Irene-Anna Diakidoy
University of Cyprus, Department of Psychology, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
This paper presents the STAR system, a system for automated narrative comprehension, developed on top of an argumentation-theoretic formulation of defeasible reasoning, and strongly following guidelines from the psychology of... more
This paper presents the STAR system, a system for automated narrative comprehension, developed on top of an argumentation-theoretic formulation of defeasible reasoning, and strongly following guidelines from the psychology of comprehension. We discuss the system’s use in psychological experiments on story comprehension, and our plans for its broader use in empirical studies concerning wider issues of commonsense reasoning.
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This paper presents a novel application of argumentation for automated Story Comprehension (SC). It uses argumentation to develop a computational ap- proach for SC as this is understood and studied in psychology. Argumentation provides... more
This paper presents a novel application of argumentation for automated Story Comprehension (SC). It uses argumentation to develop a computational ap- proach for SC as this is understood and studied in psychology. Argumentation provides uniform solutions to various representational and reasoning problems re- quired for SC such as the frame, ramification, and qualification problems, as well as the problem of contrapositive reasoning with default information. The grounded semantics of argumentation provides a suitable basis for the construction and re- vision of comprehension models, through the synthesis of the explicit information from the narrative in the text with the implicit (in the reader 's mind) common sense world knowledge pertaining to the topic(s) of the story given in the text. We re- port on the empirical evaluation of the approach through a prototype system and its ability to capture both the majority and the variability o f understanding of sto- ries by human reader...
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We report on an ongoing research program to develop a formal framework for automated narrative text comprehension, bringing together know-how from research in Artificial Intelligence and the Psychology of Reading and Comprehension. It... more
We report on an ongoing research program to develop a formal framework for automated narrative text comprehension, bringing together know-how from research in Artificial Intelligence and the Psychology of Reading and Comprehension. It uses argumentation to capture appropriate solutions to the frame, ramification, and qualification problems, and their generalizations as required for text comprehension. In this first part of the study we concentrate on the central problem of integration of the explicit information from the text narrative with the reader's implicit commonsense world knowledge, and the associated tasks of elaboration and revision.
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Abstract The study compared the comprehension processes and outcomes obtained with refutation and expository text and their association with learning outcomes. After a knowledge pretest, undergraduate students read an extended expository... more
Abstract The study compared the comprehension processes and outcomes obtained with refutation and expository text and their association with learning outcomes. After a knowledge pretest, undergraduate students read an extended expository text or a corresponding refutation text that addressed three potential misconceptions about the scientific concept of energy. Think-aloud, cued recall, and posttest data indicated that the positive impact of refutation text was more associated with comprehension outcomes than processes. Refutation text did not influence comprehension processes but facilitated valid inference generation in recall and minimized the negative effects of distortions on learning. The findings suggest the timing of the refutation text effect to be later, after reading, and its nature to be that of neutralizing the influence of any misconceptions on learning from text instead of changing them.
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Research has shown substantial belief change as a result of reading text and the pervasive influence of prior belief in the evaluation of short arguments. Both outcomes have been attributed to the depth to which the text or the argument... more
Research has shown substantial belief change as a result of reading text and the pervasive influence of prior belief in the evaluation of short arguments. Both outcomes have been attributed to the depth to which the text or the argument has been processed. This study brings together critical thinking and text comprehension research by employing an extended argumentative text and varying the quality of its arguments. The study examines the contribution of comprehension outcomes to the critical evaluation and persuasive impact of argumentative text. One hundred and sixteen first-year graduate and third- and fourth-year undergraduate university students. Measures of initial topic-related beliefs, perceived topic knowledge, and need for cognition were obtained. Students read one of two versions of a two-sided, implicitly persuasive argumentative text (677 words) varying in argument quality. Post-reading tasks included main claim recall, overall recall, inference generation, claim agreem...
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This study explored the development of students' knowledge of the meanings of 10 common English suffixes. A test was constructed to assess students' knowledge of the contribution of suffixes to the meanings of derivatives.... more
This study explored the development of students' knowledge of the meanings of 10 common English suffixes. A test was constructed to assess students' knowledge of the contribution of suffixes to the meanings of derivatives. Students were asked to choose which of several sentences correctly used a suffixed word. The suffixed words consisted of novel combinations of familiar stems and suffixes (e.g., butterless). Students were also tested on parallel items using familiar nonsuffixed words. The test was administered to 630 fourth-grade, seventh-grade, and high school students. Knowledge of the meanings of common English suffixes was found to undergo significant development between fourth grade and high school. Even in high school, however, there were some students who showed little knowledge of the meanings of these suffixes. The test identified students who have particular difficulties with English suffixes, and thus it has potential as a diagnostic tool.
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A secondary analysis of the data collected by Nagy, Anderson, and Herman (1987) was conducted to examine the effects of contextual information in the acquisition of word meanings during reading. The context of unfamiliar words embedded... more
A secondary analysis of the data collected by Nagy, Anderson, and Herman (1987) was conducted to examine the effects of contextual information in the acquisition of word meanings during reading. The context of unfamiliar words embedded within grade-appropriate texts was analyzed as to the amount and explicitness of context cues present. The context cue categories proposed by Ames (1966) and those proposed by Sternberg and Powell (1983) were utilized. Measures representing the strength of Ames's cues emerged ...
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ABSTRACTResearch on literacy has become universal and is essential for researchers of various disciplines, educators, and psychologists. For this article, we examined the most important methodological challenges that arise when conducting... more
ABSTRACTResearch on literacy has become universal and is essential for researchers of various disciplines, educators, and psychologists. For this article, we examined the most important methodological challenges that arise when conducting literacy research across languages, some of which have long been acknowledged in the relevant literature. Specifically, we focused on challenges related to research on word reading, spelling, passage comprehension, and writing, ranging from the target skills, constructs, and assessment issues to the matching of the samples and measurement and factorial invariance issues. We conclude that although theoretical and applied issues have been addressed in the literature, to date, this has happened only with limited relevance for reading and writing research across languages. The discussion provides some relevant evidence from a neuroscience perspective to promote useful insights and greater methodological rigor in literacy research across languages.