Testing an algorithm to determine semantic distance between words
Standing
Undergraduate
Type of Proposal
Visual Presentation (Poster, Installation, Demonstration)
Faculty
Faculty of Science
Faculty Sponsor
Chitra Rangan
Proposal
A computer algorithm that can calculate the semantic distance between words is being used extensively in Psychology. In one application, it is used to determine the difference in word meanings as perceived by a person with brain injury or disease versus a "normal" person, for non-invasive diagnosis of impairment. This algorithm was developed using a relatively small sample of human language, i.e., about half a million words. We have developed prototype algorithms that reproduce the earlier results for these small bodies of work. In this project, we are testing this algorithm for a large body of work (corpus) that contains billions of words. This test will enable us to see if the computer algorithms scale for large fractions of human language.
Location
University of Windsor
Grand Challenges
Healthy Great Lakes
Testing an algorithm to determine semantic distance between words
University of Windsor
A computer algorithm that can calculate the semantic distance between words is being used extensively in Psychology. In one application, it is used to determine the difference in word meanings as perceived by a person with brain injury or disease versus a "normal" person, for non-invasive diagnosis of impairment. This algorithm was developed using a relatively small sample of human language, i.e., about half a million words. We have developed prototype algorithms that reproduce the earlier results for these small bodies of work. In this project, we are testing this algorithm for a large body of work (corpus) that contains billions of words. This test will enable us to see if the computer algorithms scale for large fractions of human language.