Projects
Syntactic and semantic constraints on parallel word processing during reading Ghent University
In this four-year project, I will test several hypotheses generated by a new model of reading, the OB1-reader. This computational model assumes parallel processing of multiple words during natural reading. It is inherently based on evidence from studies which revolved around the parallel integration of orthographic information. As such, the model does not yet employ mechanisms which are dictated by higher-order semantic and syntactic ...
Elucidating the time course of semantic processing of written words, spoken words and pictures by means of multivariate MEG analysis KU Leuven
Language takes a very special place in human interactions. There are millions of words we can choose from to build a sentence in order to get exactly the right message across. Some words are very semantically similar, like a duck and a goose, some are vaguely similar because they share some features, like a duck and a vulture, and others are not similar at all, like a duck and an ice cream cone. Using functional MRI, we managed to identify ...
Elucidating the time course of semantic processing of written words, spoken words and pictures by means of multivariate MEG analysis KU Leuven
Language takes a very special place in human interactions. There are millions of words we can choose from to build a sentence in order to get exactly the right message across. Some words are very semantically similar, like a duck and a goose, some are vaguely similar because they share some features, like a duck and a vulture, and others are not similar at all, like a duck and an ice cream cone. Using functional MRI, we managed to identify ...
A Network Based Account of Word Processing and Semantic Cognition KU Leuven
In this project, we propose to study word meaning using a network based on word associations. We want to enlarge our existing word association sets in Dutch and in English, which are already the world’s largest sets in both languages, to the size of an adult’s mental lexicon. Using these data sets, we want to derive three kinds of models for word processing and semantic cognition. The first model is a simple (first-order) associative ...
From words to meaning: Association networks and semantic processing KU Leuven
The project consists of three parts: (1) to elaborate the existing word association network, (2) to investigate the semantic properties of a network that is constructed from the word association data set and (3) to explore neuropsychological applications of word association data. The first part consists of further developing and enlarging the world’s largest word association data set, in several languages. In the second part, the network’s ...
The contribution of the medial temporal system in humans to semantic processing of words and pictures. KU Leuven
The brain contains several memory systems. Episodic memory deals with episodes in a particular space and time context and is typically associated with structures deep in the temporal lobe (the medial-temporal lobe system). An episodic memory deficit is commonly seen in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Semantic memory refers to our knowledge of the world, the meaning of words and pictures and associations between concepts. Patients with semantic ...
Performance Improvement Strategies for Semantic Segmentation KU Leuven
This thesis focuses on semantic segmentation. It presents methods to improve semantic segmentation, such as context-aware padding, error correction, model selection and the use of temporal information.
In terms of padding for convolutional operation, standard convolutional neural networks use padding to maintain a consistent shape for feature maps. Zero padding is simple and efficient but the additional zeros that are generated by zero ...
When to lose one’s senses? Semantic loss vs polysemy sustenance in the lexicon of English KU Leuven
Semantic change is commonly recognized to follow an A > A/B (> B) trajectory. That is, semantic change always results in polysemy between old and new senses at first; only later and in only some cases does this lead to the eventual loss of an older sense. Whereas the general mechanism of semantic extension (A > A/B) has received ample attention, the possible next step, semantic loss (> B), is still ill-understood. Yet insight in ...
Dynizer Query Language - DQL: The development of a method for operational and analytical querying of NoSQL data based on semantic connections Ghent University
The aim of this project is to develop a high-performance method for expressive and intuitive querying of data within the metastructure of the in-house developed NoSGL database management system, Dynizer.
Where the current survey follows technical expertise for the custom search of complex data structures using 3 basic queries, the query facility will be extended with generic query language that allows query searches based on semantic ...