Profiling the mental lexicon: Psycholinguistic phenotyping of lexical retrieval preferences through an analysis of word association behaviour
Lead Research Organisation:
Swansea University
Department Name: College of Arts and Humanities
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Fitzpatrick T
(2015)
Establishing the Reliability of Word Association Data for Investigating Individual and Group Differences
in Applied Linguistics
Fitzpatrick T
(2012)
Graham Hall: Exploring English Language Teaching
in Applied Linguistics
Fitzpatrick T
(2011)
Using word association data to investigate lexical retrieval behaviour
Fitzpatrick T.
(2011)
Investigating the effects of age on lexical retrieval behaviour
| Description | Age and lexical retrieval: The norms lists, used to produce stereotypy scores, were found to be sensitive to age, indicating the importance of evaluating data only against norms lists appropriate to the target population. Although the items on the norms lists differed between age groups, there was no difference between the two groups' propensity to produce a stereotypical response (i.e. the response most often produced by participants of the same age). However, the type of cue-response link made did differ with age: the younger group produced more responses that were erratic, involved changing or adding an affix to the cue, or were linked to the cue by sound but not by meaning. The meaning links they made tended to be less specific than the older group's. The older group produced more synonyms and more collocational responses (words commonly found together, such as bread-butter). Cognitive performance and lexical retrieval: The cognitive performance comparisons for the adolescent group revealed that key cognitive measures, in particular verbal IQ and working memory, were closely associated with certain lexical retrieval patterns. Specifically, unweighted stereotypy scores were predicted by relational complexity and verbal IQ scores. Gender and lexical retrieval: There is some indication that males and females performed differently on the word association task, with females producing more collocational, fewer form-based responses and fewer idiosyncratic responses than males. Heredity and lexical retrieval: Initial heredity analyses, designed to tease apart the relative influences of shared environment and shared genes on word association behaviour, were inconclusive, with no solid evidence found for a genetic contribution to the variation between individuals. However, the findings indicated that a larger data set might reveal a genetic contribution. |
| Exploitation Route | The study has potential for future impact beyond academia, particularly in relation to the identification of abnormal linguistic behaviour in cognitive impairment, semantic dementia and dementia of Alzheimers type. The study found differences in the lexical retrieval behaviour of the two age groups, and this can help to identify characteristics of healthy and cognitively impaired language function. Future investigations using norms list protocols will be influenced by the finding that norms lists have to be matched to the target population. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Education,Healthcare |
| Description | A longitudinal investigation into lexical retrieval and oral output behaviour in older and younger adults |
| Amount | £11,206 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Swansea University |
| Department | Research Initiatives Fund (RIF) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2011 |
| End | 04/2012 |
| Description | Alzheimer's BRACE Award (Principal Investigator: Alison Wray) |
| Amount | £40,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | BRACE (Alzheimer's disease charity) |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Tracking lexical retrieval behaviour in semantic dementia |
| Amount | £1,418 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2012 |
| End | 03/2012 |
| Description | Collaboration with Centre for Multilingualism in Society across the Lifespan, University of Oslo |
| Organisation | University of Oslo |
| Country | Norway |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Tess Fitzpatrick visited Multiling in October 2015 to deliver a research paper and to advise on research methods and questions in future Multiling projects Alison Wray visited Multiling in 2015 and 2016 to deliver a research paper and to advise on research methods and questions in future Multiling projects Two postgraduate students from Multiling attended Cardiff/Swansea Lexical studies conference in 2017 Tess Fitzpatrick and Alison Wray are partners on Multiling research project 2016-2019 |
| Collaborator Contribution | Multiling funded the travel visits described above |
| Impact | Research Council of Norway and Oslo University research grant with Wray and Fitzpatrick as consultants: "Linguistic profiles of dementia in multilinguals" |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Age-related changes in lexical retrieval behaviour: a consequence of cognitive decline or accumulated learning? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The paper "Age-related changes in lexical retrieval behaviour: a consequence of cognitive decline or accumulated learning?" was presented at the 2017 British Society for Gerontology conference. Approximately 15 researchers and practitioners attended the paper. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Keynote paper, British Association for Applied Linguistics Vocabulary SIG Conference, 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I delivered the Keynote Lecture at the British Association for Applied Linguistics Vocabulary SIG Conference, Swansea University, UK. The event was attended by researchers and postgraduates. Some have been in touch to request further information about the categorization systems we used in the ESRC-funded Word Association project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | https://baalvocabsig.wordpress.com/conferences/call-for-papers/programme/ |
| Description | News item on Swansea University home page - Research into how twins' word association could help identify causes of dementia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Colleagues and students contacted me to ask more about the research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.swansea.ac.uk/riah/researchgroups/lrc/news/archive/twins-word-association/ |
| Description | OPAN Seminar: Word retrieval in over-65s: how ageing affects the way we access the words we want to use |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | It is part of our everyday discourse to associate temporary word loss with ageing: When we can't remember the word we want, or a name we know, we make excuses that refer to "senior moments", or "must be getting old". The study we report here seeks to identify empirical evidence for this assumed association between ageing and word retrieval behaviour. Using word association responses from two distinct age cohorts - adolescents and over-65s - we investigate age-related differences in the way that links are made between words in the mental lexicon. We measure these links in terms of how stereotypical they are (how typical their responses are of their peer group), and in terms of the kinds of association they represent (words which mean the same, sound similar, collocate (i.e. are often used together) etc.). The two groups are equally stereotypical in their responses, although there are generational differences in the most popular responses to certain words (e.g. marital and facebook as responses to status). Importantly, there are statistically significant differences in the kinds of association made, with the older cohort producing more synonyms and collocational responses, but fewer sound-based responses, than the younger group. These findings can help us to understand age-related differences in word recall, which in turn will allow us to identify deviations from healthy ageing language behaviour and word retrieval in cases of dementia and cognitive decline. This was an invited talk, delivered as part of the OPAN (Older People and Ageing Network) seminar series. OPAN aims to improve the lives of older people by integrating research with policy and practice. They invite speakers to present seminars highlighting current research, which are open to the public and typically attract social and health care practitioners, researchers from a range of disciplines, and members of the public who identify themselves with the older sector of the population. This was an invited talk, delivered as part of the OPAN (Older People and Ageing Network) seminar series. OPAN aims to improve the lives of older people by integrating research with policy and practice. They invite speakers to present seminars about research related to this aim. After my talk I was approached by Monmouth University of the Third Age who invited me to speak to them (which I did in June 2014). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.opanwales.org.uk/seminarcatchup.htm |
| Description | Potential impact on ageing population (radio interview) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Interview on Swansea Sound radio station for radio news broadcast. The activity was a short interview on local radio. Colleagues and friends commented that they had heard it and initiated conversations about this research. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Research seminar paper, University of Oslo, Norway |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to deliver a guest lecture/workshop at the Centre for Multilingualism in society across the Lifespan, Oslo University. The session was called "New Approaches to Word Association Research", and we discussed what place word association methods have in a linguist's toolkit, and under which conditions they can be reliably used. The methods I had used in the ESRC-funded project are being adopted for use in a study of (bilingual) word retrieval in dementia, using participants in Turkey and in Norway, and I worked with the researchers to adapt the methods for use in other languages. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.hf.uio.no/multiling/english/news-and-events/events/guest-lectures-seminars/2015/151022_fi... |
| Description | Talk to Monmouth U3A: The influence of age on word retrieval behaviour |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The talk provoked a lot of discussion, with members of the audience offering data for current and future projects. Since my talk, my research group at Cardiff University has contacted those members of the U3A group who submitted contact details. Those people have been contacted and invited to participate in a follow-up study on language in ageing, and attitudes to dementia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| Description | Twins study is hunting key to language loss (newspaper article) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Article in South Wales Evening Post discussion with colleagues and friends who read the piece |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| URL | http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Twins-study-hunting-key-language-loss/story-12455688-detail/story.... |
| Description | University of Barcelona - Invited seminar presentation on Profiling Word Association Behaviour |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | approximately 40 students and staff attending this research seminar, at which I presented work arising from a series of connected projects; communication with attendees and their teachers after the event indicated a high level of engagement with the challenging issues raised |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Using word association data to investigate lexical retrieval behaviour (research seminar, Newcastle University) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Talk resulted in discussion of the theoretical background to the project, and initial project findings relating to age and cognition continuing correspondence with staff and attending students about this research |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| Description | Using word association data to investigate lexical retrieval behaviour (research seminar, University of Queensland) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Research seminar presentation reporting theoretical background and empirical findings. Conversations with colleagues in various related disciplines |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |