of analyses on the subject and subjective processes. Our aim is to emphasize the importance of a theory of truths that renews the ontological foundations of thought and the perspective on dialectical materialism. A theory of the subject anchored in a concept of truth thus proves to be a potential avenue for rethinking man as a creator. (AU)

Buscamos un análisis del desarrollo del tema del sujeto a la luz de las diversas críticas que surgieron en los años postestructuralistas y ante el surgimiento del neoliberalismo como ideología dominante a nivel mundial. Relegada como cuestión metafísica de la modernidad, o como residuo del cientificismo positi-vista, la categoría de sujeto ha sido notablemente objeto de deconstrucción o, cuando no, de simple rechazo. Partiendo de un doble cuestionamiento, de su posible relevancia para el pensamiento psicológico y filosófico actual, como de los posibles actores de la transformación social frente a las transforma-ciones que el capitalismo tardío impone a la categoría de proletariado, a través del pensamiento de Alain Badiou y Slavoj Zizek , intentamos quitar la tendencia lingüística que hoy guía la mayoría de los análisis sobre el tema y los procesos subjetivos para intentar señalar la importancia de una teoría de las verdades que renueve las bases ontológicas del pensamiento y la mirada sobre la dialéctica materialista. Una teoría del sujeto basada en un concepto de verdad muestra así un potencial para repensar al hombre como creador. (AU)

Reading times of sentences with inclusive language in Spanish: a psycholinguistic study / Tiempos de lectura de oraciones con lenguaje inclusivo en español: un estudio psicolingüístico.

Introduction: Inclusive morphemes in Spanish, -e y -x, have begun to be used in place of generic masculine forms. In this study, we look at the processing of sentences with inclusive language from the perspective of experimental cognitive psychology and with the methodological tools of psycholinguistics. Methods: A sentence-by-sentence self-paced reading experiment examined the difference in reading times between sentences containing the traditional, masculine, generic form and sentences with gender inclusive language. The experiment was carried out in 69 monolingual speakers of River Plate Spanish: 38 young adults (between 18 and 30 years: 23 women and 15 men) and 31 older adults (between 31 and 60 years: 12 women and 19 men). Results: sentences with inclusive language were read more slowly than sentences with the generic masculine form. Surprisingly, neither age nor gender were found to have significant effects. Discussion: These results suggest that reading sentences with inclusive morphemes results in a higher processing cost and that this language change is in its very early stages.

Introducción: El lenguaje inclusivo se manifiesta en español en el uso de los morfemas -e y -x, en lugar del masculino genérico. Este estudio aborda el procesamiento de oraciones con lenguaje inclusivo desde la perspectiva dela psicología cognitiva experimental y con las herramientas metodológicas de la psicolingüística. Método: Con un experimento de lectura a ritmo personal se examinó la diferencia en los tiempos de lectura de oraciones con masculino genérico y oraciones con lenguaje inclusivo. Participaron 69 hablantes monolingües de español rioplatense: 38 jóvenes (entre 18 y 30 años: 23 mujeres y 15 varones) y 31 adultos (entre 31 y 60 años: 12 mujeres y 19 varones). Resultados: Las oraciones con lenguaje inclusivo se leyeron más lentamente que las correspondientes oraciones con masculino genérico. Crucialmente, las variables edad y género no produjeron diferencias significativas. Discusión: Estos resultados sugieren que la lectura de oraciones con lenguaje inclusivo conlleva un mayor costo de procesamiento y que este cambio lingüístico se encuentra en etapas muy iniciales.

Lingüística en el ejercicio de la psicoterapia infantil: desafíos para la práctica clínica / Linguistics in the practice of child psychotherapy: challenges for clinical practice

RESUMEN: Es sabido que, tanto psicólogos como psiquiatras infantiles, poseen escasa capacitación y formación en el área de lingüística, lo que sin duda tiene gran relevancia en la salud mental infantil. Consecuentemente, una mayor especialización en los aspectos evolutivos del lenguaje infantil, podría favorecer la eficacia en la psicoterapia con niñas y niños, potenciando las técnicas clásicamente utilizadas en setting, como lo son el juego y las actividades plásticas. Así, con mayor conocimiento en psicolingüística y pragmática, profesionales de la salud mental incrementarían su batería de herramientas prácticas para una efectiva comunicación momento a momento en el espacio terapéutico con el/la paciente. Esto no sólo ampliaría el uso de la psicolingüística infantil más allá del diagnóstico de los trastornos del lenguaje, sino que también contribuiría a converger los conocimientos teórico-prácticos para potenciar el trabajo psicológico con infancia, mediante una comunicación más efectiva del adulto con el/la niña/o.

ABSTRACT It is known that both child psychologists and psychiatrists have little training in linguistics, which undoubtedly has great relevance in children's mental health. A greater specialization in the evolutionary aspects of children's language could improve the effectiveness in psychotherapy, enhancing the techniques classically used in setting, such as games and artistic activities. Thus, with greater knowledge in psycholinguistics and pragmatics, mental health professionals could increase their battery of practical tools for effective moment-by-moment communication with the patient. This would expand the use of child psycholinguistics not only for the diagnosis of language disorders, but also contribute to converge theoretical and practical knowledge achieving a more effective communication between the adult and the child.

[Anaphoric processing deficits in Alzheimer's disease: the role of working memory]. / Déficits en el procesamiento anafórico en personas con enfermedad de Alzheimer: el rol de la memoria de trabajo.

Empirical studies have shown that Alzheimer's patients have language-processing difficulties. In particular, they frequently fail to identify the referent of pronouns and other anaphoric expressions. In healthy individuals, the explicit repetition of proper names elicits a processing delay known as the repeated name penalty. However, in Alzheimer's patients, such repetitions help them establish connections between phrases and allow them to process language more easily. The study of anaphoric processing in patients with cognitive deficits shows: (a) the existence of design features of the language faculty independent of the language in question; (b) the interdependence of language and other cognitive processes; (c) the involvement of working memory in the resolution of pronouns; (d) the contribution of psycholinguistics to the improvement of communication between Alzheimer's patients and health care professionals.

Emotional words in Spanish: Adaptation and cross-cultural differences for the affective norms for English words (ANEW) on a sample of Argentinian adults.

The Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) are a set of normative emotional ratings for verbal stimuli that have been adapted to many different languages. This article presents the 1034 ANEW words adapted into Rioplatense Spanish, a regional variation of Spanish used in Latin America. A total of 483 volunteers rated three affective (valence, arousal, dominance) and three semantic variables (familiarity, imageability, concreteness). Several objective variables, such as frequency, number of letters, syllable length, and grammatical class were also included. The results showed the typical U-shaped distribution along valence and arousal, as well as strong correlations with other ANEW adaptations. Furthermore, our sample was compared with the European Spanish sample and the original US sample and differences between languages and regional variations were found, stressing the need for culturally-specific resources for experimental research.

Argentinean Psycholinguistic Picture Naming Test in color.

Color has demonstrated to have an influence on picture naming tasks. Objects with high color diagnosticity are recalled faster than objects with low value. That is why the Argentinean Psycholinguistic Picture Naming Test in color (PAPDIC in Spanish) was designed. The items and semantic cues were built considering local psycholinguistic norms. A series of psychometric analyses were performed on a sample of patients with focal brain damage with (n = 11) and without (n = 14) aphasia, a sample of patients with degenerative disease (n = 46) and two samples of healthy participants (young n = 27, old n = 50). Evidence of convergent validity was obtained through the correlation with the brief Boston Naming Test (r = 0.871; p < .001); of criteria validity by means of contrasted groups analysis (t = 4.059, p < .001), and through the ROC curve analysis (AUC = 0.993). Scores' reliability was explored by means of an internal consistency analysis (KR20 = 0.905). These results indicate that the PAPDIC is a promising color naming test which can be applied in the field of clinical neuropsychology to identify anomia. This test has several advantages in comparison with the available naming tests in Argentina.

Habilidades Psicolinguisticas y Rendimiento Escolar. Estudiantes de 4° Básico / Psycholinguistic Skills and School Performance

El objetivo de este estudio es determinar la relación entre las habilidades psicolingüísticas y el rendimiento escolar. El presente estudio es de tipo cuantitativo, con alcance descriptivo correlacional, de tipo transversal no experimental. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 35 estudiantes de 4° año básico de un colegio particular subvencionado de la ciudad de Chillán, Chile. La recolección de datos se obtuvo mediante la aplicación del Test de Illinois de Aptitudes Psicolingüísticas (ITPA) y el promedio final de las asignaturas de Lenguaje, Matemáticas, Ciencias Sociales e Historia y Geografía. Dentro de los resultados se pudo determinar la existencia de una correlación positiva, de fuerza relativamente moderada y estadísticamente significativa entre la Integración Visual y el promedio en la asignatura de Ciencias y el Rendimiento Académico Total, así como la Asociación Auditiva y el promedio en la asignatura de Ciencias y la Expresión Verbal con el promedio en la asignatura de Lenguaje. Por medio de la presente investigación se concluye que se logra establecer una relación parcial entre las Habilidades Psicolingüísticas y el Rendimiento Académico

The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between psycholinguistic skills and school performance. The present study is quantitative, with a correlational descriptive scope, of a non-experimental cross-sectional design. The sample consisted of 35 students in the 4th grade, of a non-experimental cross-sectional design. The sample consisted of 35 students in the 4th year of a private subsidized school in the city of Chillán, Chile. Data collection was obtained through the application of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Aptitudes (ITPA) and the final average of the subjects of Language, Mathematics, Social Sciences, and History and Geography. Within the results, it was possible to determine the existence of a positive correlation, of relatively moderate strength and statistically significant between Visual Integration and the average in the Science subject and the Total Academic Performance, as well as the Auditory Association and the average in the subject. of Sciences and Verbal Expression with the average in the Language course. Using the present investigation, it is concluded that it is possible to establish a partial relationship between Psycholinguistic Skills and Academic Performance

Heterogeneity of repetition abilities in logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia / Heterogeneidade das habilidades de repetição na afasia progressiva primária variante logopênica

ABSTRACT. The differential diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is challenging due to overlapping clinical manifestations of the different variants of the disease. This is particularly true for the logopenic variant of PPA (lvPPA), in which such overlap was reported with regard to impairments in repetition abilities. In this study, four individuals with lvPPA underwent standard neuropsychological and language assessments. The influence of psycholinguistic variables on their performance of in word, nonword and sentence repetition tasks was also specifically explored. Some level of heterogeneity was found in cognitive functions and in language. The four participants showed impairment in sentence repetition in which their performance was negatively affected by semantic reversibility and syntactic complexity. This study supports the heterogeneity of lvPPA with respect to the cognitive and linguistic status of participants. It also shows that sentence repetition is influenced not only by length, but also by semantic reversibility and syntactic complexity, two psycholinguistic variables known to place additional demands on phonological working memory.

RESUMO. O diagnóstico diferencial da afasia progressiva primária (APP) é desafiador devido às sobreposições das manifestações clínicas das diferentes variantes da doença. Isso é particularmente verdadeiro para a variante logopênica do APP (APPlg), em que tal sobreposição foi relatada em relação à deficiências nas habilidades de repetição. No presente estudo, quatro indivíduos com APPlg foram submetidos à avaliações neuropsicológica e de linguagem. A influência de variáveis psicolinguísticas em seu desempenho de palavras, não-palavras e tarefas de repetição de frases também foi especificamente explorada. Certo nível de heterogeneidade foi encontrado nas funções cognitivas e na linguagem. Os quatro participantes apresentaram prejuízo na repetição de frases em que seu desempenho foi afetado negativamente pela reversibilidade semântica e complexidade sintática. O estudo apoia a heterogeneidade do APPlg no que diz respeito ao status cognitivo e linguístico dos participantes. Mostra também que a repetição de sentenças é influenciada não apenas pelo comprimento, mas também pela reversibilidade semântica e complexidade sintática, duas variáveis psicolinguísticas conhecidas por colocarem demandas adicionais na memória operacional fonológica.

Estudio psicolingüístico de la poesía de Carlos Medinaceli Quintana / Psycholinguistic study of poetry by Carlos Medinaceli Quintana / Estudo psicolinguístico da poesia por Carlos Medinaceli Quintana

La psicolingüística es una rama de la psicología, estudia cómo la especie humana consigue expresar mediante el lenguaje mensajes inconscientes que tienen significados específicos y cómo se traducen en pensamientos concretos; asimismo la forma en que las personas hablan y escriben permite conocer su mundo psicológico. Para ello, la investigación aborda la poesía de Carlos Medinaceli Quintana con el objetivo de comprobar mediante una prueba piloto la efectividad de las herramientas psicolingüísticas, para descubrir la psicología de una persona a través de las palabras que emplea al escribir, lo cual servirá como instrumento de diagnóstico en conductas específicas en distintas áreas profesionales. La metodología propuesta consta de tres procesos: 1 La frecuencia léxica permite identificar el tipo y repetición de palabras utilizadas 2 El Buscador Lingüístico y Contador de Palabras en inglés LIWC, 2001 permite determinar esas palabras repetitivas según la categoría de procesos psicológicos y 3 El efecto priming permite interpretar y analizar el significado de las palabras que proporcionaron la frecuencia léxica y el LIWC.

Psycholinguistics is a branch of psychology, it studies how the human species manages to express through language unconscious messages that have specific meanings and how they are translated into concrete thoughts; also the way in which people speak and write allows us to know their psychological world. For this, the research addresses the poetry of Carlos Medinaceli Quintana with the aim of verifying through a pilot test the effectiveness of psycholinguistic tools, to discover the psychology of a person through the words he uses when writing, which will serve as an instrument of diagnosis in specific behaviors in different professional areas. The proposed methodology consists of three processes: 1 The lexical frequency allows identifying the type and repetition of words used 2 The linguistic search engine and word counter in english LIWC, 2001 allows determining those repetitive words according to psychological processes and 3 The priming effect allows to interpret and analyze the meaning of the words that provided the lexical frequency and the LIWC.

A psicolinguística é um ramo da psicologia, que estuda como a espécie humana consegue expressar através da linguagem inconsciente mensagens que possuem significados específicos e como se traduzem em pensamentos concretos; também a maneira como as pessoas falam e escrevem nos permite conhecer seu mundo psicológico. Para isso, a pesquisa aborda a poesia de Carlos Medinaceli Quintana como objetivo de verificar por meio de um teste piloto a eficácia dasferramentas psicolingüísticas, para descobrir a psicologia de uma pessoa por meio das palavras que usa ao escrever, as quais servirão de instrumento de diagnóstico em comportamentos específicos em diferentes áreas profissionais. A metodologiaproposta consiste em três processos: 1 A frequência lexical permite identificar o tipo e repetição de palavras utilizadas 2 O Motor de Busca Linguística e Contador de palavras em inglês LIWC, 2001 permite determinar essas palavras repetitivas de acordo com a categoria de processos psicológicos e 3 O efeito priming permite interpretar e analisar o significado das palavras que forneceram a frequência lexical e o LIWC.

Lexical Relations in Spanish-Speaking Older Adults.

This study analyzed the types of lexical relations produced by Spanish-speaking older adults with typical aging. A total of 120 older adults completed a word association norms task with 117 stimulus words, which allowed us to explore differences in associations by sex, age, and years of education. We employed two classifications to code the lexical relations: a traditional classification (paradigmatic versus syntagmatic) and a second classification categorizing responses into 17 types of associations (e.g., categorial versus non-categorial). Our results show that participants have a preference for paradigmatic responses (e.g., dog-animal), as well as associations with thematic-contextual co-occurrence plus semantic relations (e.g., cradle-baby). These findings suggest that older adults tend to establish lexical relations based on a combined link, one that is semantic and contextual.

Adjective Learning by Spanish-Speakers Children and Adults. The Impact of Morphology and Semantic Information.

The purpose of this research was to explore the kind of information Spanish-speaking 3-year-old children and adults use when learning adjectives in a joint picturebook reading situation. The impact of two linguistic clues was studied; a morphological clue (adjective suffix) and a semantic clue (descriptive information concerning the property). Results show that for children the description was decisive to map the new adjective with the property; for adults, instead, the presence of the suffix was crucial. These results illustrate a developmental shift in the sort of clues that shapes adjective learning.

Task-specific signatures in the expert brain: Differential correlates of translation and reading in professional interpreters.

Insights on the neurocognitive particularities of expert individuals have benefited from language studies on professional simultaneous interpreters (PSIs). Accruing research indicates that behavioral advantages in this population are restricted to those skills that are directly taxed during professional practice (e.g., translation as opposed to reading), but little is known about the neural signatures of such selective effects. To illuminate the issue, we recruited 17 PSIs and 15 non-interpreter bilinguals and compared behavioral and electrophysiological markers of word reading and translation from and into their native and non-native languages (L1 and L2, respectively). PSIs exhibited greater delta-theta (1-8 â€‹Hz) power across all tasks over varying topographies, but these were accompanied by faster performance only in the case of translation conditions. Moreover, neural differences in PSIs were most marked for L2-L1 translation (the dominant interpreting direction in their market), which exhibited maximally widespread modulations that selectively correlated with behavioral outcomes. Taken together, our results suggest that interpreting experience involves distinct neural signatures across reading and translation mechanisms, but that these are systematically related with processing efficiency only in domains that face elevated demands during everyday practice (i.e., L2-L1 translation). These findings can inform models of simultaneous interpreting, in particular, and expert cognitive processing, in general.

Neuropsychological and environmental predictors of reading performance in Brazilian children.

Word-level reading is strongly associated with phonological processing. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of cognitive and environmental variables on word reading performance. Our sample consisted of 185 fourth-grade students. Linear regression analyses were used to investigate the role of the following variables as potential predictors of word reading accuracy and fluency: phonological processing (phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and phonological memory); verbal fluency; working memory; socioeconomic status and an indicator of school quality (IDEB) in Brazil. Phonological awareness and rapid automatic naming were the best predictors of reading, supporting the role of phonological processing as a key contributor to the lexical aspects of reading, beyond the early years of literacy acquisition. Environmental variables were significant predictors of irregular word reading (socioeconomic status) and fluency (IDEB), corroborating multicomponent models of reading performance. The present findings demonstrate the complex interplay of factors underlying reading performance and highlight the importance of a multidimensional approach to the study of reading.

Communication efficiency of color naming across languages provides a new framework for the evolution of color terms.

Languages vary in their number of color terms. A widely accepted theory proposes that languages evolve, acquiring color terms in a stereotyped sequence. This theory, by Berlin and Kay (BK), is supported by analyzing best exemplars ("focal colors") of basic color terms in the World Color Survey (WCS) of 110 languages. But the instructions of the WCS were complex and the color chips confounded hue and saturation, which likely impacted focal-color selection. In addition, it is now known that even so-called early-stage languages nonetheless have a complete representation of color distributed across the population. These facts undermine the BK theory. Here we revisit the evolution of color terms using original color-naming data obtained with simple instructions in Tsimane', an Amazonian culture that has limited contact with industrialized society. We also collected data in Bolivian-Spanish speakers and English speakers. We discovered that information theory analysis of color-naming data was not influenced by color-chip saturation, which motivated a new analysis of the WCS data. Embedded within a universal pattern in which warm colors (reds, oranges) are always communicated more efficiently than cool colors (blues, greens), as languages increase in overall communicative efficiency about color, some colors undergo greater increases in communication efficiency compared to others. Communication efficiency increases first for yellow, then brown, then purple. The present analyses and results provide a new framework for understanding the evolution of color terms: what varies among cultures is not whether colors are seen differently, but the extent to which color is useful.

Too late to be grounded? Motor resonance for action words acquired after middle childhood.

Though well established for languages acquired in infancy, the role of embodied mechanisms remains poorly understood for languages learned in middle childhood and adulthood. To bridge this gap, we examined 34 experiments that assessed sensorimotor resonance during processing of action-related words in real and artificial languages acquired since age 7 and into adulthood. Evidence from late bilinguals indicates that foreign-language action words modulate neural activity in motor circuits and predictably facilitate or delay physical movements (even in an effector-specific fashion), with outcomes that prove partly sensitive to language proficiency. Also, data from newly learned vocabularies suggest that embodied effects emerge after brief periods of adult language exposure, remain stable through time, and hinge on the performance of bodily movements (and, seemingly, on action observation, too). In sum, our work shows that infant language exposure is not indispensable for the recruitment of embodied mechanisms during language processing, a finding that carries non-trivial theoretical, pedagogical, and clinical implications for neurolinguistics, in general, and bilingualism research, in particular.

Long-latency event-related responses to vowels: N1-P2 decomposition by two-step principal component analysis.

The N1-P2 complex of the auditory event-related potential (ERP) has been used to examine neural activity associated with speech sound perception. Since it is thought to reflect multiple generator processes, its functional significance is difficult to infer. In the present study, a temporospatial principal component analysis (PCA) was used to decompose the N1-P2 response into latent factors underlying covariance patterns in ERP data recorded during passive listening to pairs of successive vowels. In each trial, one of six sounds drawn from an /i/-/e/ vowel continuum was followed either by an identical sound, a different token of the same vowel category, or a token from the other category. Responses were examined as to how they were modulated by within- and across-category vowel differences and by adaptation (repetition suppression) effects. Five PCA factors were identified as corresponding to three well-known N1 subcomponents and two P2 subcomponents. Results added evidence that the N1 peak reflects both generators that are sensitive to spectral information and generators that are not. For later latency ranges, different patterns of sensitivity to vowel quality were found, including category-related effects. Particularly, a subcomponent identified as the Tb wave showed release from adaptation in response to an /i/ followed by an /e/ sound. A P2 subcomponent varied linearly with spectral shape along the vowel continuum, while the other was stronger the closer the vowel was to the category boundary, suggesting separate processing of continuous and category-related information. Thus, the PCA-based decomposition of the N1-P2 complex was functionally meaningful, revealing distinct underlying processes at work during speech sound perception.

[Auditory closure according to central auditory processing and psycholinguistic skills in adolescents.] / El cierre auditivo según el procesamiento auditivo central y las habilidades psicolingüísticas en adolescentes.

Introduction: The process of auditory closure is defined as the ability to complete distorted or missing parts of the acoustic signal and recognize the message in its entirety, is executed daily and should be intact in adolescents. Objectives: To determine the possible alteration of auditory closure according to central auditory processing tests and the psycholinguistic skills in adolescents and; to analyze the relation between the academic performance with central auditory processing tests and psycholinguistic abilities. Methods: A descriptive and transversal study was carried out. 235 adolescents were assessed with normal hearing and without added pathologies. Central auditory processing (CAP) tests from Neustadt et al. and the Illinois Psycholinguistic Aptitude Test (IPAT) to assess psycholinguistic skills (HP). Results: No association was found (p> 0.05) between the specific tests that evaluate the auditory closure (monosyllables with noise and filtered speech of CAP and auditory integration of HP). Regarding academic performance, a statistically significant association was observed (p> 0.05) with three of four psycholinguistic abilities: auditory association, sequential memory and grammatical integration. In turn, there was a significant association between academic performance and one of the four CAP tests: SSW. Conclusion: This research presents an approach on the interrelation between audiological and linguistic tests to detect early alterations in auditory closure in order to arrive at an integral look that contributes to the therapeutics of the problem in adolescents.

Introducción: El proceso de cierre auditivo es definido como la habilidad para completar partes distorsionadas o ausentes de la señal acústica y reconocer el mensaje en su totalidad, se ejecuta a diario y debería estar íntegro en los adolescentes. Objetivos: determinar la posible alteración del cierre auditivo según las pruebas de procesamiento auditivo central y las habilidades psicolingüísticas en los adolescentes y; analizar la relación entre el rendimiento académico con las pruebas de procesamiento auditivo central y con las habilidades psicolingüísticas. Métodos: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo y transversal. Se evaluaron 235 adolescentes con audición normal y sin patologías agregadas. Se aplicaron pruebas de procesamiento auditivo central (PAC) de Neustadt y cols. y el Test Illinois de Aptitudes Psicolingüísticas (ITPA) para evaluar las habilidades psicolingüísticas (HP). Resultados: No se encontró asociación (p>0,05) entre las pruebas específicas que evalúan al cierre auditivo (monosílabos con ruido y habla filtrada de PAC e integración auditiva de HP). Respecto al rendimiento académico se observa asociación estadísticamente significativa (p<0,05) con tres de cuatro habilidades psicolingüísticas: asociación auditiva, memoria secuencial e integración gramatical. A su vez, se observó asociación significativa entre el rendimiento académico y una de las cuatro pruebas de PAC: SSW. Conclusión: Esta investigación presenta una aproximación sobre la interrelación entre pruebas audiológicas y lingüísticas para detectar tempranamente alteraciones en el cierre auditivo a fin de arribar a una mirada integral que aporte a la terapéutica de la problemática en los adolescentes.

The relationship between morphological awareness and reading comprehension in Spanish-speaking children.

In the last decades, a series of studies has explored the role of morphological awareness on reading comprehension. Path analysis studies performed in English have shown that morphological awareness benefits reading comprehension both directly and indirectly, through word decoding. This issue has seldom been explored in Spanish. The aim of this study was to replicate in Spanish the results previously found in English. We used path analysis to assess three alternative models of the relationship between morphological awareness, word decoding and reading comprehension in 4th grade Spanish-speaking children. Contrary to English, we found that morphological awareness benefits reading comprehension only directly. We conclude that in Spanish, in which accurate and fluent pronunciation of written words can be achieved through grapheme-to-phoneme conversion rules, morphological awareness does not help the correct pronunciation of words. Thus, morphological awareness is not relevant for word decoding in Spanish but is related to reading comprehension since this type of morphological knowledge provides access to the semantic and syntactic information of new words.