Language/Linguistics/Speech

What The Study Did: Researchers evaluated the proportion of patients who completed COVID-19 testing and the proportion of positive cases using language as a surrogate for immigrant status. Authors: H. Nina Kim, M.D., M.Sc., and Herbert…

MU study proposes narrative writing exercise as way to reduce polarization in US politicsCredit: University of Missouri Left or right. Among other uses, these terms can generally identify most Americans' political beliefs -- liberal or…

Credit: Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa's Faculty of Social Sciences is joining forces with Taiwan's National Dong Hwa University College of Indigenous Studies (NDHU-CIS) to promote…

HSE University researchers have confirmed that the level of phonological processing skills in children can impact their ability to master reading. Complex phonological tests are best suited to detect phonological impairment. The study was…

Credit: Alexandra M. Razorenova, et al/ Frontiers of Neuroscience How much time does a brain need to learn a new word? A team of Skoltech researchers and their colleagues monitored changes in brain activity associated with learning…

Analyses reveal that two common practices to improve science - 'open science' and 'reproducibility / replicability' - operate independently and that collaborative, prosocial 'open science' could point the way toward more diversity in…

Credit: University of Pittsburgh PITTSBURGH, Sept. 10, 2020 - Vocabulary that one uses to describe their emotions is an indicator of mental and physical health and overall well-being, according to an analysis led by a…

Eye gaze movements tell how well a person can understand sign language A recent study has shown that readers' eye gaze behaviors are strong indicators of words that are unexpected, new, or difficult to understand. The study by Rain…

Credit: Silvia Marchesotti Restoring normal patterns of rhythmic neural activity through non-invasive electrical stimulation of the brain alleviates sound-processing deficits and improves reading accuracy in adults with dyslexia,…

Credit: Elissa Newport WASHINGTON -- Infants and young children have brains with a superpower, of sorts, say Georgetown University Medical Center neuroscientists. Whereas adults process most discrete neural tasks in specific areas in one…

Credit: Thorsten Mohr, Saarland Universität People infer things beyond what is literally said - and everyone makes his or her own assumptions. This fact poses a major difficulty for computers. For her research project on this…

Dirk Hovy, Bocconi University, has won a 1.5 million euro ERC Starting Grant. His project introduces demographic factors into language processing systems to improve algorithmic performance, avoid racism and sexism and enable new…

Credit: Courtesy Kuan lab New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine is shedding light on the development of the brain's immune defenses - and how those defenses respond to strokes that strike one in 4,000 babies…

Credit: Rebecca Gourley/University of Washington A new University of Washington study of thousands of local rental ads finds a pattern of "racialized language" that can perpetuate neighborhood segregation, using specific terms to…

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- People have always used different words to describe the inebriating effects of alcohol, from "blotto" in the 1920s to "honkers" in the 1950s. Now, new Penn State research suggests the language young adults use to…

Credit: Michael Stifter When talking to babies, humans slow down their speech, raise their pitch and change the "color" of their voice. This "baby talk," as people know it, increases the infant's attention and facilitates language…

Online pages used long sentences, complex wording when sharing health infoCredit: Richard Clark/Dartmouth College HANOVER, N.H. - August 18, 2020 - Information about COVID-19 offered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,…

Credit: Thompson et al. What do we mean by the word beautiful? It depends not only on whom you ask, but in what language you ask them. According to a machine learning analysis of dozens of languages conducted at Princeton University,…

Did the man bite the dog, or was it the other way around? When processing an utterance, words need to be assembled into the correct interpretation within working memory. One aspect of comprehension is to establish 'who did what to whom'.…

AUSTIN, Texas -- The "invisible" words that shaped Dickens classics also lead audiences through Spielberg dramas. And according to new research, these small words can be found in a similar pattern across most storylines, no matter the…