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Impact Of Passive Second Language Exposure On Word Segmentation And Word Mapping, Amiya S. Aggarwal
Impact Of Passive Second Language Exposure On Word Segmentation And Word Mapping, Amiya S. Aggarwal
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Research in statistical learning using artificial languages has suggested that passive exposure to linguistic patterns can guide word segmentation and word mapping. It is unknown whether this type of unsupervised learning can scale up to support these aspects of learning in a natural language. Our study exposed monolingual English speakers to either English or Italian podcasts for an hour daily for 21 days, collecting behavioural and EEG data during both the pre- and post-exposure period. Our behavioural measure tested if L2 exposure would lead to improved word mapping for words with high phonotactic probabilities. Our EEG measure tested whether the …
Multisensory Integration In Adhd: A Behavioral And Eeg Investigation In Youth And Adults, Carolynn Hare
Multisensory Integration In Adhd: A Behavioral And Eeg Investigation In Youth And Adults, Carolynn Hare
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
In daily life, we are constantly bombarded with sensory information from multiple sources. Our ability to combine these cues into a single perceptual experience is known as multisensory integration. This process can be disrupted in neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder and dyslexia, affecting cognitive functions and language. Multisensory integration may be affected in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), though findings are conflicting. To explore these discrepancies, we conducted a meta-analysis to appraise the current state of the literature, elucidate observed inconsistent findings, and identify gaps in ADHD research. Then, we conducted studies to investigate multisensory integration in youth and adults …
Developmental Differences In The Learning And Consolidation Of Linguistic Regularities, Sarah Berger
Developmental Differences In The Learning And Consolidation Of Linguistic Regularities, Sarah Berger
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Relative to adults, children have a well-known advantage for learning linguistic regularities, which could be partially driven by their deeper sleep. To examine the relationship between consolidation and language learning across development, children and adults learned a novel article system with an implicit grammatical rule. Participants performed a judgment task on phrases containing the novel articles before and after a night of EEG-monitored sleep. We found that rule sensitivity emerged rapidly in children, whereas it did not emerge until the second session in adults. Children demonstrated better generalization of the rule than adults. Consolidation effects showed a developmental double dissociation, …
Cognitive Neuroscience Of Schizophrenia: Stochastic Modelling Of Cognitive-Process Latencies And Nonlinear Dynamics Of Neuro-Signals, Colleen D. Cutler
Cognitive Neuroscience Of Schizophrenia: Stochastic Modelling Of Cognitive-Process Latencies And Nonlinear Dynamics Of Neuro-Signals, Colleen D. Cutler
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
We study known and potential numerical earmarks of schizophrenia through mathematical methods. One known numerical characteristic of schizophrenia is that of prolonged encoding latencies in response to cognitive stimuli. Motivated by the need to explain interaction patterns in 2 x 2 factorial data where one factor is encoding load and the other is diagnostic status, we define a class of general serial mixture models based on the number of encoding subprocesses executed and the speed at which they are executed. Mathematical derivations performed on these models yield closed form expressions for the mean encoding latency and average intertrial variance, which …
The Role Of Neural Entrainment In Statistical Learning, Jordan-Jerrica Mulgrew
The Role Of Neural Entrainment In Statistical Learning, Jordan-Jerrica Mulgrew
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Statistical learning (SL) refers to our ability to extract patterns from the environment. Research has long acknowledged the importance of SL in language; however, the neural mechanisms underlying SL remain largely unknown. One potential mechanism is neural entrainment, which refers to the tendency of endogenous neural oscillations to align with an ongoing rhythmic stimulus. In the context of SL, neural entrainment may align neural excitability to the ongoing structure of the speech stream, increasing sensitivity to underlying patterns and supporting the learning of word boundaries. This thesis tested the hypothesis that neural entrainment plays a causal role in SL by …
Multisensory Associative Learning And Multisensory Integration, Sebastien Lauzon
Multisensory Associative Learning And Multisensory Integration, Sebastien Lauzon
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Human multisensory experiences with the world rely on a combination of top-down and bottom-up influences, a process that changes throughout development. The present study explored the relationship between multisensory associative learning and multisensory integration using encephalography (EEG) and behavioural measures. While recording EEG activity, participants were exposed to novel pairings of non-sociolinguistic audiovisual stimuli of varying presentation probability while performing a detection task. The same stimuli were then used in another detection task, which was followed by an analogous behavioural speeded-response task, both of which kept probabilities equal and tested for multisensory integration. Significant relationships were found in fronto-central and …
Using Meditation To Improve Measures Of Attention In Older Adults, Sabrina Ford
Using Meditation To Improve Measures Of Attention In Older Adults, Sabrina Ford
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Age-related cognitive decline greatly impacts quality of life for older adults. Previous research has indicated that meditation may act as a neuroprotective factor to prevent age-related cognitive decline. This thesis sought to replicate previous findings and investigate if a four-week meditation intervention would improve sustained attention. Participants 60 years and older (n=27, 17 female) were recruited and assigned to a focused-attention (FA) meditation or relaxation group which met for four weeks, three times a week. Resting-state EEG was used to collect individual alpha peak frequency (iAPF) and frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA). The Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) was also …
Neural Entrainment Indexes Statistical Learning In Children, Christine Moreau
Neural Entrainment Indexes Statistical Learning In Children, Christine Moreau
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Statistical learning is proposed as a mechanism for discovering structural patterns in speech through incidental exposure. However, studies have largely relied on assessing explicit memory after learning has occurred, which does not capture the time course and process of statistical learning per se. To better understand the dynamics of statistical learning, we assessed 8- to 12-year-old children using an EEG measure of learning, which captures changes in neural entrainment to words embedded in a continuous artificial language. Statistical learning was assessed post-learning using implicit and explicit behavioural tests. The neural entrainment results demonstrated rapid learning of word-level information, while post-learning …
Event-Related Potential Markers Of Perceptual And Conceptual Speech Processes In Patients With Disorders Of Consciousness., Stephen T. Beukema
Event-Related Potential Markers Of Perceptual And Conceptual Speech Processes In Patients With Disorders Of Consciousness., Stephen T. Beukema
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Vegetative state (VS) and minimally conscious state (MCS) patients behaviorally demonstrate absent or fluctuating levels of awareness. Functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence of covert perceptual and semantic speech processing provides prognostic value for these patients. In this thesis, I examined the utility of high-density electroencephalography (EEG) in this regard. A contrast between event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by primed and unprimed word pairs was used to isolate conceptual (semantic) processes, while ERPs elicited by signal-correlated noise were contrasted with those elicited by speech to isolate pre-semantic, perceptual aspects of speech processing. These ERP effects were found to be both temporally and …