Latest Articles

• Response Patterns to Prosodically Disambiguated Questions Containing Wh-Words in Korean
  by Jeonghwa Cho, Jina Song and Harim Kwon
  J. CS. 2026, 27(3), 311-334;
  Abstract Korean wh-words are ambiguous between an existential quantifier reading and a wh-interrogative reading. Thus, questions containing wh-words can be interpreted as either a yes/no-question or a wh-question depending on their prosody. However, previous studies have primarily relied on forced-choice tas... [Read more]
  Abstract Korean wh-words are ambiguous between an existential quantifier reading and a wh-interrogative reading. Thus, questions containing wh-words can be interpreted as either a yes/no-question or a wh-question depending on their prosody. However, previous studies have primarily relied on forced-choice tasks, and thus little is known about whether listeners consider multiple response types appropriate for each question type. The current study aimed to address this gap by allowing participants to select more than one response. Thirty-four Korean native speakers listened to questions containing wh-words that are spoken with prosody typical for either yes/no-questions or wh-questions and selected appropriate answers between yes/no-answer type and wh-answer type. Importantly, they were allowed to select both answers when applicable. Results show a clear asymmetry when the questions were spoken with yes/no-question prosody and wh-question prosody: participants most frequently selected the wh-answer for wh-question prosody, but most frequently selected both answers for yes/no-question prosody. This indicates that for yes/no-questions, Korean speakers allow wh-answers in addition to yes/no-answers. These findings suggest that conventional forced-choice paradigms may underestimate the range of responses that Korean speakers consider for prosodically disambiguated questions. The asymmetry can be interpreted in terms of the entailment relation between the two question types and the communicative goals of the interlocutors. [Collapse]
  Keywords: wh-indeterminates, prosody
• Similar Ratings, Different Mechanisms: Korean Inanimate Honorification as a Benchmark for Pragmatic Competence in Large Language Models
  by Youngin Lee, Haayan Jang, Seohyun Jung and Sung-Eun Lee
  J. CS. 2026, 27(3), 335-378;
  Abstract Large language models (LLMs) have exhibited remarkable capabilities across a wide range of language tasks. However, existing evaluation benchmarks remain predominantly English-centric and rarely assess pragmatic factors in a systematic manner. This study investigates LLMs’ judgments of inanimate hon... [Read more]
  Abstract Large language models (LLMs) have exhibited remarkable capabilities across a wide range of language tasks. However, existing evaluation benchmarks remain predominantly English-centric and rarely assess pragmatic factors in a systematic manner. This study investigates LLMs’ judgments of inanimate honorification, a pervasive phenomenon in contemporary Korean. We introduce a novel benchmark that systematically manipulates linguistic, possession, and spatial factors, and compare model-generated acceptability ratings with human judgments. Human results revealed that the use of the honorific suffix -si- with an inanimate subject depends on two factors: whether the referent of the subject is possessed by or otherwise associated with the honored referent, and its physical proximity to the honored referent. These findings support accounts that view honorification as a pragmatic phenomenon rather than strict grammatical agreement. While several models showed substantial alignment with human judgments, none fully matched human rating patterns. Moreover, even when overall rating patterns appeared similar, models varied considerably in their sensitivity to possession and spatial factors, suggesting differences in the mechanisms underlying their evaluations. These findings demonstrate that similarity in acceptability ratings does not necessarily reflect human-like pragmatic competence. By incorporating socially and culturally grounded variables, our benchmark provides a mechanism-level evaluation of pragmatic processing and expands LLM assessment beyond predominantly English-centric benchmarks. [Collapse]
  Keywords: acceptability judgments, benchmarking, human-model alignment, inanimate honorification, Korean honorifics, large language models
• Cross-Validated Computational Cognitive Modeling of Behavioral Visual-Field Effects in Korean Eojeol Recognition with Implications for Human-Informed AI
  by Sangyub Kim
  J. CS. 2026, 27(3), 379-412;
  Abstract The primary aim of the present study was to construct and cross-validate a functional cognitive-processing architecture from human trial-level data on Korean Eojeol recognition. The architecture separated shared lexical difficulty (D), a behavioral visual-field asymmetry adjustment (A), and a bilate... [Read more]
  Abstract The primary aim of the present study was to construct and cross-validate a functional cognitive-processing architecture from human trial-level data on Korean Eojeol recognition. The architecture separated shared lexical difficulty (D), a behavioral visual-field asymmetry adjustment (A), and a bilateral-presentation adjustment (B), and tested whether A and B improved prediction for unseen participants and items. We conducted a secondary analysis of 10,800 word trials from 36 participants. In participant-plus-item cross-validation, adding A improved reaction time (RT) prediction (R²=.015 to .034; mean absolute error=131.36 to 129.70 ms) and accuracy prediction (log loss=.461 to .429). Adding B further improved accuracy (log loss=.423) but not RT (R²=.034 to .034), and item modulation improved neither outcome. Complementary item-level analyses used repeated nested cross-validation to compare psycholinguistic, character n-gram language form, structural Hangul visual form, and combined representations. Psycholinguistic variables gave the clearest predictions for several outcomes. Under the present framework and dataset, adding the specific language-form and visual-form representations did not consistently improve out-of-sample prediction over the training-mean baseline. Split-half reliability was poor for item-level right visual field advantage (RVFA) and bilateral redundancy gain (BRG), with median Spearman-Brown estimates of −.021 for RT RVFA, .168 for accuracy RVFA, .019 for RT BRG, and −.068 for accuracy BRG. These estimates limited item-specific inference while trial-level modeling tested population-level components. The findings provide partial out-of-sample support for a behavioral architecture in which A contributed to response speed and accuracy, whereas B contributed only to accuracy. The architecture provides a testable behavioral account and a potential human-data constraint for future AI models. [Collapse]
  Keywords: right visual field advantage, bilateral redundancy gain, visual word recognition, Korean Eojeol, human-informed artificial intelligence, nested cross-validation
• A Scoping Review of Prefrontal Cortical Activation During Working Memory Processing Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy
  by Biraj Bhattarai, Gabriella Treviño and Bijoyaa Mohapatra
  J. CS. 2026, 27(2), 87-137;
  Abstract Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is now popularly used as an alternative and reliable neuroimaging technology to investigate brain activity patterns and hemodynamic responses to mental functions in different populations. It has also been demonstrated to be an effective tool in the detec... [Read more]
  Abstract Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is now popularly used as an alternative and reliable neuroimaging technology to investigate brain activity patterns and hemodynamic responses to mental functions in different populations. It has also been demonstrated to be an effective tool in the detection of brain-signal activations associated with changes in cognitive state. In this study, we conduct a scoping review of existing research involving fNIRS technology and prefrontal cortical activity. This review explores how fNIRS has been applied to examine prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation during working memory (WM) task designs, summarizes evidence on hemodynamic response and functional connectivity changes across different task demands and populations, and investigates how PFC activity and connectivity patterns vary with cognitive load in both clinical and nonclinical groups. A review was performed adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. Online databases were used to identify papers published between 2000 and 2025, from which 48 publications were identified as relevant to the aim of this study. The included literature primarily focused on load-dependent WM paradigms, particularly n-back tasks, which emphasize continuous updating and executive control processes. This scoping review offers an overview of current research trends, highlights methodological nuances, and identifies gaps, setting the stage for future investigations into the intricate relationship between WM and fNIRS. Findings generally suggest that increased cognitive load is associated with stronger prefrontal hemodynamic responses, most often reflected by increased oxyhemoglobin and decreased deoxyhemoglobin, although several studies reported mixed patterns. In contrast, different clinical populations demonstrated variable and disorder-specific activation and connectivity patterns, including reduced, redistributed, or potentially compensatory prefrontal cortex responses depending on diagnosis, task demands, and methodological factors. [Collapse]
  Keywords: fNIRS, working memory, cognitive load, prefrontal cortex, hemodynamic changes, scoping review
• The Free Distortion Task as A Novel Method for Exploring Implicit Processes: The Case of Covid-19 Pandemic
  by Alberto Greco
  J. CS. 2026, 27(2), 139-185;
  Abstract Linguistic research has shown that in a Free Distortion Task (FDT), there is a strong tendency to retain syntagmatic structures. This study hypothesized that this automatic tendency competes with affective factors and that emotional salience can impair executive control. As an ecologically valid cas... [Read more]
  Abstract Linguistic research has shown that in a Free Distortion Task (FDT), there is a strong tendency to retain syntagmatic structures. This study hypothesized that this automatic tendency competes with affective factors and that emotional salience can impair executive control. As an ecologically valid case study, we investigated whether the FDT could implicitly reveal the feelings experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Behavioral indices - specifically displacement times and the degree of syntactic order - were correlated with the intensity of anxiety, depression, hypochondria, and isolation, as measured by explicit questionnaires. The results revealed a "dual-hit" on cognitive resources: sensitive participants exhibited longer processing times and a higher degree of order, suggesting that emotional interference triggers a retreat into syntactic automatisms. However, distinct patterns emerged across constructs: while anxiety and hypochondria typically induced cognitive interference, high isolation scores were linked to a rapid processing style, reflecting an implicit avoidance strategy. These effects were confirmed in a second task involving already scrambled sentences, highlighting the transition from propositional to associative processing. The findings demonstrate the FDT’s efficacy as a robust tool for probing implicit affective states and clinical dissociations that explicit measures may fail to capture. [Collapse]
  Keywords: implicit processes, Free Distortion Task, COVID-19 pandemic, attentional bias, syntax-emotion interaction, affective interference
• Why Korean Embedded Clauses Lack Speech-Level Endings: Default Valuation at Spell-Out
  by Myung-Kwan Park
  J. CS. 2026, 27(2), 187-233;
  Abstract This paper investigates why Korean’s rich system of addressee-oriented speech-style morphology, realized as a six-level paradigm of sentence-final endings in matrix clauses, is largely absent in embedded environments. Building on a detailed comparison between root and indirect-speech embedded clause... [Read more]
  Abstract This paper investigates why Korean’s rich system of addressee-oriented speech-style morphology, realized as a six-level paradigm of sentence-final endings in matrix clauses, is largely absent in embedded environments. Building on a detailed comparison between root and indirect-speech embedded clauses, we show that subordination does not merely “remove” politeness: embedded clauses systematically neutralize speech-level contrasts while preserving a reduced inventory of clause-type distinctions via uniform quotative endings (e.g., -ta/nya/(u)la/ca-ko), and they additionally regularize imperatives and exclamatives under embedding. We argue that existing accounts that ban embedded speech-style morphology by stipulating the absence of a performative layer or by hard locality restrictions are insufficient. Instead, we propose that embedded clauses can project the relevant addressee-related structure (AddresseeP/Hearer (Hr)), but that this structure is syntactically inactive in Korean embedded peripheries, yielding default feature valuation at Spell-Out and hence the observed morphological neutralization. We situate this proposal within a broader typology of indexical shift and allocutive agreement by comparing Korean with Magahi, where embedded allocutivity is possible and displays a “tell vs. think” contrast derived via Fin–Hr agreement in finite clauses. Korean, by contrast, patterns as agreement-deficient for Hr under embedding. We further show that jussive-type clauses (such as imperatives, propositives, and promissives) exhibit embedded “shift” via control-like dependencies in Mood rather than allocutive agreement, separating person restrictions from speech-style marking. Finally, we address apparent exceptions in which speech-level morphology surfaces before certain connective endings, arguing these reflect specific licensing by embedders and diachronic reanalysis rather than free embedded allocutivity. The result is a unified syntax–morphology account of embedded speech-style neutralization in Korean. [Collapse]
  Keywords: speech style/speech levels, allocutivity (addressee agreement), embedded clause neutralization, indexical shift, default feature valuation (at Spell-Out)
• Morphemic Knowledge Shapes the Neural Dynamics of Morphological Processing: ERP Evidence from Sino-Korean Prefixed Derivations
  by Sun-Young Lee & Jinwon Kang
  J. CS. 2026, 27(2), 235-280;
  Abstract This study investigated whether individual differences in morphemic knowledge modulate the lexical processing of Sino-Korean prefixed derivations. Previous ERP research (Kang & Lee, 2025) demonstrated that Sino-Korean prefixes function as morphologically independent units during visual word recognit... [Read more]
  Abstract This study investigated whether individual differences in morphemic knowledge modulate the lexical processing of Sino-Korean prefixed derivations. Previous ERP research (Kang & Lee, 2025) demonstrated that Sino-Korean prefixes function as morphologically independent units during visual word recognition, eliciting N250, N400, and LPC effects distinct from semantic and orthographic processing. Building on the Lexical Quality Hypothesis (Perfetti, 2007), which proposes that lexical processing varies as a function of the quality of lexical representations, we reanalyzed the ERP dataset from Kang & Lee (2025) by incorporating morphemic knowledge as a continuous predictor in linear mixed-effects models. The results showed that morphemic knowledge significantly modulated ERP priming effects associated with the N250 and LPC, but not the N400. Morphological and semantic primes elicited larger N250 effects as a function of morphemic knowledge, suggesting more efficient early activation of meaningful lexical relationships among individuals with stronger morphological knowledge. No significant modulation by morphemic knowledge was observed for the N400 effect. Morphemic knowledge also modulated LPC effects, indicating an influence on later stages of lexical evaluation and integration. Region-of-interest analyses showed that morphemic knowledge modulated ERP magnitude but not scalp distribution, suggesting enhanced processing efficiency within existing lexical networks. These findings suggest that morphemic knowledge contributes to lexical quality and facilitates the efficiency of lexical processing during visual word recognition. More broadly, the results highlight the importance of individual differences in linguistic knowledge for understanding the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying word recognition. [Collapse]
  Keywords: morphemic knowledge, morphological processing, Sino-Korean prefixed derivations, masked priming, Event-Related Potentials (ERP), Lexical Quality Hypothesis
• Effects of Short-Term Discrimination Training on the Perceptual Assimilation of Foreign-Language Vowels by L2-Naïve Listeners
  by Eunjin Oh
  J. CS. 2026, 27(2), 281-309;
  Abstract This study examines the effects of short-term AX/AXB discrimination training on the perceptual assimilation of French vowels by native Korean listeners with no prior experience in French. It explores whether acoustic- and category-based training can influence how foreign sounds are mapped onto nativ... [Read more]
  Abstract This study examines the effects of short-term AX/AXB discrimination training on the perceptual assimilation of French vowels by native Korean listeners with no prior experience in French. It explores whether acoustic- and category-based training can influence how foreign sounds are mapped onto native phonological categories. Thirteen participants completed discrimination training sessions with immediate feedback, and perceptual assimilation data were collected before and after training. The results showed a significant improvement in discrimination accuracy, with the total number of errors in the AX task decreasing from 72 before training to 5 after training. However, the effects of training on perceptual assimilation were not uniform, but varied by vowel and consonantal context. For example, the mapping of French /ɛ/ to Korean /e/ was strengthened after training, with greater response consistency and higher goodness ratings. More changes were observed in coronal contexts, where the assimilation category for French /o/ changed from Korean /o/ to Korean /u/, and several vowel contrasts showed changes in their perceptual assimilation patterns. These findings suggest that short-term discrimination training can improve discrimination accuracy and, in limited and context-dependent ways, may affect L2-to-L1 assimilation patterns, indicating that the initial state of foreign speech perception is not entirely fixed. [Collapse]
  Keywords: short-term training, vowel discrimination, perceptual assimilation model, category goodness, cross-language speech perception, French, Korean
• Invariances and the Number Concept
  by Paula Quinon & Peter Gärdenfors
  J. CS. 2026, 27(1), 1-23;
  Abstract Cognitive scientists Spelke and Kintzler (2007) and Carey (2009) identify objects, actions, space and numbers as “core domains of knowledge” that are essential for conceptualizing the world. Gärdenfors (2019, 2020) argues that objects, actions and space are characterized by invariances in sensory si... [Read more]
  Abstract Cognitive scientists Spelke and Kintzler (2007) and Carey (2009) identify objects, actions, space and numbers as “core domains of knowledge” that are essential for conceptualizing the world. Gärdenfors (2019, 2020) argues that objects, actions and space are characterized by invariances in sensory signals. In this paper, we extend the analysis of invariances to the domain of numbers (understood as positive integers). As a theoretical background, we assume that numbers, as studied in cognitive science, are properties of collections. We claim that the domain of numbers is determined by two types of invariances: (i) the invariance under the location of its objects; (ii) the unconstrained fungibility of objects, which is the determinant invariance of the number concept: If an object in a collection is exchanged for another object, the collection will still contain the same number of objects. We show that invariance under fungibility closely maps onto one-to-one correspondences between collections. Our theoretical analysis is supported by empirical material. [Collapse]
  Keywords: numerical cognition, invariance, one-to-one mapping, fungibility, number properties
• When Words Sound Big or Small: Investigation of Sound Symbolism in Korean
  by Nayoung Kwon & Yoonhyoung Lee
  J. CS. 2026, 27(1), 25-49;
  Abstract This study investigates vowel-based sound symbolism in Korean ideophones, focusing on how contrasts between yang and yin vowels—associated with perceived size, valence, and intensity—influence lexical processing. Experiment 1, a questionnaire study, confirmed that ideophones containing yin vowels we... [Read more]
  Abstract This study investigates vowel-based sound symbolism in Korean ideophones, focusing on how contrasts between yang and yin vowels—associated with perceived size, valence, and intensity—influence lexical processing. Experiment 1, a questionnaire study, confirmed that ideophones containing yin vowels were interpreted as conveying greater negativity, intensity, and size than those with yang vowels. Experiment 2 employed a lexical decision task to examine whether such sound-symbolic associations influence real-time language processing. The results were mixed: accuracy data indicated a mismatch effect, with lower accuracy for yang-vowel ideophones following large-object primes, but no clear facilitation under congruent conditions. Additionally, reaction times for yang-vowel ideophones were slower overall, regardless of prime type. These findings suggest that while explicit sound-symbolic associations are robust, their effects on online lexical processing are context-dependent. Notably, faster responses to yin-vowel ideophones align with prior evidence that conceptually larger objects are processed more efficiently, highlighting the interaction between phonological iconicity and semantic salience in language comprehension. [Collapse]
  Keywords: sound symbolism, Korean ideophones, questionnaire study, lexical decision