Chapter 9

Question 1

What are some of the abilities needed to understand a spoken sentence?

Answer 1

Encoding the sound of a speaker’s voice
Encoding the visual features of printed language
Accessing the meaning of words
Understanding the rules that determine word order
Appreciating whether a sentence is a question or statement based on the speaker’s intonation

Question 2

Psycholinguistics

Answer 2

Interdisciplinary field that examines how people use language to communicate ideas

Question 3

Morpheme

Answer 3

Basic unit of meaning

Some can stand on their own, others need to be attached to other morphemes in order to convey their meaning

Question 4

Syntax

Answer 4

The grammatical rules that govern how we organize words into sentences

Question 5

Grammar

Answer 5

Encompasses both morphology and syntax

Question 6

Pragmatics

Answer 6

Our knowledge of the social rules that underlie language use (takes into account the listener’s perspective)
Social understandings of how to use language
Also includes tone of voice, sarcasm, rhetorical questions

Question 7

2 reasons English is an “outlier” language

Answer 7

English has relatively simple grammar

English has many more irregular pronunciations than other major world languages

Question 8

Chomsky’s Approach

Answer 8

Humans have innate language skills

Language is modular (separate from other cognitive processes)

Question 9

Surface vs deep structure

Answer 9

Surface: represented by the words that are actually spoken or written
Deep: underlying, abstract meaning of a sentence

Question 10

Ambiguous sentences

Answer 10

Two sentences that have identical surface structures but very different deep structures

Question 11

Cognitive functional approach

Answer 11

Emphasized that the function of language in everyday life is to communicate meaning to other individuals
Cognitive processes are intertwined in our language comprehension and production
People can use language creatively

Question 12

4 reasons people have difficulty understanding sentences

Answer 12

If they contain negatives (actual or implied)
If they are in the passive voice
If they have a complex syntax
If they are ambiguous

Question 13

Nested structure

Answer 13

Where one phrase is embedded in another

Question 14

Good enough approach

Answer 14

We frequently process only part of a sentence

Question 15

Neurolinguistics

Answer 15

The discipline that examines how the brain processes language

Question 16

Damage to Broca’s area

Answer 16

Trouble producing language

May have some trouble with language comprehension

Question 17

Damage to Wernicke’s area

Answer 17

Serious difficulties understanding language

Problems with language production

Question 18

Lateralization

Answer 18

Each hemisphere of the brain has somewhat different functions

Question 19

What is the role of the right hemisphere in language?

Answer 19

Active when paying attention to the emotional tone of a message
Plays a role in appreciating humor

Question 20

Mirror system

Answer 20

Network of neurons in the brain’s motor cortex

Activated when you watch someone perform an action

Question 21

Dual-route approach to reading

Answer 21

Skilled readers employ both a direct and indirect access route

Question 22

Direct-access route

Answer 22

You recognize a work directly through vision

Likely to use this if the word has irregular spelling and cannot be sounded out

Question 23

Indirect-access route

Answer 23

As soon as you see a word you translate it to a sound, before you can access a word and its meaning
Likely to use if the word has a regular spelling and can be sounded out
Also called phonological mediation

Question 24

Whole-word approach

Answer 24

Argues that readers can directly connect the written word with the meaning the word represents
Favored by those who support the direct access approach

Question 25

Phonics approach

Answer 25

Readers recognize words by trying to pronounce the individual letters in a word
Favored by those who support the indirect-access approach

Question 26

Whole-language approach

Answer 26

Reading instruction should emphasize meaning, and it should be enjoyable to increase children’s enthusiasm about learning to read

Question 27

Discourse

Answer 27

Interrelated units of language that are larger than a sentence

Question 28

Inferences

Answer 28

Conclusions that go beyond the isolated phrase or sentence

Question 29

Theory of mind

Answer 29

Trying to figure out the mental state of other people in our lives

Question 30

The constructionist view of inferences

Answer 30

Readers usually draw inferences about the causes of events and the relationship between events

Question 31

Transformational grammar

Answer 31

Proposed by Noam Chomsky
Interested in understanding how language is structured
Noun and verb phrase
Language is modular
Surface vs deep structure
We have to use transformational rules to transform surface into deep and vice versa

Question 32

What does the left vs right side do with language?

Answer 32

Left: perceives speech, analyzes morphemes, reads, dominant meaning of ambiguous sentences
Right: emotional tone, metaphor, non-dominant meaning of ambiguous sentences

Question 33

Graded cognitive meaning task

Answer 33

Using PET scans to determine brain activity

Big deal at the time

Question 34

What part of the brain is activated when you think about the meaning of the word?

Answer 34

Frontal and temporal areas

Question 35

Why is reading in english difficult?

Answer 35

1. Poor letter-sound correspondence

2. Non-evolutionary (evolution hasn’t selected for reading ability)