3- Attention and Language

Question 1

2 types of attention

Answer 1

Selective attention
-you can focus on individual things

cocktail party phenomenon- hear your name in crowded room, focus on that

Divided attention
= multitasking- when you’re comfortable with an action

Question 2

Components of Language

Answer 2

Phonology, Morphology, Semantics, Syntax, Pragmatics

Question 3

Phonology

Answer 3

-what are the sounds in your language

—-there are about 40 speech sounds of phonemes in English

Question 4

Morphology

Answer 4

• individual meanings of pieces of words
• dog vs dogs, the “s” at end means many
• word structures
• morphemes- letter & sound combinations that form individual meanings w/in a word

"dogs" = 2 morphemes
"dog" = a dog, "s" = more than one

“walked” = 2 morphemes; walk + in the past

Question 5

Semantics

Answer 5

-meaning of entire word- relating whole world to object or idea in real world

Question 6

Syntax

Answer 6

• kind of like grammar but also more; sentences
• order of words and how it conveys meaning
• how words are put together

Question 7

Pragmatics

Answer 7

Language depends on context and pre-existing knowledge

• we use dif. words in dif. situations
• speak to boss differently than speak to friend

Question 8

Language Development

Answer 8

-9-12 months- spontaneous babbling
-12-18 months- add one word per month; at 18 months learn a bunch of words, inflection, context; gestures important because one word plus reach for it
18-20 months- combine words into 2 word phrases, less focus on gestures and more on sentences
-2-3 years- longer sentences, vocab- grammatical errors
-5 years- knows language

Question 9

3 Theories of Language Development / schools of thought

Answer 9

Nativist (Biological) Theory

• there is an innate capacity for learning a language
• Chomsky

Learning (Behaviorist) Theory

• You learn language based on reward of interacting w/ parents and peers as you grow (operant conditioning)
• Skinner

Interactionist Theory
-interplay b/w biological and social process

Question 10

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Answer 10

Language affects the way we think

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

• Inuit people have many word for snow so they must know it basically or in detail
• not accurate

Witness: “how far was the car going when collided” vs “how far was the car going when it crashed” - they will give higher number for latter
-influence memory/way we think of it

Question 11

Brain Areas and Language

Answer 11

Broca’s Area

• motor function of speech
• in inferior frontal gyrus, left cerebral cortex; speech production

Wernicke’s Area

• language comprehension
• superior temporal gyrus

Aphasia
Broca’s aphasia = expressive; cannot speak
Wernicke’s aphasia = receptive; can speak but can’t understand what other’s are saying and their speech doesn’t make sense
Conduction aphasia= difficulty creating sounds; difficulty repeating what others said; pronunciation