Evaluating the consistency of lenition measures: Neural networks' posterior probability, intensity velocity, and duration.

Predictions of gradient degree of lenition of voiceless and voiced stops in a corpus of Argentine Spanish are evaluated using three acoustic measures (minimum and maximum intensity velocity and duration) and two recurrent neural network (Phonet) measures (posterior probabilities of sonorant and continuant phonological features). While mixed and inconsistent predictions were obtained across the acoustic metrics, sonorant and continuant probability values were consistently in the direction predicted by known factors of a stop's lenition with respect to its voicing, place of articulation, and surrounding contexts. The results suggest the effectiveness of Phonet as an additional or alternative method of lenition measurement.

From sonority hierarchy to posterior probability as a measure of lenition: The case of Spanish stops.

A deep learning Phonet model was evaluated as a method to measure lenition. Unlike quantitative acoustic methods, recurrent networks were trained to recognize the posterior probabilities of sonorant and continuant phonological features in a corpus of Argentinian Spanish. When applied to intervocalic and post-nasal voiced and voiceless stops, the approach yielded lenition patterns similar to those previously reported.

Neural circuits underlying language control and modality control in bilinguals: An fMRI study.

Human communication not only involves the need to switch between the modalities of speaking and listening, but for bilinguals, it can also involve switching between languages. It is unknown as to whether modality and language switching share underlying control mechanisms or whether one type of switching affects control processes involved in the other. The present study uses behavioral and fMRI measures to examine neural circuits of control during communicative situations that required Chinese-English bilinguals to switch between modalities and their two languages according to associated color cues.

Conflicts influence affects: an FMRI study of emotional effects in a conflict task.

Although prior research has confirmed that conflict itself is likely to be aversive, it is unclear whether and how emotional conflicts influence an individual's affective processing. The current fMRI study adopted a lexical valence conflict task via instructing participants to shift lexical valence or not. We found that the involvement of positive emotions enhanced the activation of the middle right temporal gyrus (R-MTG) in the non-conflict condition, whereas such activation attenuated in the conflict condition.

An event-related potential study of self-positivity bias in native and foreign language contexts.

Self-positivity bias is a common psychological phenomenon in which individuals often associate positive information with themselves. However, little is known about how self-positivity bias is modulated by different language contexts (e.g.

Uncovering the effects of bilingual language control on rational decisions: An ERP study.

A growing body of research suggests that the language in which bilinguals make decisions affects the rationality of such decisions. Furthermore, bilinguals constantly confront cross-language interference that requires complex language control processes to resolve this competition. However, the relationship between language control and decision-making is unclear.

Cross-task adaptation effects of bilingual language control on cognitive control: a dual-brain eeg examination of simultaneous production and comprehension.

For bilinguals, speaking and listening are assisted by complex control processes including conflict monitoring and inhibition. However, the extent to which these processes adapt to linguistic and situational needs has been examined separately for language production and comprehension. In the present study, we use a dual-EEG to record the carry-over effects of language control on general cognitive control in three language contexts (single-first language [L1], single-second language [L2], and mixed).

Effect of Cognitive Style on Language Control During Joint Language Switching: An ERP Study.

The current study aims to investigate how Field independent (FI) and Field-dependent (FD) cognitive styles modulate bilingual language control during a joint language switching task. The cognitive styles were measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The FI group with a preference for autonomous information processing was sensitive to role switching earlier at the cue stage, eliciting a more negative-going N2 in the cross-person condition than in the within-person condition.