Who attempted to explain language through operant conditioning?
B.F. Skinner
Skinner claimed children learn to speak by being rewarded for correct sounds and punished for wrong ones.
What did Noam Chomsky argue against Skinner’s theory?
Language is rule-based, symbolic, and creative
Chomsky’s ideas ended behaviorism’s dominance and began the cognitive revolution.
Define language.
A universal human capacity for communication using arbitrary symbols that follow grammatical rules
Language allows us to share ideas and influence others’ thoughts.
List the key features of language.
- Communicative: allows us to share ideas and influence others’ thoughts
- Arbitrary: no natural link between word and meaning (e.g. “walk” doesn’t sound like walking)
- Structured: Governed by grammatical rules at multiple levels
- Generative: Finite set of elements can create infinite combinations (discrete infinity)
Dynamic: constantly changes; new words appear, others disappear
Example: German and English were once the same language but diverged over time, becoming mutually unintelligible.
These features highlight the complexity and adaptability of language.
Approximately how many languages exist globally?
~6,000–7,000 languages
Languages can be not mutually intelligible, while dialects are mutually intelligible but differ in grammar/vocabulary.
According to Chomsky, language is…
○ Uniquely human – no animal has comparable linguistic ability.
○ Universally human – all humans can acquire language if exposed early.
○ Acquired during a critical period – effortless in childhood, difficult later.
What are the fundamental components of language?
- Phonemes - smallest sound units
- Morphemes - smallest meaning units
- Words - combinations of morphemes
- Phrases - combinations of words
- Sentences - combinations of phrases following syntax rules
These components form the hierarchical structure of language.
What is phonology?
Study of how sounds are combined
Example: Variations in pronunciation like walked /t/ vs. batted /id/.
What is the Motor Theory of Speech Perception?
- We perceive sounds based on how we produce them ourselves.
- Our understanding of mouth movements helps decode speech.
Context Effects - Phoneme interpretation depends on context:
○ “a-tee” vs. “a-too” – same “t” sound, different articulation. - Top-down processing: expectations shape perception.
Visual Cues
Lip reading influences what we hear (even unconsciously)
- Our understanding of mouth movements helps decode speech.
What are content morphemes?
Carry meaning
Examples include root words and prefixes like anti- and suffixes like -able.
Define syntax.
Rules governing how words combine into phrases and sentences
Syntax ensures grammatical structure in language.
What is recursion in language?
Ability to embed clauses within clauses infinitely
This allows for infinite expression from finite elements.
What is Chomsky’s Universal Grammar?
All languages share a deep structure despite surface differences.
* Parameter setting: children learn the specific word order of their language (e.g., English = SVO, Japanese = SOV).
* Language Acquisition Device (LAD): innate system enabling rapid rule learning.
* Overgeneralization: children apply learned rules too broadly (e.g., “runned,” “two foots”).
It explains why children can easily learn any language they’re exposed to.
What is the Cooperative Principle in pragmatics?
Guidelines for effective communication
The Four Gricean Maxims:
1. Quantity: be informative, but not overly detailed
- example: It’s hot outside, not its 32 degrees
- Quality: be truthful and sincere
- example: don’t say what you believe is false - Relation: be relevant to the conversation
- example: don’t change the topic randomly - Manner: be clear; avoid jargon or vagueness
- example: speak plainly, not obscurely
What happens if Broca’s area is damaged?
Productive aphasia – difficulty speaking; speech lacks grammar
Broca’s area is located in the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere.
At what age do children typically start babbling?
8 months
Babbling involves practicing phonemes from the environment.
What is the critical period in language acquisition?
Language must be learned early
The case of Genie shows failure after deprivation.
What did the Paris Linguistic Society do in 1866 regarding language evolution?
Banned discussion of language evolution as ‘unscientific’
This reflects the challenges in studying the origins of language.
Where did writing originate approximately 5,000 years ago?
Sumeria (modern Iraq)
Writing emerged from accounting and trade record-keeping.
what is a phoneme?
smallest unit of sound that changes meaning
- eg.g. cat vs bat = k vs b
What is the McGurk Effect?
- When auditory and visual speech cues conflict:
○ Hear “ba,” see “ga,” perceive “da.”- Demonstrates multisensory integration in speech perception.
what is the Fizzy Logical Model of Speech Perception?
- the brain combines auditory and visual inputs probilistically
- chooses the most likely interpretation (based on learned prototypes)
What are Functional morphemes (inflections)?
- provide grammar; minited meaning
- EG: -s (plural), -ed (past), -ing (continuous)
what is parsing?
How listeners interpret ambiguous sentences
- EG: “The woman saw the dog with the binoculars”
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Week 2 - Pavlovian conditioning (basic principles)33
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Week 4 - Pavlovian conditioning (learning and application)21
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Week 5 - Operant Conditioning (Basic Principles)41
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Week 6 - Operant Conditioning (theory and application)25
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Week 7 - Cognitive 1: Attention26
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Week 8 - Attentional Control & Working Memory (Executive Function)33
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Week 9 - Introducing Long Term Memory31
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Week 10 - Long-term memory: Encoding & Retrieval24
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Week 11 - Imagery & Foresight51
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Week 12 - Comparative and Evolutionary Cognition41
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Week 13 - Language37
