Majid Alaee | Bu-Ali Sina University (original) (raw)

Papers by Majid Alaee

̒Ilm-i Zabān, 2018

[Dataset abstract:] The datasets include experimental material on an eye-tracking analysis in Per... more [Dataset abstract:] The datasets include experimental material on an eye-tracking analysis in Persian syntax and how syntactic movement in this language is affected by weight factor. It also includes statistical datasets and the results of statistical analysis. In addition, some relevant data to the study such as sample heat map and scan path images and videos are supplemented.

‌ Identification of Distinctive Urban Elements and Analysis of the Quality of their... more ‌ Identification of Distinctive Urban Elements and Analysis of the Quality of their Forms in Citizens' Cognitive Maps Abstract Adopting a descriptive-analytic approach, this research is aimed at identifying the main distinctive urban elements and analyzing the quality of urban forms and their impacts on the cognitive maps of citizens. The scope of the study was determined based on the economical-commercial importance and the social significance of district 11 of Mashhad, i.e. Moallem Boulevard, and further approved by the interviews with some employees of Mashhad Municipality, District 11. Having studied the theoretical implications, the key distinctive elements were chosen and developed into a questionnaire, and then the validity and reliability were evaluated. To determine the sample size, the Cochran formula calculated and resulted in 170 samples, which were distributed randomly among the inhabitants and store owners o...

The Science of Language, 2019

constituent ordering, is not arbitrary; rather, it is aimed at fulfilling efficiency principles. ... more constituent ordering, is not arbitrary; rather, it is aimed at fulfilling efficiency principles. Length effect- as a formal characteristic- is a significant determinant in the occurrence of movement rules. The ultimate structural configuration of sentences is interwoven with processing ease. Adopting eye movement registration technique, the current research study aims to explore eye behavior in response to processing difficulty of syntactically different but semantically identical sentences and provide behavioral evidence for the effect of length on the occurrence of movement in structural sentence pairs in Persian. Encompassing two syntactic movements (relative clause extraposition and postposing) through 2 sets of 40 sentence pairs in two length levels (short and long), some eye behavior such as fixation count/duration and regression were registered and analyzed using SPSS. Regarding the patterns of fixation, when the constituents under study were short, there was either no significant difference before and after the occurrence of syntactic movement, or the mean of fixation count and duration was lower in sentences with canonical constituent ordering; however, the patterns appeared to be reversed and hence a significant difference was spotted by the increase of constituent length. Regarding regressions, the mean regressions declined after the post-verbal movement of constituents by the increase of length. It can be concluded that syntactic movement is weight-sensitive and aimed at easing processing difficulty. Also, the likelihood of post-verbal movement in extraposition and scrambling increases by the rise of length and driven by the incentive of increase of processing efficiency.

جستارهای زبانی, 2018

Introduction: According to performance theory and efficiency principles, constituent ordering is ... more Introduction: According to performance theory and efficiency principles, constituent ordering is influenced by processing efficiency, i.e. the ordering of constituents is intended to facilitate processing. Adopting an online reading time paradigm, the research was aimed at studying the role of grammatical weight in likelihood of post-verbal movement and processing loads of pairs of corresponding sentences. Method: The aforesaid paradigm, as an efficient experimental technique to assess processing speed of syntactic structures, was designed by OpenSesame Software. Two sets of 24 sentences in three levels of weight (light, medium and heavy) and two structural levels (unmarked preverbal constituent and post-verbal one) were presented to 40 randomly selected Persian-speaking participants (between the ages 18 and 40) with university education. The first set consisted of sentences containing relative clause in two configurations and the second set of pairs of scrambled (post-verbal) and unscrambled sentences. Sentences were followed by a yes/no question. Data was analyzed using SPSS and ANOVA test. Results: In light level, the mean reading time of sentences with canonical constituent ordering was less than those with post-verbal constituents. However, this trend got reversed by the increase of grammatical weight of the constituent subjected to scrutiny. In other word, the post-verbal movement of constituents resulted in reduction of mean reading time in medium-weight sentences. This decline was markedly more significant in heavy sentences. Conclusion: The ordering of constituents and the likelihood of movement is highly weight-sensitive. As a conclusion, the end-weight principle as an incentive to optimize the processing efficiency was approved in Persian.

8th Iranian Conference on Linguistic, Vol. 2, 2013

هدف از پژوهش حاضر، بررسی تأثیر انگیختگی معنایی بر بازیابی واژگانی کودکان شنوا و کم‌شنوا با استفاد... more هدف از پژوهش حاضر، بررسی تأثیر انگیختگی معنایی بر بازیابی واژگانی کودکان شنوا و کم‌شنوا با استفاده از تکلیف نامیدن تصویر است. آزمودنی‌ها دو گروه 15 نفره از دانش‌آموزان تک‌زبانه‌ی فارسی‌زبان در رده سنّی 7 تا 12 سال بودند: کودکان شنوا (گروه شاهد) و کودکان کم‌شنوا (گروه آزمایش). در تکلیف نامیدن تصویر طراحی‌شده توسط نرم افزار OpenSesame، برای هریک از آزمودنی‌ها دسته‌ای از30 تصویر مشترک در سه حالت متفاوت به نمایش گذاشته‌‌شد . حالت نخست: بدون انگیزنده، حالت دوم: با انگیزنده‌‌ی مرتبط معنایی، حالت سوم: با انگیزنده‌ی نامرتبط معنایی. نتایج حاکی از آن بود که بازیابی واژگانی امری پیچیده‌تر و زمان‌گیرتر برای کودکان کم‌شنوا، به‌نسبت هم‌سالان شنوای آن‌ها است. در مقایسه با حالت بدون انگیزنده، ارائه‌ی انگیزنده مرتبط معنایی منجر به عملکرد پردازشی سریع‌تر برای هر دو گروه می‌شود. یافته‌ی‌ دیگر حاکی از آن است که ارائه‌ی انگیزنده‌ی نامرتبط تنها برای گروه کودکان با شنوایی طبیعی تأثیری بازدارنده دارد.

Advances in Cognitive Science, 2013

Objective: This article discusses the mass-count distinction in Persian, in which counting is a t... more Objective: This article discusses the mass-count distinction in Persian, in which counting is a truly productive and general phenomenon interchangeably applied to both mass and count nouns. This contradiction is what the present article aims to resolve. Previous efforts to resolve the above contradiction are subject to some shortcomings. The current analytical review tried to offer a cognitive model of counting at the end. Method: to sketch its cognitive model of counting, the present study derived its methodology from predicate logic, set theory, discrete functions, prototype theory, syntactic argumentation, and Idealized Cognitive Models (ICMs). We draw on exceptional uses of classifiers and numeral determiners primarily in Persian. These were put together with the observed prototypes of mass nouns being controversially counted in English. The traditional formal criteria for mass-count distinction turned out to be unable to explain the phenomena. Results: The above-mentioned generality is claimed to be governed by metonymy in the literature, against which the authors argued and proposed the metaphor temporarily as a more efficient substitute. The permanent solution responsible for such a generality is introduced as " the delimitation function " which constructs the core of our present counting model. Conclusion: The mass-count distinction is determined to be primarily the result of a cognitive rather than a grammatical process. Having a proper use of grammar (which manifests the result of the process) one might feel free to introduce objects parallel to his own situational recognition about them.

Conference Presentations by Majid Alaee

2nd Iranian Conference on Functional Linguistics/ Sept. 2017, 2017

مقدمه: براساس نظریه‌ی کنشی و اصول بهره‌وری در دستور ، چیدمان سازه‌ها‌ی زبانی متأثر از راندمان پر... more مقدمه: براساس نظریه‌ی کنشی و اصول بهره‌وری در دستور ، چیدمان سازه‌ها‌ی زبانی متأثر از راندمان پردازشی است. به بیان شفاف‌تر، آرایش سازه‌ها در زبان به نحوی است که به سهولت در پردازش بیانجامد. این پژوهش در نظردارد با بهره‌گیری از تکلیف برخط خوانش جمله، به بررسی نقش وزن دستوری در عملکرد حرکت سازه‌ها به جایگاه پسافعلی بپردازد و سطح پردازشی جملات را در صورت‌بندی‌های متناظر تحلیل ‌نماید. روش: تکلیف برخط خوانش جمله، به‌عنوان الگویی کارآمد برای تحلیل سطح پردازشی ساخت‌های نحوی، در محیط نرم‌افزار OpenSesame طراحی‌گردید. دو مجموعه 24 جمله‌ای در سه ‌سطح وزنی (سبک، متوسط و سنگین) و دو سطح ساختاری (سازه‌ در جایگاه بی‌نشان پیش‌فعلی و در جایگاه پسافعلی) برای 40 آزمودنی فارسی‌زبان دارای تحصیلات دانشگاهی (سنین 18 تا 40 سال) که ‌به‌شیوه‌ی تصادفی انتخاب‌شدند ارائه‌گردید. مجموعه‌‌ی نخست شامل جملات دارای بند موصولی و مجموعه‌ی دوم جملات حاوی سازه‌ی پسایند‌شده و جمله‌ی متناظر غیرمقلوب بود. پس از هر جمله، یک پرسش بلی/خیر مطرح‌شد. در تحلیل داده‌های مرتبط با زمان‌ خوانش، تنها پاسخ‌ آزمودنی‌هایی مورد بررسی قرار گرفت که به بیش از 80 درصد پرسش‌های درک‌مطلب پاسخ صحیح دادند. داده‌ها با نرم‌افزار SPSS و آزمون تحلیل واریانس تحلیل‌شد. یافته‌ها: در وزن دستوری سبک، وقتی سازه‌ی مورد مطالعه در جایگاه بی‌نشان پیش‌فعلی قرار‌دارد، سرعت زمان خوانش به نسبت جملات متناظر با سازه‌ی پسافعلی بیشتر است، حال آن‌که این الگو با افزایش وزن دستوری برعکس می‌شود؛ به بیان دیگر، در وزن دستوری متوسط، حرکت پسافعلی سازه‌ها، منجر به کاهش میانگین خوانش جمله‌ می‌شود. این کاهش به‌مراتب در حالت سنگین معنادارتر است. نتیجه‌گیری: ترتیب سازه‌ها و گشتار حرکت نسبت به وزن دستوری سازه‌‌ها حساس است؛ در نتیجه، گرایش سنگینی پایانی در زبان فارسی در رابطه با ساخت‌های ‌پیش‌گفته با انگیزش افزایش راندمان پردازشی تأیید‌می‌شود.
کلید واژه‌ها: وزن دستوری، راندمان پردازشی، اصل سنگینی پایانی، تکلیف خوانش جمله، پسایندسازی، بند موصولی

Thesis Chapters by Majid Alaee

The purpose of this investigation is to assess the effects of semantic priming on lexical retriev... more The purpose of this investigation is to assess the effects of semantic priming on lexical retrieval of typically developing and hearing-impaired children during a picture naming task. Semantic priming involves words which are semantically related. It has been established as a method to measure lexical retrieval. Picture naming as an important experimental paradigm in cognitive sciences is used as a tool to shed light on the mechanisms involved in visual processing and the relations between the lexical units of semantic network of hearing-impaired children. To name a picture can be considered an elementary process in the use of language. Thus, its chronometric analysis elucidates cognitive structures and processes that underlie speaking. Procedures in this research involved a picture-naming task that was programmed with OpenSesame software, during which each participant was presented with the same set of 30 pictures in each of 3 different conditions: (a) no-prime condition, in which no written prime was presented before picture display; (b) related-prime condition, in which a word, semantically related to the target picture was presented in a written form before picture display; (c) unrelated-prime condition, in which a semantically unrelated word was presented visually before picture display. The prime-target pairs were all among most frequent Persian words. The participants were two 15-member groups of Persian monolingual pupils: normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children, ranging in age from 7 to 12 years. The subjects of the second group were matched to the first group in terms of cognitive abilities. Questions increasing the motivation and triggering initiation of doing this research are how lexical retrieval is different among two groups and whether presentation of semantically related words before the picture naming response leads to faster speech reaction time for both groups. The last question is whether presentation of semantically unrelated prime has inhibitory effects on lexical retrieval of both groups. Accordingly, three hypotheses were developed in the course of this research. Data was statistically analyzed using SPSS software version 16. The results were congruent with three hypotheses revealing that in general, visual processing and lexical retrieval is a more complicated and time-consuming process for hearing-impaired children compared to their normal peers. When compared with the first condition, presentation of semantically related words led to shorter reaction time for both groups. The other finding shows increase of response latency in the presentation of semantically unrelated prime for both groups, although this was significant just for normal-hearing children. In other word, presentation of semantically unrelated prime has inhibitory effects in lexical processing just for normal-hearing children.

In the framework known as processing approach to grammar that was introduced by Hawkins (1994; 20... more In the framework known as processing approach to grammar that was introduced by Hawkins (1994; 2004), it is argued that processing provides a full-fledged functional explanation for all syntactic phenomena including constituent ordering and movement. Linguistic structure is simply built in a way that eases processing difficulty of sentences and results in efficiency of language use. It seems that the operation of that part of the linguistic representation system that leads to formulation of concepts utilizing lexical access procedure is governed by processing mechanisms. The processing mechanisms, as it has put forward by Hawkins (1994) are those that make it possible for humans to recognize (and produce) grammatical structure in a rapid and efficient manner. The formulator is also planned in a way that minimizes the processing load. Therefore, it appears that some ordering regularities and grammatical constraints in word order and syntactic phenomena such as movement are motivated by the flawless performance of this phase of human linguistic processor. This research aims at studying the processing basis of relativisation and syntactic movement known as scrambling and the effects of grammatical weight in Persian by drawing upon evidence from behavioral measures (eye-tracking analysis and self-paced reading). In eye-tracking experiment, two sets of sentences in two weight levels and two configurations (each including 40 Ss) were presented to 30 participants. In a self-paced reading experiment, two sets of 24 sentences in three levels of weight (light, medium and heavy) and two structural levels (unmarked preverbal constituent and post-verbal one) were presented to 40 randomly selected Persian-speaking participants. Questions increasing the motivation and triggering initiation of doing this research are how different structural configurations of sentences with identical truth condition modify processing level and if the increase of grammatical weight could result in likelihood of syntactic movement. The final questions are how the movement of grammatically heavy constituents including relative clause and scrambled constituents explained in terms of processing implications. Accordingly, four hypotheses were developed in the course of the research. After conducting the two experiments, data was statistically analyzed using SPSS software version 22. The findings confirmed the four hypotheses revealing that in general, the processing of sentences with canonical constituent ordering was not significantly different with that of post-verbal constituents. However, as the grammatical weight of the constituent subjected to scrutiny increases, the post-verbal movement of constituents resulted in lessening processing difficulty. This decline was markedly more significant in sentences with heavy constituents. Overall, the ordering of constituents and the likelihood of movement is highly weight-sensitive. It is concluded that the end-weight principle as an incentive to optimize the processing efficiency was approved in Persian.

Papers in Persian by Majid Alaee

علم زبان, 2019

حرکت نحوی که طی آن تغییراتی در ترتیب سازه‌ها ایجاد‌می‌شود دل‌بخواهی نیست بلکه با هدف اقناع اصول ب... more حرکت نحوی که طی آن تغییراتی در ترتیب سازه‌ها ایجاد‌می‌شود دل‌بخواهی نیست بلکه با هدف اقناع اصول بهره‌وری صورت‌می‌گیرد. طول سازه‌ها به‌عنوان عاملی صوری نقش اثرگذاری در عملکرد قواعد حرکت دارد. آرایش ساختار نهایی با سهولت پردازشی همبستگی دارد. این پژوهش با بهره‌گیری از الگوی ردیاب چشمی به بررسی رفتار چشم در واکنش به سطح پردازشی جملات با ساختارهای نحوی متفاوت می‌پردازد، و شواهدی رفتاری برای تأثیر طول در عملکرد حرکت دستوری در صورت‌های متناظر در زبان فارسی ارائه‌می‌دهد. در چارچوب الگوی ردیاب چشمی دو نوع حرکت (خروج بند موصولی و پسایندسازی) در دو مجموعه‌‌ی 40 جمله‌ای در دو سطح طولی (کوتاه و بلند) بررسی‌شد. سپس، رفتارهای چشمی نظیر تعداد/ دیرش تثبیت و واپسگرد ثبت و داده‌های خروجی در نرم‌افزار SPSS مورد تحلیل قرار‌گرفت. در رابطه با الگوی تعداد و دیرش تثبیت، زمانی که طول سازه‌ی مورد مطالعه کوتاه بود، تفاوت چندانی میان قبل و بعد عملکرد قاعده‌ی حرکت دیده‌نشد و یا در حالتی که قاعده‌ی حرکت عمل‌نکرده میانگین تعداد و دیرش تثبیت کمتر بود؛ حال آن‌که افزایش طول سازه، منجر به وارونگی الگوی تثبیت‌ها و تفاوتی معنادارشد. در رابطه با حرکات پس‌رونده‌ی چشمی، تعداد واپسگردها با افزایش طول سازه‌‌ی مورد مطالعه، پس از عملکرد حرکت، کاهش یافت. از آن‌جایی که مؤلفه‌های پیش‌گفته در تحلیل پایش‌گر چشمی الگویی کارآمد در سنجش سطح پردازشی جملات است، می‌توان نتیجه‌گرفت، عملکرد قواعد حرکت نحوی حساس به طول سازه‌ها و در راستای تسهیل پردازش صورت می‌گیرد. حرکت به جایگاه پسافعلی، با افزایش طول محتمل‌تر است و با انگیزش افزایش بهره‌وری پردازشی صورت می‌گیرد.

http://lrr.modares.ac.ir/article\_17680.html