PSYC 213 > Language > Flashcards

Language Flashcards

(70 cards)

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1
Q

What was the earlier belief of bilingualism?

A

It leads to confusion and is linked to “inferior intelligence”
Really was a test of different socioeconomic status

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2
Q

What was the result of 1960 Montreal’s bilingual test?

A

Bilingual children have more cognitive plasticity and did better on cognitive tests

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3
Q

T/F - Bilingualism is unique

A

False - 50-70% of world is bilingual

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4
Q

What is independent activation?

A

One language will be activated while the other is not

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5
Q

What is parallel activation?

A

Both languages are activated

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6
Q

What is the correct activation for bilingualism?

A

Parallel activation

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7
Q

What are cognates?

A

Form and meaning is the same in two languages
E.g., hotel in English and hotel in French

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8
Q

What are false friends?

A

Forms are the same, but meanings are different

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9
Q

What happens if there is a cognate in the languages you speak and you hear it?

A

Cognate facilitation effect: you respond faster

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10
Q

What happens if you know two languages and you don’t hear a cognate?

A

No difference in response time

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11
Q

How are eye-tracking used as a measurement?

A

Fixation vs. saccade - longer fixation linked to greater comprehension difficulty

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12
Q

What was the results of the eye-tracking experiment?

A

Both languages are coactivated
- Cognates = shorter fixations (facilitation)
- False friends = longer fixations (interference)

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13
Q

What is the inhibitory control model?

A

Supervisory attentional system -> activates inhibitory system to suppress the language not needed

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14
Q

What does level of inhibition of a language equal to?

A

Level of competition
- More competition => higher level of inhibition

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15
Q

How are languages scales?

A

When one is up, the other is lowered

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16
Q

How does cognitive overload impact the language scale?

A

We have limited resources -> can lead to errors

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17
Q

What happens if words are semantically related?

A

More time to respond

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18
Q

What is asymmetrical switching cost?

A
  • Easy to go to/stay in native language
  • Going from one language to another language takes more time
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19
Q

What is the explanation for asymmetrical switching cost?

A

It is easier to inhibit non-native language than native language

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20
Q

How does bilingualism result in changes in the brain?

A

Due to enhancements in language control -> enhancements in general control -> change

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21
Q

What is the bilingual advantage hypothesis?

A

Bilingual young adults demonstrate superior performance on inhibitory control tests
- Phenomenon is extremely controversial

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22
Q

How is “Cooking pasta in La Paz” by Thomas H. Bak used as a comparison?

A

Boiling point is 100C everywhere except Bolivia due to altitude (88C)
- Mixed results are likely genuine and can co-exist
- Not easy to characterize bilinguals

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23
Q

How does grey/white matter look like in bilinguals?

A

More than monolinguals

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24
Q

After how much time does white matter change in bilinguals?

A

Very quickly to small exposure to language - but can also easily be reversed

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25
How does bilingualism impact dementia?
Can delay age of onset by 3-4+ years
26
How does bilingualism relate to stroke?
Bilinguals have better outcomes when recovering from a stroke
27
What is language?
Symbolic shared system for purposeful communication
28
What is the theory on complexity of language?
Complexity of language decreases with increase of people using it (inclusivity of language)
29
How are lexical tones related to climate?
Tonal languages are more spoken in warmer climates
30
What is neurolinguistics?
Understanding neural underpinnings of languages
31
What is aphasia?
Impaired language function, usually from brain injury
32
What is Broca's (non-fluent) aphasia?
Difficulty producing language and articulation words - Writing also affected
33
What is Wernicke's (fluent) aphasia?
Speech is fluent but incomprehensible - Use paraphasias and neologisms (invented words)
34
What is Wernicke's aphasia caused by?
Damage to the posterior superior temporal lobe (typically left hemisphere)
35
What is conduction aphasia?
Damage to neural pathway between Broca's and Wernicke's area - Can read, write, and speak Can't find words and repeat sentences/words
36
What is paraphasias?
Speech errors in aphasia
37
What are the three types of paraphasias?
Verbal, phonemic, neologisms
38
What is verbal paraphasias?
Substituting a word with something related e.g., Brother -> sister
39
What is phonemic (literal) paraphasias?
Swapping or adding speech sounds e.g., crab salad -> sad cralad
40
What is neologisms paraphasias?
Invented words that are different from those shared with community - cannot convey meaning
41
What lateralization is language considered?
Left
42
What is unique about people who are left-handed?
They have more contralateral language
43
What parts of language is supported by the right hemisphere?
Broad aspects: prosody, pitch, mood, attitude, gestural communication
44
What does right-hemisphere lesions disrupt?
Ability to interpret and express prosody of speech
45
What are the two views of language acquisition?
Nuturist and naturist view
46
What is the nuturist view of language acquisition?
Language is acquired through same mechanisms as skill learning - Reinforced through trial and error and modeling - Same as behaviorist view
47
What is the naturist view of language acquisition?
We are born with innate capacity to learn language - Language is complex and acquired rapidly- not determined by reinforcement
48
What is the evidence that supports naturist view?
We can understand and speak what we have not heard before
49
What is the innateness hypothesis?
Syntax is separated from semantic and cognition
50
What is the Language Acquisition Device (LAD)?
Principles of grammar - entity that supports language
51
What is Universal Grammar?
Part of LAD that includes rules for all languages
52
How does convergence support naturist view?
Children are exposed to different learning situations but converge on same grammar
53
What is poverty of stimulus argument?
Linguistic environment is not enough for a child to teach them language
54
What are the components of linguistics?
Phonemes, morphemes, syntax, semantics
55
What are phonemes?
Smallest linguistic unit
56
What are morphemes?
Smallest meaningful units of language (words)
57
What are syntax?
Rules that govern how words are arranged in a sentence
58
What is semantics?
Meaning
59
What does phonological vs lexical mean?
Phonological - within a sound lexical - within a word
60
What is lexical ambiguity?
A single word form can refer tomore than one different concept (homophemes)
61
What is sentence parsing?
Dividing sentence into words (tree diagrams)
62
Where does sentence ambiguity come from?
We hear sentences incrementally and there are more than one way to parse a sentence
63
What is a garden path sentence?
Sentences with multiple syntax structures - interpreting a word one way leads you awry
64
What is the syntax first theory of sentence parsing?
Use grammatical rules to interpret a sentence as we hear or read it (local or specific)
65
What is the constraint based models theory of sentence parsing?
Use non-grammatical info to help interpret sentences and resolve ambiguity (global holistic)
66
What is linguistic universalists?
Language and thought are independent
67
What is linguistic relativity?
Language and thought are interconnected
68
What is the Sapir Whorf Hypothesis?
People of different languages have fundamentally different experiences - Language change how we think and perceive
69
What are some examples of how time is viewed?
Locked to our body or in relation to the landscape
70
How does language impact color perception? (hint: English and Russian)
Russian: have more words for different shades of blue - Russian speakers are faster at discriminating different shades of blue/can identify it
PSYC 213
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