Most psycholinguistic research on action naming has relied on static pictures, even though actions are by nature dynamic events. To overcome this limitation, the present study introduces the first open-access video database developed for French speakers of Quebec, Canada. The corpus includes 136 short video clips depicting everyday actions. Each video was normed for five psycholinguistic variables: name agreement (NA), entropy (H-statistic), response latency, uniqueness naming point-the moment at which an action becomes unambiguously identifiable-and adjusted response latency. Data were collected from 93 native French speakers of Quebec. Most actions elicited consistent name agreement (mean NA = 80.73%), while the mean entropy value (H-statistic = 0.84) reflected the lexical diversity typical of Quebec French. This freely available video-based normative resource offers a dynamic, culturally adapted tool for studying verb processing and supports both clinical applications and experimental investigations in psycholinguistics.

Executive Functions (EFs) are known to play a role in academic performance, especially in reading and mathematics, but their role in spelling is not clear and has received scant research attention. The present study targets this gap in the literature and examines the contribution of EFs to spelling beyond phonological awareness (PA). It broadens the perspective by concomitantly examining spelling in L1 Arabic and in English as a foreign language. Measures of EFs (working memory, inhibition, and shifting), Arabic and English PA, and Arabic and English spelling were administered to a sample of 84 fifth graders and 80 eighth graders. Results demonstrated that working memory showed a marginally significant contribution to spelling in Arabic, but not in English, whereas inhibition and shifting did not significantly predict spelling in either language. Further, the links between EFs and spelling remained stable across the two grade levels. These findings identify working memory as a potential contributor to spelling which may vary depending on the language status, but do not support the contribution of inhibition and shifting to spelling.

Chinese is widely known as a topic-prominent language, and topic sentences are typical Chinese sentence structures. Sparse previous L2 processing studies of Chinese topic sentences mainly focused on single-topic sentences, while this study examined the processing of Chinese double-topic sentences. Beginning with three sentence-initial NPs (double topics and a subject), Chinese double-topic sentences are subject to the double-topic constraint, which requires the base-generated topic to precede the moved topic. Adopting a self-paced reading task, this study explores how intermediate and advanced Korean learners of Chinese as well as Chinese native speakers process the double topics and the subject, and whether they are sensitive to the double-topic constraint, revealing to what extent their processing is nativelike. The results showed that all participants had a similar pattern in processing the double topics and the subject in that they showed a reanalysis effect in analyzing the second and third NP. Besides, the Chinese native speakers and advanced Korean learners of Chinese were found to be sensitive to the double-topic constraint, but the intermediate Korean learners were not. The implications of the results for L2 sentence processing are discussed.

This issue is based on a conference that was held in July 2023 and that focused on new advances in the theory and measures of the Referential Process (RP). The concept of the RP was developed in the context of the Multiple Code Theory (MCT) and concerns the complex process by which people are able to connect all manner of experiences, including bodily and emotional experience, to words, in both spoken and written language. A previous issue of this journal, published in 2021, outlined the theory of the referential process, and included empirical and clinical applications. The research studies featured measures of language style based on the Discourse Attributes Analysis Program (DAAP), a computerized text analysis system that was developed by Bernard Maskit in the context of MCT. The 2023 conference covered new developments in the DAAP research program and also featured Dr. Maskit’s presentation of the new TDAAP (Time-based DAAP) which analyzes spoken language on the basis of time flow rather than word count. This new program takes a major step towards examining the role of sensory and bodily experience in the verbal communication of experience. The conference was sponsored by the Pacella Research Center of the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. It included both in-person and online participants across the U.S. and in Canada, Israel, and Italy, and represented the combined efforts of researchers and clinicians. At the conclusion of the conference, the editor of this journal, Dr. Rafael Javier, invited submission of the papers presented at the meetings for a special issue of the journal. In this introduction, we will briefly outline the theory that provides the conceptual framework for our projects. The next section will provide a brief introduction to the papers that are included in this issue.

This paper investigates the relationship between the structural features of Chinese characters and the handwriting quality of Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) beginners. The study involved 22 CFL beginners transcribing characters using digital ink technology. Correlations were analyzed between structural features (including stroke count, stroke types, and specific stroke forms like hooks and folds) and three key handwriting quality indicators: Composite Stability, symmetry, and slant. The results revealed significant correlations between character complexity and handwriting quality. Specifically, characters containing right-falling strokes exhibited lower Composite Stability, whereas a higher number of hooks correlated with improved Composite Stability. Characters with more diverse stroke types were associated with better symmetry, while folds negatively impacted both symmetry and slant. Furthermore, characters with a greater number of left-falling strokes, right-falling strokes, and folds were linked to poorer slant performance. These findings underscore the importance for Chinese language teachers to consider character structural features in instructional design and suggest that targeted practice with structurally challenging characters, focusing on specific stroke configurations, may more effectively enhance learners' Chinese character writing skills.

Persuasive texts aim to impact readers' behaviors through linguistic manipulations. Advertisements, for example, attempt to convince consumers to prefer and purchase a certain product or service. The objective of this study was to examine whether persuasive texts impact people differently than informational texts and whether the former can lead to behavioral changes in the short term. The 135 teenagers and young adults who participated in the study were asked to taste two different types of chocolate spread that were, in fact, the same. The research groups were asked to read a persuasive text about the product before tasting Chocolate #1 and an informational text before tasting Chocolate #2. On the other hand, the control groups were asked to read informational texts before tasting both "flavors". The results showed that both teenagers and adults were influenced by the persuasive texts when choosing their preferred flavor, yet to a different degree. These findings lead to a discussion about the power of words in shaping consciousness and minds.