The predictive utility of word familiarity for online engagements and funding.

Metacognitive frameworks such as processing fluency often suggest people respond more favorably to simple and common language versus complex and technical language. It is easier for people to process information that is simple and nontechnical compared to complex information, therefore leading to more engagement with targets. In two studies covering 12 field samples (total n = 1,064,533), we establish and replicate this simpler-is-better phenomenon by demonstrating people engage more with nontechnical language when giving their time and attention (e.g., simple online language tends to receive more social engagements). However, people respond to complex language when giving their money (e.g., complex language within charitable giving campaigns and grant abstracts tend to receive more money). This evidence suggests people engage with the heuristic of complex language differently depending on a time or money target. These results underscore language as a lens into social and psychological processes and computational methods to measure text patterns at scale.

The impact of using the Ida "My Hearing Explained" tool on audiologists' language and patient understanding of hearing test results: a comparison with standard audiogram explanations.

OBJECTIVE: Explore the impact of Ida's "My Hearing Explained" (MHE) tool on audiologists' language and patients' understanding/interpretation of hearing test results. DESIGN: Audiologists were video-recorded in two sequential conditions: 1) giving standard audiogram explanations to 13 patients and, 2) following discretionary self-training, giving explanations using the MHE tool (nine patients). Outcomes of interest were audiologists' language complexity, use of jargon, and audiologist-patient interactivity. Semi-structured patient interviews, conducted 1-7 days after appointments, were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis. Patient recall was verified. STUDY SAMPLE: Four audiologists from one United Kingdom audiology service, and 22 patients (mean age 63.5 yrs) participated. RESULTS: In comparison to standard audiogram explanations, audiologists' language was simpler and audiologist-patient interactivity greater with the MHE tool. Interview data analysis revealed differences between explanation types within the themes of "Understanding" and "Interpretation." 54% (standard audiogram) and 22% (MHE tool) of patients expressed a desire for takeaway information. 31% (standard audiogram) and 67% (MHE tool) of patients reported their explanation helped them relay their results to others. Four patients (one receiving the MHE tool) incorrectly recalled information, suggesting inadequate understanding in these cases. CONCLUSIONS: The MHE tool has potential for improving the accessibility and comprehensibility of hearing test results.

Science communication in experimental biology: experiences and recommendations.

During the century of Journal of Experimental Biology's existence, science communication has established itself as an interdisciplinary field of theory and practice. Guided by my experiences as a scientist and science writer, I argue that science communication skills are distinct from scientific communication skills and that engaging in science communication is particularly beneficial to early-career researchers; although taking on these dual roles is not without its difficulties, as I discuss in this Perspective. In the hope of encouraging more scientists to become science communicators, I provide: (i) general considerations for scientists looking to engage in science communication (knowing their audience, storytelling, avoiding jargon) and (ii) specific recommendations for crafting effective contributions on social media (content, packaging, engagement), an emerging, accessible and potentially impactful mode of science communication. Effective science communication can boost the work of experimental biologists: it can impact public opinion by incisively describing the consequences of the climate crisis and can raise social acceptance of fundamental research and experiments on animals.

Talking the talk in junior interprofessional education: is healthcare terminology a barrier or facilitator?

BACKGROUND: Use of healthcare terminology is a potential barrier to interprofessional education (IPE). This study describes how junior learners perceive and classify healthcare terminology in IPE settings. METHODS: We conducted a mixed methods study involving 29 medical, 14 nursing, and 2 physician assistant students who had previously attended or were registered to participate in educational activities at McMaster University's Centre for Simulation-Based Learning. 23 participants identified "inclusive" or "exclusive" terminology in a series of scenarios used for IPE workshops using an online survey. We collated lists of "inclusive" and "exclusive" terminology from survey responses, and characterized the frequencies of included words. 22 students participated in focus group discussions on attitudes and perceptions around healthcare terminology after attending IPE workshops. We identified themes through an iterative direct content analysis of verbatim transcripts. RESULTS: Students analyzed 14 cases, identifying on average 21 terms per case as healthcare terminology (28% of overall word count). Of the 290 terms identified, 113 terms were classified as healthcare terminology, 46 as inclusive and 17 as exclusive by > 50% of participants. Analysis of focus group transcripts revealed 4 themes: abbreviations were commonly perceived as complex terminology, lack of familiarity with terminology was often attributed to inexperience, simulation was considered a safe space for learning terminology, and learning terminology was a valued IPE objective. CONCLUSIONS: While students perceive a lot of healthcare terminology in IPE learning materials, categorization of terminology as "inclusive" or "exclusive" is inconsistent. Moreover, healthcare terminology is perceived as a desirable difficulty among junior learners, and should not be avoided in IPE.

Parental understanding of crucial medical jargon used in prenatal prematurity counseling.

BACKGROUND: Parent-clinician shared decision making is the recommended model for the care of premature infants; thus, clinicians provide prenatal prematurity counseling to parents in the event of a mother's hospitalization for premature birth. However, parental understanding of medical jargon commonly used during prematurity counseling is unknown. METHODS: Within an overall research agenda to develop and test an educational aid for prenatal prematurity education, we designed the Parental Knowledge of Premature Birth questionnaire. To evaluate parental comprehension of the medical jargon contained within the questionnaire, we conducted cognitive interviews, a formal method for evaluating comprehension and response to questionnaire items. Parents were recruited from a Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; purposeful recruitment ensured diversity with respect to gender, race, literacy level, and child's gestational age. Data collection and analysis followed standard qualitative methods for cognitive interviewing. We report on the insights gained from these cognitive interviews regarding parental understanding of crucial medical jargon commonly used during prenatal prematurity counseling. RESULTS: Participants included 10 women and 6 men who ranged in age from 23 to 38 years and represented Black/African-American (38%), Asian (6%), and white (56%) backgrounds. Five participants (31%) had less than a high school education or reading level below 9th grade (Wide Range Achievement Test version 4 reading subtest). In the first round of interviews, parents of all education and literacy levels had difficulty with medical jargon commonly used in prematurity counseling. Terms that parents found difficult to understand included "gestational age", "mild or no developmental problems", and "neonatologist". Modified terms tested in a second round of interviews showed improved comprehension. CONCLUSION: Cognitive interviews provided empirical testing of parental understanding of crucial medical jargon and highlighted that language commonly used during prenatal prematurity counseling is not understood by many parents. For parents to participate in shared decision making, plain language should be used to maximize their understanding of medical information.

Dealing with dysnomia: Strategies for the cultivation of used concepts in social research.

This article follows recent calls to turn social theory away from its fixations on intellectual history and toward the mechanics and craft of creating social theories in the research process. The subject of this article is a dilemma common to theorizing in social science: dysnomia, or the phenomenon in which some object is poorly named. Specifically, this article focuses on how social scientists distinguish original concepts from their equivalents in everyday speech. Three tactics for dealing with dysnomia are named-academic arcana, classification and sociologism-and considered in order to ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Category specific recall in acute stroke: a case with letter speech.

Category selective recall in spontaneous speech after stroke has been reported only rarely. We recently described three cases demonstrating transient number speech in the acute stage of left hemispheric stroke and hypothesized a link with multilingualism and mathematical proficiency. In this report, we describe a similar case with a transient episode of utterances of randomly selected letters. Like in the three previous cases, this episode was preceded by a brief stage of mutism and ultimately evolved to Wernicke's aphasia over a period of days. This phenomenon is reviewed with reference to linguistic models and neuroanatomic and neurophysiological correlates.

Deciphering the mechanisms of phonological therapy in jargon aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Severe word production difficulties remain one of the most challenging clinical symptoms to treat in individuals with jargon aphasia. Clinically, it is important to determine why some individuals with jargon aphasia improve following therapy when others do not. We report a therapy study with AM, an individual with severe neologistic jargon aphasia, and provide a subsequent comparison with previous cases, with the purpose of informing both our theoretical and clinical understanding of jargon aphasia. AIMS: To investigate AM's locus of word production deficit and determine the effectiveness of phonological component analysis (PCA) therapy, a phonological cueing therapy, in the re-learning and generalization of naming responses for words. In addition, AM's performance in therapy, linguistic profile and ability to engage with therapy/cues were compared in a retrospective analysis with the background linguistic and therapy data of two other individuals with jargon aphasia (P9 and FF), who responded differentially to PCA. This was undertake to explore possible prognostic indicators of phonological therapy for jargon aphasia. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A battery of linguistic and neuropsychological tests was used to identify AM's word production deficit. A single-subject multiple probe design across behaviours was employed to evaluate the effects of PCA therapy on the re-learning and generalization of naming responses. In the retrospective analysis of AM, P9 and FF, we compared differences and similarities in performance on various linguistic tasks, the ability to engage in therapy (i.e., ability to generate and use the cues), as well as to retain and maintain cues. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: AM's locus of deficit was identified in the mapping between semantics and phonology. PCA was found to be effective in improving naming in two of the three treated word lists during the treatment phase; however, these gains were not maintained. Generalization to untreated picture names was not observed. Findings from the retrospective analysis illustrated that oral reading skills, the ability to segment phonological information from words and active engagement with provided cues are likely prerequisites for obtaining robust and long-term gains. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: We demonstrated that phonological therapy could be beneficial for the remediation of naming abilities at least in the re-learning phase; however, maintenance and generalization of these gains were limited. This research helps to elucidate the considerations and evaluations necessary for the appropriateness of phonological therapy and candidacy of individuals with jargon aphasia for this treatment approach.

Mixed language dominance: insights from a case of unexpected fluent aphasia with semantic jargon resulting from massive left perisylvian lesion.

We report a right-handed patient with a massive lesion in left perisylvian language cortex, who unexpectedly presented with fluent aphasia with semantic jargon. Language deficits were assessed with a comprehensive battery of language tests. Comprehension, naming, reading, and writing were severely impaired, and verbal expression was moderately fluent with semantic jargon. Although the patient's lesion included brain areas typically essential for motor speech coordination, he was neither nonfluent nor apraxic. He exhibited strikingly unexpected aphasia with semantic jargon and prominent comprehension deficits, suggesting that this is a case of mixed dominance: the right hemisphere likely controls motor speech and basic syntactic skills, while the severely damaged left hemisphere controls semantic processing, predictably severely impaired.

What Do Children with Chronic Diseases and Their Parents Think About Pediatricians? A Qualitative Interview Study.

Objectives The aim of this study was to determine how pediatric patients and their parents perceive health care during hospital stays, what are their expectations of doctor behaviors, and which components of care do they consider to be the most important. Methods A qualitative descriptive study was carried out using the open interview technique. Twenty-six parents and 22 children undergoing hospital treatment participated. Results Our analysis identified two major themes: (1) doctor verbal and non-verbal behaviors, which included informing and explaining, conversations on topics other than the illness, tone of voice and other behaviors; and (2) perceived strategies used by doctors. This category included claims of doctors' intentional use of medical jargon to avoid addressing parental questions directly. Parents admitted that they did not understand medical vocabulary, but they also thought they might understand more of the medical issues if the doctor spoke using terms comprehensible to them. Conlcusions Our study shows the importance of interpersonal relationship affecting patient perception of quality of pediatric care. Parents of pediatric patients perceive that doctors behave in ways that deflect parents' questions and avoid providing them with medical information. Such behaviors include doctors excusing themselves by saying they are busy and using medical jargon. Medical students and doctors should be trained to communicate effectively with patients and their parents and develop skills to convey information in a simple and comprehensible way.

On the Social Acceptability of Behavior-Analytic Terms: Crowdsourced Comparisons of Lay and Technical Language.

Behavior analysis has a marketing problem. Although behavior analysts have speculated about the problems regarding our technical behavior-analytic terminology and how our terminology has hindered the dissemination of behavior analysis to outsiders, few have investigated the social acceptability of the terminology. The present paper reports the general public's reactions to technical behavioral jargon versus non-technical substitute terms that refer to applied behavior-analytic techniques. Two-hundred participants, all non-behavior analysts, were recruited from Amazon Mechanical Turk and completed a survey on the social acceptability of behavioral jargon and non-technical terms. Specifically, participants rated the acceptability of how the six pairs of terms (technical and non-technical) sounded if the treatments were to be implemented for each of 10 potential populations of clients that behavior analysts typically work with. The results show that, overall, members of the general public found non-technical substitute terms more acceptable than technical behavior-analytic terms. The finding suggests that specialized vocabulary of behavior analysis may create hurdles to the acceptability of applied behavior-analytic services. The implication of these findings suggest the importance of a systematic investigation of listener behavior with respect to behavior analysis terms.

Common maxillofacial terminology: do our patients understand what we say?

UNLABELLED: For a patient to make appropriate, informed decisions regarding their medical care, it is vital that the information given to them is complete and comprehensible. We have investigated patients' understanding of commonly used terms in an oral and maxillofacial clinic. To the authors' knowledge, this pertinent subject has not previously been explored for this specialty. METHOD: Patients were recruited for this questionnaire-based study in the oral and maxillofacial department out-patient clinics. The questionnaire includes multiple choice questions and 'free text' answers. RESULTS: All patients were invited to participate and we have shown the results of the 100 consecutive patients who agreed to take part. The 100 patients recruited ranged between the ages of 16 and 75. English was the first language for 76 participants. The term 'mandible' was correctly defined by 37 respondents. Sixty per cent of patients' think that a fracture is a 'crack' and less severe than a broken bone. CONCLUSION: Common maxillofacial jargon can easily be misunderstood by patients. It is essential that all clinicians appropriately modify their language during consultations in order to deliver information in a comprehensive manner, to educate patients on their condition and to ensure sensible decision making by patients.

Linguistic precision, and declared use of ChatGPT, needed for radiology literature.

There is a need to ensure the accuracy of linguistic descriptors in the medical literature, including that related to radiology, to allow peers and professionals to communicate ideas and scientific results in a clear and unambiguous manner. This letter highlights an issue that could undermine the clarity of scientific writing in radiology literature, namely the presence of non-standard terminology for established jargon, and emphasizes the need for authors to transparently declare the use of language editing services and AI-driven tools, such as ChatGPT, if these have been used to formulate text and ideas in their papers. Ultimately, clear radiology papers that are compliant with current publishing ethics will serve radiologists and patients well.

A Case of Mirror-Image Crossed Thalamic Aphasia With Jargon Agraphia.

In right-handed individuals, aphasia resulting from right hemisphere damage is termed crossed aphasia and has a very low occurrence rate. Additionally, aphasia due to thalamic lesions often involves hemorrhage, with infarction cases less frequently reported. We present the case of an 81-year-old right-handed female who developed aphasia due to a right thalamic infarction. She exhibited characteristics typical of thalamic aphasia observed in left thalamic lesions. Furthermore, jargon agraphia manifested during writing tasks. This may suggest disinhibition of the left hemisphere writing motor memory by the right hemisphere language function.

Are plain language summaries more readable than scientific abstracts? Evidence from six biomedical and life sciences journals.

In recent decades, members of the general public have become increasingly reliant on findings of scientific studies for decision-making. However, scientific writing usually features a heavy use of technical language, which may pose challenges for people outside of the scientific community. To alleviate this issue, plain language summaries were introduced to provide a brief summary of scientific papers in clear and accessible language. Despite increasing attention paid to the research of plain language summaries, little is known about whether these summaries are readable for the intended audiences. Based on a large corpus sampled from six biomedical and life sciences journals, the present study examined the readability and jargon use of plain language summaries and scientific abstracts on a technical level. It was found that (1) plain language summaries were more readable than scientific abstracts, (2) the reading grade levels of plain language summaries were moderately correlated with that of scientific abstracts, (3) researchers used less jargon in plain language summaries than in scientific abstracts, and (4) the readability of and the jargon use in both plain language summaries and scientific abstracts exceeded the recommended threshold for the general public. The findings were discussed with possible explanations. Implications for academic writing and scientific communication were offered.

A Game-Based Tool for Reducing Jargon Use by Medical Trainees.

Introduction: Physicians can be unaware that many US adults have intermediate or lower health literacy. Avoiding medical jargon in patient communication can improve poor outcomes associated with lower health literacy, but physicians may struggle to do so as health literacy education is neither standardized nor universal at US allopathic medical schools. As with other skills-based proficiencies in medical education, repeat exposure and active learning help build competency. Medical students developed the Patient Communication Challenge (PCC), an adaptation of the Hasbro game Taboo, to facilitate practice of patient-centered communication skills among medical trainees. Methods: Hour-long workshops were held for groups of preclinical medical students. Students watched a communication exemplar video, played the PCC game, and completed a postworkshop survey. To play, two teams competed to earn points by identifying medical concepts as explained by a teammate who described the term without using medical jargon. Results: Evaluations indicated that the game was enjoyable and reinforced didactic concepts through active learning, with self-reported participant satisfaction and competency gain. Overall, 59% of participants (53 of 90) completed postworkshop surveys; 91% (48 of 53) agreed they felt more proficient in avoiding jargon, 94% (50 of 53) would recommend the workshop to a classmate, and 100% (53 of 53) would play again. Discussion: The PCC can help early medical trainees develop health communication skills through gamification with utilization of adult learning principles and adequate frequency for skill retention. Future applications include longitudinal assessment and expanding to later stages of medical training and other health professions.

Phonological therapy in jargon aphasia: effects on naming and neologisms.

BACKGROUND: Jargon aphasia is one of the most intractable forms of aphasia with limited recommendation on amelioration of associated naming difficulties and neologisms. The few naming therapy studies that exist in jargon aphasia have utilized either semantic or phonological approaches, but the results have been equivocal. Moreover, the effect of therapy on the characteristics of neologisms is less explored. AIMS: This study investigates the effectiveness of a phonological naming therapy (i.e., phonological component analysis-PCA) on picture-naming abilities and on quantitative and qualitative changes in neologisms for an individual with jargon aphasia (FF). METHODS & PROCEDURES: FF showed evidence of jargon aphasia with severe naming difficulties and produced a very high proportion of neologisms. A single-subject multiple probe design across behaviours was employed to evaluate the effects of PCA therapy on the accuracy for three sets of words. In therapy, a phonological components analysis chart was used to identify five phonological components (i.e. rhymes, first sound, first sound associate, final sound and number of syllables) for each target word. Generalization effects-change in per cent accuracy and error pattern-were examined comparing pre- and post-therapy responses on the Philadelphia Naming Test, and these responses were analysed to explore the characteristics of the neologisms. The quantitative change in neologisms was measured by change in the proportion of neologisms from pre- to post-therapy and the qualitative change was indexed by the phonological overlap between target and neologism. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: As a consequence of PCA therapy, FF showed a significant improvement in his ability to name the treated items. His performance in maintenance and follow-up phases remained comparable with his performance during the therapy phases. Generalization to other naming tasks did not show a change in accuracy, but distinct differences in error pattern (an increase in proportion of real word responses and a decrease in proportion of neologisms) were observed. Notably, the decrease in neologisms occurred with a corresponding trend for increase in the phonological similarity between the neologisms and the targets. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a phonological therapy for improving naming abilities and reducing the amount of neologisms in an individual with severe jargon aphasia. The positive outcome of this research is encouraging, as it provides evidence for effective therapies for jargon aphasia and also emphasizes that use of the quality and quantity of errors may provide a sensitive outcome measure to determine therapy effectiveness, in particular for client groups who are difficult to treat.

Jargon Be Gone - Patient Preference in Doctor Communication.

While it has been shown that healthcare providers often use medical jargon, less is known about how patients prefer their clinicians communicate. This mixed-methods study aimed to better understand the general public's preference in healthcare communication. A volunteer cohort of 205 adult attendees at the 2021 Minnesota State Fair was presented a survey with two scenarios at a doctor's office sharing the same information: one using medical terminology and one using simpler, jargon-free language. Survey participants were asked which doctor they preferred, to describe each doctor, and to explain why they believe that doctors may use medical terminology. Common descriptive themes for the jargon-using doctor included that this doctor caused confusion, was too technical, and was uncaring, while the doctor who spoke without jargon was perceived as a good communicator, caring/empathetic, and approachable. Respondents perceived a range of reasons why doctors use jargon, from not recognizing they are using words that are not understood to trying to make themselves feel more important. Overall, 91% of survey respondents preferred the doctor who communicated without medical jargon.

Role of jargon in the patient-doctor communication in the dental healthcare sector-A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Medical terminology is useful for better communication between medical and dental professionals. Overzealous use of this terminology and use of medical terms during patient interaction hamper the complete understanding of the doctor's explanation about their health status. Nowadays, the usage of abbreviations or short terminology in health sectors has become common during all stages like the patient's initial visit, during the diagnosis, and even during the treatment plan stage. The objective was to know the commonly used jargon in the dental profession and to know the effect of the commonly used jargon on patient-doctor communication and treatment outcomes. Three major scientific databases were used as search engines PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus by following three main search criteria, the common use of jargon in the dental profession, effect of jargon on patient-doctor communication, and treatment outcomes. An approach to meta-synthesis was used in the qualitative research methodology. With the Sandelowski and Barroso approach, meta-synthesis was carried out. Following database searches, during the years 2001 to 2022, 424 studies were gathered. Ten sources were then chosen and used in the analysis stage. Usage of jargon in dental professions has an effect on patient-doctor communication, and to an extent, it also has an effect on the treatment plan which further has its effect on treatment outcome.The correlation ratio (COR) of frequency of jargon is 0.46 (0.34; 0.57), with P value <0.0001, which indicates the presence of these issues in dental healthcare sector. The cautious use of jargon within the health profession will be beneficial in terms of professional communication with the patients and also helps in rendering better treatment to the patients.

Do we need to reframe risk once again?

Twenty years ago we wrote an article entitled 'Re-framing risk: The changing context of disaster mitigation and preparedness'. We sought to summarise the changes that were underway at the time in the discourse on disaster risk. At the time the article was seen as rather provocative as it sought to summarise the way that new perspectives were emerging in how we perceived risk. Ben Wisner nudged us to reflect on what happened to that reframing and whether it may be time to re-frame things once again. This reflection has led to several streams of thought.