1
Q
what is psycholinguistics
A
the study of cognitive underpinnings of human language
2
Q
ac to psycholinguistics, what are 4 qualities that must be met for something to be considered a language?
A
- must be communicative
- must be referential and is therefore meaningful
- must be structured
- must be creative and allow for the creation of meaningful, never before spoken sentences
3
Q
language is communicative
A
–> but we also communicate through facial expressions etc
–> so this quality isn’t enough
–> its also more than just thought since we can think without words
4
Q
animal communication debate
A
- some gorillas haev been trained with ASL
- but whether they actually understood the meaning is doubtful
- a bonobo obtained language but didn’t ahve language flexibility or creativity
–> failed to comprehend compelx sentences
–> so far, we tend to think that animals can communicate but its not an active process for them as it is for us
5
Q
language is referential and meaningful
A
Language must be a direct expression of how we represent the world in our minds
–> we must also be able to communicate about things that are not actively present
6
Q
mental lexicon
A
the ‘library’ of words we use and their links to real-world representations
7
Q
what are 2 ways in which we access the mental lexicon?
A
phonologically
orthographically
8
Q
phonologically
A
via sound
–> if you hear dog, your mental lexicon will come up with words that sound similar to dog
9
Q
orthographically
A
via written form
–> looking for similarities in spellings
10
Q
spreading activation model
A
words in the mental lexicon are linked by their meaning
–> Exposure to one word activates the corresponding node in a network, activation spreads, and you think of another related word
11
Q
what happens with pura alexia brain damage
A
acquired dyslexia can lead to difficulties in orthographic processing but not phonological processing
–> arguably bc of damage to the left occipito-temporal lobe
12
Q
lexical decision task
A
Designed to investigate how words are organized within the mental lexicon
–> Participants are asked to make rapid judgments about a string of letters that are presented to them (is it a word or not?)
13
Q
what is the word frequency effect?
A
people are faster to respond to high frequency words than low frequency words
–> since it is easier to access high frequency words
14
Q
what is another way to do the lexical decision task?
A
by presenting 2 words in a word
–> target word and preceding word that either primes or doesn’t prime the target word
–> If the target word is preceded by a word that is semantically related, the reaction time is lower
15
Q
2 types of priming
A
- semantic
- affective
16
Q
semantic priming
A
exposure to a word that is related in MEANING influences a response to a subsequent stimulus
17
Q
affective priming
A
exposure to a word that has the same EMOTIONAL quality influences a response to subsequent stimulus
18
Q
is learning language easy? how do children do it?
A
no its really fucking hard actually
but children do it really quickly
and acquire vocab with only minimal exposure to each word
19
Q
fast mapping
A
2 yr olds appear to identify meaning after only one exposure
–> this might be due to the fact that they don’t take the time to consider the full spectrum of a word’s referents
20
Q
whole object constraints
A
young children will spontaneously assume a word refers to the whole object, rather than any specific feature
21
Q
shape bias
A
When generalizing a word to new contexts, they generalize to objects with the same shape rather than ones with the same color, size or texture
22
Q
mutual exclusivity constraint
A
children appear to factor in what they already know to guide their learning of new words
23
Q
language is structured
A
Sentences have underlying structures that are processed separately from their semantics or meaning of a word or phrase
24
Q
syntax
vs
gramamar
vs
semantics
A
- rules about how to structure sentences and combine words into phrases
- broader set of rules that constrain language
- meaning
25
are syntax, grammar and semantics processed together?
nope, they're processed separately
26
which is worse: violations of syntax or of semantics
incorrect structure (syntax) is harder for us to process than properly arranged gibberish (no semantics)
27
language allows for the creation of meaningful, never before spoken sentences
flexible and infinitely creative
28
productivity
the ability to produce and understand completely new sentences that have never been produced before
29
what does our language productivity show?
that we have an internalized system of rules for combining elements in new meanings
--> our knowledge of syntatic rules allow us to be creative w language
30
recursion
embedding structure of language inside other structures, like sentences within sentences. So technically the length of sentences is unlimited
--> only works bc we know our rules intrinsically
31
prescriptive rules
rules of grammar about how language should be expressed
32
descriptive rules
rules of language that are naturally and spontaneously instantiated
33
what are current theories around language focused on?
the cognitive processes that drive language learning and use
--> driven by Noam Chomsky
34
how did we originally think of language acquisition?
believed to emerge form associative learning
--> behviouralism, conditioning
35
markov model
sought to explain verbal utterances and language development as probabilistically dependent on preceding words
36
what did both behaviouralism and markov model depend on?
finite state grammars
=in which sentences are constructed in sequence, with earlier parts of the sentence constraining what the second half could be
37
what did Chomsky think about the behaviourist model?
thought it was too simple to account for how language is acquired and used creatively
--> Argued that language is acquired too quickly in the real world and without prior exposure, so it wasn’t acquired due to behaviourist principles
38
what are some reasons that point against the behaviourist explanation for language acquisition?
- even if parents make errors, children still acquire language
- poverty of stimulus
- negative evidence
- children tend to overgeneralize grammatical rules and make mistakes they don't hear from their parents
39
language acquisition device
--> children naturally have this
--> a natural instinct that makes us seek out and master the rules that define our native tongues
39
negative evidence
Children do not receive negative evidence for ungrammatical sentences
--> parents will never correct a young child about their sentence formation, yet children will still improve
39
universal grammar
Chomsky believed that every human language involves rules that may vary from language to language but are universal in one way
--> and that ultimately enable us to form mental representations that we later translate into structured expressions
39
poverty of stimulus
there may be lack of into or presence of errors in the environment about correct language use
40
Chomsky believed that language acquisition was modular. what did he mean by this?
it develops and operates independently from other cognitive abilities
--> this is still debated
--> evidence for (Williams syndrome)
--> but not fully convincing
41
critical period
= a time when children are optimally equipped to learn something. In this case, the rules of a particular language
42
what are some limitations of Genie's case study? (3)
- extremely unethical, obviously
- her difficulties could be due to the social isolation she experienced
- or she could've been born with some form of biological or intellectual disability
43
what case study supported the idea of a critical period?
Genie
--> an abused child who was isolated from infancy and not spoken to until she was 13 yrs old
--> able to acquire a large vocabulary but always had difficulties learning about grammar
44
when do children have more difficulty learning new languages?
- after they reach puberty
BUT grammar-learning capabilities stay until about 17, then decrease
45
transformational grammar
the core of human language
--> system of rules was what allows us to translate mental representations into structured verbal output and VV
46
what are the 2 structures of transformational grammar
- deep structure
- surface structure
47
deep structure
the underlying mental representation of the event
48
surface structure
the way that the representation is structured linguistically
--> if hard to determine, it can be hard to understand the underlying deep structure, resulting in an amibious sentence
49
what are 2 arguments in support for grammar instinct?
- people who speak different languages are able to combine vocabs to form new languages that dont adhere to one single system of grammatical rules (pidgin languages)
- children impose their own grammatical rules, leading to the creation of creole languages
50
pidgin language
vs
creole languages
simplified language used for communication between speakers of different languages
fully developed language, arises from pidgin languages a synthesis of words from different languages that adheres to rule of grammar
51
what are 3 arguments that criticize grammar instinct?
- evidence suggest that language dev is tied to other social and cog processes, not a single module
- children's language is tied to understanding of other people's actions and intentions
- also interconnected and reliant on other cognitive factors
52
cognitive functional linguistics
emphasizes the communicative function of language
53
what are some issues with the idea of universal grammar
- very strong claim, could be easily falsified with a single language that does not have grammatical rules
- too broad to be accurate
54
phonemes
the basic unit of sound in language
55
who's better at distinguishing phonemes: adults or children?
children
--> they enter the world prepared to tune into the sound of any language
--> and learn based on the nature of their experience w the phonemes
56
what type of input is better for developing phonemes?
socially salient source, a real speaker
57
when do children start to loose sensitivity to phonemes?
around 6 months
--> lose sensitivity to sounds not present in their native tongue
58
phonetic categories
categories that we use to distinguish meaningful sounds
--> In English, r and l are assigned to different phonetic categories
While in Japanese, they are not, leading to difficulties in differentiating them
59
native language magnet effect
the process of learning what phonetic differences are relevant for one's native language
60
phonology
the (tacit) rules that govern how sound can be combined within a language
--> differs per language
61
morphemes
the smallest units of MEANINGFUL sound
62
2 types of morphemes
- content morphemes
- function morphemes
63
content morphemes
vs
function morphemes
those used to describe places, people, actions etc. can be used on their own
used to modify content. cannot be used on their own. -s, pre-, -er
64
morphology
the rules by which we combine morphemes into words
65
lexical acces
the act of retrieving words and their meanings from our mental lexico
66
speech errors
made when processing or producing words
--> often due to interference from neighboring words or sounds in our mental lexicon
67
semantic substitution vs phonological substitution
semantic = the food is in the dishwasher (when you meant to say fridge)
--> happens bc of similar meanings
phonological = i went to the shore (when you meant to say store)
--> happens bc of similar sounds
68
tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
type of speech error
--> the feeling we get when we know we know the word but it’s just out of reach. We may even remember similar words or what letter it starts with but not the letter itself
69
do we really care about producing and understanding languages
YES BITCH
--> this ability is critical
--> surgeons take more care to protect these areas than motor areas to prevent aphasia
70
aphasia
=a condition involving impaired ability to produce or understand language, usually due to a stroke or injury
71
what results from damage to Broca's area?
broca's aphasia
--> difficulty speaking fluently, but can typically understand spoken sentences, especially when grammar is simple
72
what results from damage to Wernicke's area?
wernicke's aphasia
--> difficulty understanding the meaning of words and sentences
73
anomic aphasia
People have difficulty finding the words they want to say
74
global aphasia
People have great difficulty in both producing and comprehending spoken language
75
3 primary processes involved in the production of language
1. selecting message that we want to communicate
2. selecting the grammatical structure of the message
3. converting the message and structure into a sequence of sounds
76
syntactical error
assigning a part of a speech to an incorrect place in a sentence
--> we typically do this with a component at the same level
77
swapping phonemes
vs
swapping morphemes
vs
swapping words
snow flurries --> flow snurries
self-destruct instruction --> self-instruct destruction
writing a mother to my letter --> writing a letter to my mother
78
anticipation errors
also spoonerisms
--> when a phoneme early in a sentence is swapped for one late in the sentence
79
what do spoonerisms suggest
that planning of speech sounds and the planning of word placement occurs at different stages of language production (3 primary processes)
80
speech segmentation
also parsing
--> segmenting incoming speech sounds and understanding the boundaries between words
81
how do children learn to parse in their native language?
by noticing statistical likelihoods of different sound combinations
--> unconsciously
82
phonemic restoration effect
when individuals seem to hear spoken phonemes that have been rendered inaudible by background noise or omission
83
when is phonemic restoration effect easier?
when words are drowned out by external sounds, as opposed to just silence
84
what other, nonlinguistic, factors contribute to language comprehension?
- our expectations, knowedledge and context
- available cues in the environment
- tone, prodosy
- gestures
85
prosody
the patterns of intonation in a sentence
86
what can impact a person's ability to process language in the moment?
executive function
87
garden path sentences
sentences that begin by suggesting one interpretation but then suggest another one later
88
what do garden path sentences require? what is one implication of this?
cognitive flexibility
--> children manage this worse than adults (kindergarten path sentence effect)
89
what are pragmatics
studying how language can be used to communicate
90
what 4 factors affect the communicative function of language?
- What the speaker knows
- What the listener knows
- What the speaker know sw about what the listener knows
- What the listener knows about what the speaker knows
91
what can we use to understand someone's meaning in the face of ambiguity? what does this depend on?
context
--> common ground
92
common ground
speaker and listener share an understanding or perception of the context or share a degree of knowledge
93
curse of knowledge
where common ground fails
--> expert cannot put themselves in the shoes of a less knowledgeable listener
94
when do communication errors happen?
when speaker and listener lack common ground or view situations differently
95
how do we study communication errors?
referential communication task
--> where 2 participants are separated by a partition and one must describe the layout of objects to the other
--> having common ground makes this much easier
96
bilingualism
= ability to master two languages so well that one can communicate fluently with other native speakers in each language at that level
97
2 types of bilingualism
- simultaneous = languages learnt simultaneously
- sequential = languages learnt one after the other
98
what happens to the mental lexicon in the case of simultaneous bilingualism?
both languages are combined into one mental lexicon
99
what happens with bilingual children?
tend to start speaking a bit later, with a slightly reduced vocab in the independent languages
--> but obviously know both languages so know more overall
100
what do we know about the cognitive advantages of bilingualism?
- mixed evidence
- early studies showed huge benefits like more cognitive flexibility, more intelligence etc but have been found to be flawed
- currently, we know that bilinguals perform more slowly on tasks involving naming pictures or word production
- but also perform better on tasks that index attentional control
- but also some studies found no cognitive difference at all :cry:
101
linguistic determinism
also called the sapir-whorf hypothesis
= differences among languages reflect and contribute to differences in underlying through processes
-->exploration of the idea that language shapes thought
102
2 versions of linguistic determinism
- strong version = language shapes the way we perceive and experience the world
- weak version = language doesn't affect subjective experience but it does reflect and shape differences in higher cognitive processes like categorization
103
what are some criticisms of the different versions of linguistic determinism?
strong version = some evidence against it
weak version = so weak that it would be hard to disprove
104
what is another issue with linguistic determinism?
many languages describe experience similarly, suggesting there may be universal perceptual constraints
--> we tend to have similar color vocab
--> and can recognize similar shapes in all languages
105
what is one possible impact of language on memory?
it can affect the way we attend to info and therefore the way we encode it onto memory
106
what is one example of linguistic determinsim?
how language changes color perception
--> Russian differentiates between lighter blues and darker blues where English does not (use qualifying words)
--> Research found that Russian speakers were faster to respond when two stimuli fell into different categories of blue than when they fell into the same category
--> Not seen in English speakers
--> And was eliminated when participants were asked to do a simultaneous verbal task, which would've created interference in their reliance on language
107
what is another implication of the sapir-whorf hypothesis?
language may affect how we process spatial info and how we think about responsibility, as well as our ability to perceive facial expressions of emotion
108
language affecting spatial info
--> Preschoolers who were exposed to spatial language while playing were found to outperform children who had not been exposed to such language when later tested on mental rotation tasks
--> People who speak in language focusing on cardinal directions to locate things (Tseltal) are found to remember spatial layouts in terms of absolute coords
--> While those who speak in language focusing on egocentric spatial terms (left v right) (Dutch) remember the scenes better in body centric coordinates
109
language affecting the perception of responsability
--> When describing accidents, English speakers are more likely than Spanish speakers to use agentive language (she broke the vase)
--> This means that they were more likely to remember who did what in recordings of accidents
110
conceptual act theory of emotion
=Processing and experience of emotion are shaped by conceptual knowledge about emotions which are in turn supported by language
111
ultimately, what does the data say about the linguistic determinism theory?
that the strong version is probably wrong
--> language probs doesn’t constrain how we think but instead guides our appreciation of which aspects of experience are particularly salient and merit encoding
