Storage does not guarantee Access: The Problem of Organizing and Accessing Words in a Speaker`s Lexicon

( Michael Zock ),( Didier Schwab ) 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2011 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.12 No.3

Natural language production requires both a grammar and a lexicon. In this article, we deal only with the latter, trying to enhance an existing electronic resource to allow for search via navigation in a huge associative network. Our primary focus is on the structure of the lexicon (i.e. its indexing scheme). This issue has often been overlooked, yet it is crucial, as it determines to a large extent the chances of finding the word a language user (speaker/writer) is looking for. While researchers working on natural language generation (NLG) have given a lot of thought to lexicalization (i.e. the mapping of meanings to forms), lexical access has received no attention at all. Lexicalization is generally considered to be only a choice problem, the assumption being that stored data can always be accessed. While this may hold for machines, it does not always hold for people, as is well attested by the "tip-of-the-tongue" problem. A speaker may know a word, yet still be unable to access it. However, even machines may experience access problems. We illustrate this last point via a small experiment, showing how a well-known lexical resource (Word Net) may fail to reveal information (words) it contains. Additionally, in this article we show how a lexicon might be organized or indexed to allow language users to find the words they are looking for quickly and naturally.

Comparison of Different Lexical Resources With Respect to the Tip-of-the-Tongue Problem

Michael Zock,Chris Biemann 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2020 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.21 No.2

Language production is largely a matter of words which, in the case of access problems, can be searched for in an external resource (lexicon, thesaurus). When accessing the resource, the user provides her momentarily available knowledge concerning the target and the resource-powered system responds with the best guess(es) it can make given this input. As tip-of-the-tongue studies have shown, people always have some knowledge concerning the target (meaning fragments, number of syllables, ...) even if its precise or complete form is eluding them. We will show here how to tap on this knowledge to build a resource likely to help authors (speakers/writers) to overcome the Tip-of-the-Tongue (ToT) problem. Yet, before doing so we need a better understanding of the various kinds of knowledge people have when looking for a word. To this end, we asked crowd workers to provide some cues to describe a given target and to specify then how each one of them relates to it, in the hope that this could help others to find the elusive word. Next, we checked how well a given search strategy worked when being applied to differently built lexical networks. The results showed quite dramatic differences, which is not really surprising. After all, different networks are built for different purposes; hence each one of them is more or less well suited for a given task. What was more surprising though is the fact that the relational information given by the users did not allow us to find the elusive word in WordNet more easily than without relying on this information.

Introduction to the Special Issue: AI at the Crossroads of NLP and Neurosciences

( Michael Zock ) 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2020 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.21 No.1

Learn to Describe Objects the way "Ordinary" People Do via a Web-Based Application

( Michael Zock ),( Guy Lapalme ),( Mehdi Yousfi Monod ) 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2015 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.16 No.2

Speaking consists to a large extend in making statements about objects: ‘”The baby is asleep”, “The game is over”, etc. Yet objects can be described in many ways: it, the library, the first building to the right, etc. The way how an object is described or referred to depends to a large extent on the context, i.e. the set of elements (physically or mentally present in the listeners mind) with which the target can be confused (think of different kind of round objects you can purchase in a sporting goods retail store). Hence, the question: how does a speakers decide on the information to convey (content) and on the linguistic resource to use (expression)? This implies among other things pragmatic knowledge, which is often learned on the basis of correlations. People realize that changes of the situation often reflect in language: different inputs (ideas, objects of a scene) yielding different outputs, i.e. linguistic forms. We present here a setting that allows for this kind of learning. It is a web-based application that generates a scene and various descriptions of its components. Users can change the scene and watch how these choices affect (or not) the linguistic form. The descriptions are produced in English and French, and they are rated in terms of communicative adequacy. This should allow students not only to learn to produce correct sentences, but also help them to realize which one of them is, communicatively speaking, the most adequate form.

Become Fluent in a Foreign Language by Using an Improved Technological Version of an Outdated Method

( Michael Zock ),( Guy Lapalme ),( Lih Juang Fang ) 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2015 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.16 No.2

Speaking a language can be an overwhelming task. The message (what to say), its corresponding linguistic expression (how to say it) and sound form (say it, i.e. articulation) have to be determined practically on the fly. To allow for this, parts of the process, in general the mechanical aspects (sentence structures) are automated, that is, they are carried out without requiring attention allowing the speaker to focus on other more important aspects, for example, the message (meaning). Speaking is a skill which has to be learned, and this can be supported in various ways. We propose an enhanced, computerized version of a well-known method: pattern drills. While being highly regarded in the sixties, pattern drills (PD) have become unpopular since then. Despite certain shortcomings we do believe in their virtues, at least with regard to the memorization of basic structures and the acquisition of fluency, the skill to produce language at a ‘normal’ rate. Of course, the method has to be improved, and we will show here how this can be achieved. Unlike tapes or books, computers are open media, allowing for dynamic changes, taking users’ performances and preferences into account. Our drill-tutor, a small web application still in its prototype phase, allows for this. It is a free, electronic version of pattern drills, i.e. an exercise generator, open and adaptable to the users’ ever changing needs.

Learn to Describe Objects the way ‘Ordinary’ People Do by Using Language Technology

Michael Zock,Guy Lapalme,Mehdi Yousfi-Monod 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2015 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.16 No.2

Speaking consists to a large extend in making statements about objects: ‘”The babyis asleep”, “The gameis over”, etc. Yet objects can be described in many ways: it, the library, the first building to the right, etc. The way how an object is described or referred to depends to a large extent on the context, i.e. the set of elements (physically or mentally present in the listeners mind) with which the target can be confused (think of different kind of round objects you can purchase in a sporting goods retail store). Hence, the question: how does a speakers decide on the information to convey (content) and on the linguistic resource to use (expression)? This implies among other things pragmatic knowledge, which is often learned on the basis of correlations. People realize that changes of the situation often reflect in language: different inputs (ideas, objects of a scene) yielding different outputs, i.e. linguistic forms. We present here a setting that allows for this kind of learning. It is a web-based application that generates a scene and various descriptions of its components. Users can change the scene and watch how these choices affect (or not) the linguistic form. The descriptions are produced in English and French, and they are rated in terms of communicative adequacy. This should allow students not only to learn to produce correct sentences, but also help them to realize which one of them is, communicatively speaking, the most adequate form.

Automatic Creation of a Semantic Network Encoding part of Relations

( Michael Zock ),( Debela Tesfaye ) 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2015 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.16 No.4

We describe here the principles underlying the automatic creation of a semantic map to support navigation in a lexicon. Whenever we read a book, write a letter, or launch a query on Google, we always use words, the short- hand labels for more or less well-specified thoughts. The problem is that words may refuse to come to our mind when we need them most, at the very moment of speaking or writing. This is when we tend to reach for a dictionary. Yet, even dictionaries may fail to reveal the target word, although they contain them. This is not only a problem of input (poor query word), but also a problem of design : the way how words are organized and the kind of information associated to each one of them. We will consider in this paper one of the most original hand-crafted resources, WordNet, discussing its relative strengths and weaknesses with respect to word access. We will then describe an attempt to build automatically a subset of this resource, to conclude with the presentation of an approach meant to help authors (speakers/writers) to overcome the tip-of-the-tongue-problem (TOT) even in cases where other resources, including Wordnet or Roget’s Thesaurus, would fail.

Words in Books, Computers and the Human Mind

( Michael Zock ) 서울대학교 인지과학연구소 2015 Journal of Cognitive Science Vol.16 No.4