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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Greetings Colleagues,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">I’m pleased to announce the following online talk next week:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The Dynamic Field Theory Community Presents…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt">A Dynamic Field Theory of lexical meaning</span></b><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Presenter: Michael Stern, Yale University<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">When: Wednesday April 1<sup>st</sup> at 4pm GMT+1<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">The talk will build on work presented in the following paper…<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106336" title="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1016%2Fj.cognition.2025.106336&data=05%7C02%7CJ.Spencer%40uea.ac.uk%7C203545b5bd024175ccef08de7a1345cb%7Cc65f8795ba3d43518a070865e5d8f090%7C0%7C0%7C639082420703869335%7CUnknown">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106336</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">All are welcome.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Abstract: I will discuss a recent paper in <i>Cognition </i>by me and Maria Piñango titled "Contextual modulation of language comprehension in a dynamic neural model of lexical meaning." The paper proposes
that <i>polysemy—</i>the ubiquitous phenomenon of a many-to-one mapping between word meaning and word form—arises from the activation dynamics of neural populations governing interpretation on continuous semantic dimensions. This contrasts with an approach
that treats linguistic meaning as consisting of discrete representations. Focusing on the English lexical item "have" as a test case, we demonstrate how our model generates contextual modulation of lexical semantic interpretation via the persistence through
time of neural activation states, or hysteresis. Moreover, the model generates individual variation in the magnitude of contextual modulation via variation in the strength of interaction between neural fields. Finally, simulations generate a novel empirical
prediction that the relationship between sentence reading time and acceptability should be modulated by context. An experiment combining self-paced reading and acceptability judgments replicates previous results and partially confirms the novel prediction
of the model. My aim is to invite discussion about how the DFT framework can shed light on linguistic meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt">________________________________________________________________________________</span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt">Microsoft Teams meeting</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:14.0pt">Meeting ID: 348 204 454 442 76
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Privacy and security</a></span> </span><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">________________________________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">John P. Spencer, PhD</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Professor</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Developmental Dynamics Lab </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DDPSYUEA"><span style="color:#0563C1">https://www.facebook.com/DDPSYUEA</span></a> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://ddlabs.uea.ac.uk/" title="Original URL:
https://ddlabs.uea.ac.uk/
Click to follow link."><span lang="EN-US" style="color:#0563C1">https://ddlabs.uea.ac.uk</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">School of Psychology,</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Room 0.09</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Lawrence Stenhouse Building,</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">University of East Anglia,</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Norwich Research Park,</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Norwich NR4 7TJ</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">United Kingdom</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Telephone 01603 593968<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><a href="https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/bc13f6b261a0453fa15d3ff900a6de39@uea.ac.uk?anonymous&ep=pcard"><span style="color:#0563C1">Book time with John
Spencer (PSY - Staff) </span></a><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><img border="0" width="1020" height="1" style="width:10.625in;height:.0104in" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image001.png@01DCBC7A.9925B710" alt="signature_3534012730"></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><img border="0" width="297" height="85" style="width:3.0937in;height:.8854in" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image002.jpg@01DCBC7A.9925B710" alt="/var/folders/jl/_9mpm6j92_9ckmg0q9qhs4986d96kt/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/cidimage002.jpg@01D48BB4.171FA130"><img border="0" width="124" height="78" style="width:1.2916in;height:.8125in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image003.jpg@01DCBC7A.9925B710" alt="/var/folders/jl/_9mpm6j92_9ckmg0q9qhs4986d96kt/T/com.microsoft.Outlook/WebArchiveCopyPasteTempFiles/cidimage004.jpg@01D48BB4.171FA130"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">UK 14th for Research Quality in Psychology, Psychiatry, and Neuroscience </span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">(Times
Higher Education rankings for the Research Excellence Framework 2021)</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">World Top 200</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> (Times Higher Education World
University Rankings 2022)<br>
<b>UK Top 30</b> (The Times/Sunday Times 2022 and Complete University Guide 2022)<br>
<b>UK Top 20</b> for research quality (Times Higher Education Rankings for the Research Excellence Framework 2021)<br>
<b>World Top 50</b> for research citations (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022)<br>
<b>World Top 50</b> (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2022)<br>
<b>Athena SWAN Silver Award Holder</b> (since 2019) in recognition of advancement towards gender equality for all (Advance HE)</span><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"> </span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;mso-ligatures:none;mso-fareast-language:EN-GB">Any personal data exchanged as part of this email conversation will be processed by the University in accordance with
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