Chapter 11: Language Flashcards
What cognitive functions are unique to the human species (4)
- perception
- memory
- attention
- language
Where does language come from
the result of a single genetic mutation ~ 100,00 years ago
What percent of our DNA do we share with monkey ? Chimps?
over 90% for monkeys
- 98.8 % with chimps
what is langauge
- the process of combining symbols meaningfully
Language can be for the purpose of (2)
- communication
- thinking/reasoning
Primarily language was used for what (in animals) (3)
- needs
- danger
- mating
Explain language as a tool of thought
- ability to preserve thoughts across space and time
- human specific
What are the properties of language (6)
- communicative
- arbitrarily symbolic
- creative
- has structure
- is dynamic
- is universal
Explain the communicative property of language (2)
- allows us to communicate with each other
- allows us to preserve ideas without being restricted by space and time
Explain the creativity property of language
number of possible combinations of words are infinite
Explain the Arbitrary symbolic property of language
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
Explain the Structure property of language
- words make up meaningful sentences but not all combination of words are acceptable
Explain the Dynamic property of language
Words/meanings/rules constantly change
- whatever most people use/understand is language
- his or her properties of language
Explain the universal property of language
no cultures without language yet identified
- all languages have deep rooted similarities
- sensitive period
Early language study was dominated by
behaviourists
- denial of mental processes
What was B.F Skinners verbal behaviour view
Reinforcements and punishment can explain all of language acquisition
- Children use words/sentences they hear, reinforcement/punishment does the rest
What is wrong with Skinners Verbal Behaviour view of language (3)
- language is hardwired
- poverty of the stimulus (the number of possible sentences is almost infinite but input a child gets is finite)
- universal grammar
What is Universal Grammar
languages have a common underlying structure that is not restricted by meaning
If behaviourists were right about language would there be structure
If behaviorists were right, any combination of words should be possible. There should be no structure!
What is the Language Acquisition Device
humans have an innate ability to use language
- not blank slates
- we have built in propensities that allow us to benefit from experience
What is a pidgin
when people using different languages live in the same place they create a new language to communication
What is a Creole
a formed language
What are the components of language
phone phoneme Morpheme: Lexicon: (word) phrase sentence
Do all languages have the same phonemes
no
Can infants discriminate phonemes
yes of any language
-Older infants (6 months) can distinguish sounds in own language better and can’t distinguish sounds in other languages
What is the phonological bin theory? what disorder is it related to?
we create bins to represent the sounds in our own language
- patients with dyslexia fail to create such bins
What is motherese
exaggerated sounds when parents talk to babies
What is our mental lexicon
all the words we know and their meanings
Lesion to perceptual processing regions causes
inability to recognize living things
lesion to regions which process functional information leads to what
- cant recognize man made things
We are able to process high frequency words more easily (T or F)
True
Word recognition is affected by (4)
- frequency of the words
- context in which the word appears
- our experience with statistical regularities in our language
- our knowledge of word meanings
Understanding words uses what kind of processing
top-down
-All above factors are associated with knowledge and experience with language
What is syntax
structure of a sentence
differs between languages
can syntax exist even in the absence of meaning
yes
example- Colorless green ideas sleep furiously
We don’t passively listen to words but actively ___ what they are and what they mean
predict
understanding texts and stories involves what
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)
what is an example of a casual inference
sharon took advil
- her headache went away
Inferences can result in what
systematic errors
What is the neural firing rate for humans during conversation
120m/sec
What is theory of mind
understanding that other people have thoughts and feelings
- important for conversations
What disorder is associated with a poor theory of mind
autism
What is the difference between autism and dyslexia with language
- 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.)
Children who know more than one language tend to have (3), but (1)
- 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)
What are the factors affecting second language acquisition
age (younger better)
fluency/mastery
some languages are harder to aquire as a second language
What is aphasia
impairment of language functions
- often result of stroke or injury
What are the types of aphasia (4)
- brocas aphasia
- wenickes aphasia
- conduction aphasia
- global
What is Broca’s Aphasia
Damage results in Broca’s aphasia: Reduced speech. Agrammatical.
-Effects speech production: Can barely speak, but understands what is being said to them
What is Wernickes Aphasia
difficult understanding speech
- Speech fluent and grammatical, but empty of content
What is conduction aphasia
damage to the arcuate fasciculus
-difficulty repeating sentences or answering questions
Do animals have language
- maybe but they dont show it
- whether animals have language depends on what we mean by language
