Chapter 11: Language

Question 1

What cognitive functions are unique to the human species (4)

Answer 1

• perception
• memory
• attention
• language

Question 2

Where does language come from

Answer 2

the result of a single genetic mutation ~ 100,00 years ago

Question 3

What percent of our DNA do we share with monkey ? Chimps?

Answer 3

over 90% for monkeys

- 98.8 % with chimps

Question 4

what is langauge

Answer 4

• the process of combining symbols meaningfully

Question 5

Language can be for the purpose of (2)

Answer 5

• communication

- thinking/reasoning

Question 6

Primarily language was used for what (in animals) (3)

Answer 6

• needs
• danger
• mating

Question 7

Explain language as a tool of thought

Answer 7

• ability to preserve thoughts across space and time

- human specific

Question 8

What are the properties of language (6)

Answer 8

1. communicative
2. arbitrarily symbolic
3. creative
4. has structure
5. is dynamic
6. is universal

Question 9

Explain the communicative property of language (2)

Answer 9

• allows us to communicate with each other

- allows us to preserve ideas without being restricted by space and time

Question 10

Explain the creativity property of language

Answer 10

number of possible combinations of words are infinite

Question 11

Explain the Arbitrary symbolic property of language

Answer 11

no one to one relation between sounds and meanings

• example: Nothing doggy about dog, or fishy about fish
• creates need to learn language (not intuitive)
• allows for creativity

Question 12

Explain the Structure property of language

Answer 12

• words make up meaningful sentences but not all combination of words are acceptable

Question 13

Explain the Dynamic property of language

Answer 13

Words/meanings/rules constantly change

• whatever most people use/understand is language
• his or her properties of language

Question 14

Explain the universal property of language

Answer 14

no cultures without language yet identified

• all languages have deep rooted similarities
• sensitive period

Question 15

Early language study was dominated by

Answer 15

behaviourists

- denial of mental processes

Question 16

What was B.F Skinners verbal behaviour view

Answer 16

Reinforcements and punishment can explain all of language acquisition
- Children use words/sentences they hear, reinforcement/punishment does the rest

Question 17

What is wrong with Skinners Verbal Behaviour view of language (3)

Answer 17

• language is hardwired
• poverty of the stimulus (the number of possible sentences is almost infinite but input a child gets is finite)
• universal grammar

Question 18

What is Universal Grammar

Answer 18

languages have a common underlying structure that is not restricted by meaning

Question 19

If behaviourists were right about language would there be structure

Answer 19

If behaviorists were right, any combination of words should be possible. There should be no structure!

Question 20

What is the Language Acquisition Device

Answer 20

humans have an innate ability to use language

• not blank slates
• we have built in propensities that allow us to benefit from experience

Question 21

What is a pidgin

Answer 21

when people using different languages live in the same place they create a new language to communication

Question 22

What is a Creole

Answer 22

a formed language

Question 23

What are the components of language

Answer 23

phone
phoneme 
Morpheme:  
Lexicon: (word)
phrase
sentence

Question 24

Do all languages have the same phonemes

Answer 24

no

Question 25

Can infants discriminate phonemes

Answer 25

yes of any language | -Older infants (6 months) can distinguish sounds in own language better and can’t distinguish sounds in other languages

Question 26

What is the phonological bin theory? what disorder is it related to?

Answer 26

we create bins to represent the sounds in our own language | - patients with dyslexia fail to create such bins

Question 27

What is motherese

Answer 27

exaggerated sounds when parents talk to babies

Question 28

What is our mental lexicon

Answer 28

all the words we know and their meanings

Question 29

Lesion to perceptual processing regions causes

Answer 29

inability to recognize living things

Question 30

lesion to regions which process functional information leads to what

Answer 30

- cant recognize man made things

Question 31

We are able to process high frequency words more easily (T or F)

Answer 31

True

Question 32

Word recognition is affected by (4)

Answer 32

- frequency of the words - context in which the word appears - our experience with statistical regularities in our language - our knowledge of word meanings

Question 33

Understanding words uses what kind of processing

Answer 33

top-down | -All above factors are associated with knowledge and experience with language

Question 34

What is syntax

Answer 34

structure of a sentence | differs between languages

Question 35

can syntax exist even in the absence of meaning

Answer 35

yes | example- Colorless green ideas sleep furiously

Question 36

We don’t passively listen to words but actively ___ what they are and what they mean

Answer 36

predict

Question 37

understanding texts and stories involves what

Answer 37

Inferences- going beyond the information provided in the text Situation models- We imagine context and visualize even if we are not asked to (we infer information which is not explicitly stated)

Question 38

what is an example of a casual inference

Answer 38

sharon took advil | - her headache went away

Question 39

Inferences can result in what

Answer 39

systematic errors

Question 40

What is the neural firing rate for humans during conversation

Answer 40

120m/sec

Question 41

What is theory of mind

Answer 41

understanding that other people have thoughts and feelings | - important for conversations

Question 42

What disorder is associated with a poor theory of mind

Answer 42

autism

Question 43

What is the difference between autism and dyslexia with language

Answer 43

- Autism shows how language and communication depends on external factors like emotional and cognitive processing. - Dyslexia involves deficits in specific components of language (confusing sounds /pa/ from /ba/, etc.)

Question 44

Children who know more than one language tend to have (3), but (1)

Answer 44

- Better executive functions - Delayed onset of dementia - Increases gray matter in the parietal region - But smaller vocabularies and slower lexical access (Takes longer to retrieve the meanings of words)

Question 45

What are the factors affecting second language acquisition

Answer 45

age (younger better) fluency/mastery some languages are harder to aquire as a second language

Question 46

What is aphasia

Answer 46

impairment of language functions | - often result of stroke or injury

Question 47

What are the types of aphasia (4)

Answer 47

- brocas aphasia - wenickes aphasia - conduction aphasia - global

Question 48

What is Broca's Aphasia

Answer 48

Damage results in Broca’s aphasia: Reduced speech. Agrammatical. -Effects speech production: Can barely speak, but understands what is being said to them

Question 49

What is Wernickes Aphasia

Answer 49

difficult understanding speech | - Speech fluent and grammatical, but empty of content

Question 50

What is conduction aphasia

Answer 50

damage to the arcuate fasciculus | -difficulty repeating sentences or answering questions

Question 51

Do animals have language

Answer 51

- maybe but they dont show it | - whether animals have language depends on what we mean by language