Asking appropriate follow-up questions is an important aspect of semi-structured interviews, yet interviewers’ knowledge and skills may limit their depth and affect outcomes. While many studies have demonstrated the usefulness of large language models (LLMs) for qualitative analysis, their potential in data collection remains underexplored. We adopt an AI-driven/Reverse “Wizard-of-Oz” setup to investigate how real-time LLM support for generating follow-up questions shapes semi-structured interviews. Through a study with 17 participants, we examine the value of LLM-generated follow-up questions, the evolving division of roles, relationships, collaborative behaviors, and responsibilities between interviewers and AI. Our findings (1) provide empirical evidence of the strengths and limitations of AI-generated follow-up questions (AGQs); (2) introduce a Human-AI collaboration framework in this interview context; and (3) propose human-centered design guidelines for AI-assisted interviews. We position LLMs as complements, not replacements, human judgment, and highlight pathways for integrating AI into qualitative data collection.
Acoustic features of child directed speech (CDS) in caregiver-child conversational interactions are known to capture young children’s attention to language input and facilitate language learning. Emerging evidence suggests that caregivers’ use of CDS-like features when reading to their child, known as caregiver oral reading prosody, plays an important role in supporting preschoolers’ storybook comprehension. Do associations between caregiver oral reading prosody and preschoolers’ language extend beyond real-time listening comprehension to broader language skills? Forty-one caregivers read a children’s book to their child (ages: 4–5 years) as they normally would at home. The caregivers’ oral reading prosody (i.e., intonation and timing features) was examined in relation to children’s receptive vocabulary and core language skills. Moderated mediation models then investigated possible impacts of caregiver reading skills and shared reading time on these associations. Caregiver intonation range positively related to child vocabulary and caregiver inappropriate (i.e., ungrammatical) pausing negatively related to child core language skills. Mediation models revealed that caregiver reading skills indirectly related to child language through oral reading prosody measures. Notably, the indirect effect linking caregiver reading skills to child vocabulary via caregiver intonation range was moderated by shared reading time, with the strongest effects among dyads reporting less shared reading engagement. Findings illuminate caregiver oral reading prosody as one factor linking caregiver reading skills to child language, with particular relevance among families of caregivers with reading difficulties and for those with limited shared reading opportunities.
We study exponential clocks for weighted Set Cover, previously analyzed as a (lnB+1)-approximation by Buchbinder et al. (2018) and Ma (2023). We show that an optimized analysis using positive correlation gives an H(B)-approximation. Combining independent LP rounding with exponential clocks as alteration yields a simple two-stage algorithm that, when the maximum element frequency satisfies f=Θ(lnB), improves over the current best bound of Saket and Sviridenko (2012).
Research shows that maintenance of Spanish, the heritage or home language of 75% of U.S. Latine children and adolescents, is associated with their positive psychosocial development and academic achievement. Furthermore, a solid foundation in oral language skills in early childhood contributes to their literacy and overall academic success. Use of Spanish in the home by parents/caregivers has been studied in relation to Latine children’s Spanish oral language skills, yet relatively little is known about the cultural factors that shape these skills in early childhood. Using observation based measures of language production in the interactions of 166 Mexican-origin young mothers (Mage = 19.98; SD = 1.00) with their children, this study examined mothers’ Mexican cultural involvement when their children were three years of age, their cultural socialization practices and Spanish language use with their children at child age 4, and the direct and indirect associations of these cultural factors with children’s language production in Spanish at child age 5. Results showed that mothers’ Mexican cultural involvement positively predicted their young children’s Spanish oral language production at age 5, even after controlling for mothers’ use of Spanish in mother-child interactions and efforts to socialize their young children to the Mexican culture. Mothers’ use of Spanish and their cultural socialization efforts differentially mediated the association between their Mexican cultural involvement and their young children’s Spanish language skills. Findings highlight the critical role of Mexican-origin mothers’ cultural assets for their children’s bilingual development in early childhood.
This study examines the impacts of SNORD116 on the expression and RNA modifications of diacylglycerol kinase kappa , an enzyme implicated in neurogenesis and synaptic function that are likely relevant to aspects of the pathophysiology of Prader–Willi syndrome. SNORD116 is a small nucleolar RNA deficient in Prader–Willi syndrome individuals. The mechanisms by which SNORD116 conveys its effects are unknown. Here, transcriptomic analysis showed that diacylglycerol kinase kappa ( Dgkk ) expression was elevated in the hypothalamus of Snord116 -deficient mice. In silico analyses predicted a strong RNA:RNA interaction between Snord116 and Dgkk mRNA that is fully conserved in mouse and human. In vitro experiments in human cellular models demonstrated that SNORD116 mediates 2′-O-methylation of DGKK mRNA and regulates DGKK mRNA and protein expression. In Snord116 -deficient mouse neurons, increased Dgkk expression was associated with attenuated diacylglycerol-mediated activation of ERK and PKC, critical elements in neuronal signaling cascades. In mice, brain Dgkk expression peaks during late embryonic and early postnatal periods, coinciding with peak rates of neurogenesis; its expression in adults is restricted mainly to brain regions implicated in Prader–Willi syndrome pathophysiology, including the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus. Fasting acutely decreased hypothalamic Dgkk expression in wild-type mice. Increased Dgkk expression in Snord116 -deficient mice could reflect derangements in this pathway that affects both brain development and cell-specific functions.
