07 - Processing Language Flashcards
How does Psychology believe that language functions?
It is dependent on many cognitive processes
How does classic linguistics believe that language functions?
Independently of anything else
Who came up with the Information Processing Model? When?
Atkinson & Shiffrin
1968
What is the Information Processing Model?
You receive Stimuli
This goes into the Sensory Store
This information can be forgotten or transferred into Short-Term/Working Memory
This can be forgotten or transferred into Long-Term Memory (Permanent Memory)
What three systems are required for successful language use?
Sensory Store
Short Term Memory/Working Memory
Long Term Memory
What is Sensory Store?
Raw and unanalyzed data
Color, tastes, different tones, etc.
It is stored very, very briefly
What is the point of our sensory store?
To provide us time for further processing
What is Pattern Recognition?
Your brain recognizing familiar sensory information
Recognizing what you see/hear/etc.
When does Pattern Recognition happen?
After the Sensory Store
What is Iconic Memory?
Visual Sensory Store
What is the capacity of our Iconic Memory?
Around 9-12 items
How fast does our Iconic Memory fade?
In about 500 ms
What was Sperling interested in?
How many letters we can store when we are showed them very quickly
How did Sperling’s experiment work?
He showed subjects 12 letters for 50 ms
Asked about whole report
What is a Whole Report?
Everything
In Sperling’s experiment, the whole array of letters
What did Sperling use to show his subjects the letters?
T-scope (used to project images in a box for viewing)
What did Sperling find?
People tend to recall about 4.5 letters (out of 12)
What was Sperling’s second experiment?
He asked people about a partial report
What is a Partial Report?
Part of the information given
For Sperling, this was asking people to report information from only one row
How did Sperling’s second experiment work?
Subjects were shown a full array of letters
They were then given a signal to tell them what to remember
What was the signal in Sperling’s second experiment?
A tone + and arrow
What did Sperling find in his second experiment?
People reported 3-4 letters in the row
This means they must have recognized at least 9 of the letters
What did Sperling find happened if he waited 500 ms before playing the tone?
That recognition when down to 4.5 overall letters (normal)
What did we learn from Sperling’s experiments?
That our visual sensory store information fades very quickly
What is Echoic Memory?
Auditory memory store
What is the capacity of our Echoic Memory?
About 5 items
Has a smaller capacity than Visual
How long does our Echoic Memory last?
4-5 seconds
Lasts longer than Visual
This is the “Huh? Oh yeah!” phenomenon
What does STM stand for?
Short Term Memory
What is someone’s Short Term Memory Span?
The longest sequence a person can recall
Their capacity
How can we expand our STM?
By chunking items
What is Chunking?
Putting information into meaningful groups of items
The groups must be meaningful!!!
Example:
1-986-177-6704
1986-1776-704 (July 4th)
Why is chunking effective?
It allows our long term memory to aid our short term memory
How long can our short term memory hold information?
For about 20-30 seconds
What can you do to keep information in your short term memory for longer?
Through rehearsal
Does rehearsal guarantee that info will be passed to LTM?
No
Students who cram right before a test may perform well on the test but usually lose much of the information a day later
What are some tasks that can reduce our short term memory capacity?
Multi-tasking
Harder tasks
Organizing information
What is the difference between short term memory and working memory?
Short term memory is just the story of items (It’s passive)
Working memory is process + storage
What does Working Memory do?
Stores and manipulates active information
Involved in the processing of all active information
In what ways is Working Memory limited?
The amount of information it can hold
How long it can hold it
How much it can process
Why do SLPs often use a Digit Span and a Digit Backward or Reordering Span?
It compares your short term memory to your working memory
Do people tend to score better on Digit Spans or Digit Backward or Reordering Spans? By how much? What is the exception?
Digit Spans by about 2 digits
Kids with ADHD often do better in Digit Backwards/Reordering Spans. It requires more attention and stimulates attention
What is Processing Capacity?
The limited amount of MENTAL RESOURCES available to someone
When WM capacity is exceeded, it can affect language ______ and _______.
Production
Comprehension
What is the Baddeley Working Memory Model?
That the Central Executive coordinates and divides tasks among the two slave systems: the Visuospatial Sketchpad and the Phonological Loop
What does the Visuospatial Sketchpad do?
Takes in visual and spatial information
What does the Phonological Loop do?
Takes in verbal information
Can you can do tasks at the same time that use different subsystems?
Drawing & Talking -VS- Typing & Talking?
Yes
Who is a big name in Long Term Memory?
Tulving
When were Tulving’s big years?
1972
1983
What are the three big sections to long term memory?
Episodic
Semantic
Procedural
What is Episodic Memory?
Autobiographical or Event Memory
Personally Experienced Events (What you had from breakfast? Your first date? Etc.)
What are Flashbulb Memories?
Emotional charged, vivid memories
9/11, Death of Princess Diana, etc.
Are episodic memories always reliable?
No, they often change over time
Who studied flashbulb memories? When?
Schmolck, Buffalo, & Squire
2000
What specifically did Schmolck, Buffalo, & Squire study? What did they find?
Studied OJ Simpson trial flashbulb memories
People’s memories change but they remain confident in them
How long does it take to develop episodic memories? What do you have to do?
One experience
Nothing. You are usually not actively trying to remember the information
Episodic memories often contain information about ______, ______, and ______.
Time
Place
Emotions that were felt during the experience
Are When and Where important to episodic memories?
Yes!
What is Semantic Memory?
5
General world knowledge
Conceptual knowledge
Functional knowledge
Factual knowledge
Language knowledge
Is the Where and When important to semantic memory?
No!
How long does it take for semantic memories to form?
Many repeated (episodic) experiences
Why is semantic memory critical for our survival in the world?
Allows us to recognize new objects and situations
If we can’t recognize something, it makes us uncomfortable
What is Procedural Memory?
Skill based memory
What does procedural memory include?
Motor Skills
Muscle memory (Typing, swimming, computer programs, driving, etc.)
How is procedural memory learned?
Through repetition
Things that were hard to learn are now easier
When procedural memory takes over, we go into ______.
“Auto-pilot”
What is Serial Processing?
Processing one thing at a time
What is a serial processing approach to reading?
Look at the features (lines, curves, circles, etc.)
Look at the letters
Look at the word
Look at the meaning
What is Parallel Processing?
Processing everything at the same time
We go into the next level of processing before we finish the first
What is Modular Processing?
Processes operate independently
Syntax is separate from Semantics
Similar to Chomsky’s theories
What is Interactive Processing?
The idea that processes interact and affect each other
Syntax Semantics
Sentences are understood by looking how the syntax and semantics work and interact together
What is Automatic Processing?
Done with very little effort
Easy - you just do it
What is Controlled Processing?
Requires attention & effort
Hard - you work for it
Is there a dichotomy between Top-Down & Bottom-Up Processing?
No. We do not see them as competing theories. The question is which one is being use when
What is Bottom-Up Processing?
Starts with information gained from the stimulus (Sounds, visual features, etc.)
What is Top-Down Processing?
Processing that is influenced by our knowledge
Memories, expectations, etc
