Exam 2 Flashcards
Study the concepts and make sure that you understand
What is the difference between ideographic writing and a true writing system?
Definition: An ideographic system uses symbols or characters to represent ideas or concepts directly, rather than specific words, sounds, or syllables.
One symbol can represent an abstract idea (e.g., ☀️ could mean “sun,” “day,” or “light”).
May not correspond directly to the phonetic structure of a spoken language.
Can be difficult to learn because there is often a large set of symbols with specific meanings.
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2. True Writing System
Definition: A true writing system represents the spoken language by encoding phonetic elements (like sounds or syllables) or words. It allows for the full expression of the language as it is spoken.
Examples: The English alphabet, Arabic script, and the Japanese Kana system.
Characteristics:
Alphabetic systems (e.g., English) use letters to represent individual sounds (phonemes).
Syllabaries (e.g., Japanese Kana) represent whole syllables.
Logographic components (e.g., in Chinese) represent whole words but still function systematically within the language.
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What are the key differences:
Phonetic vs conceptual:A true writing system encodes the sounds or words of a language, whereas ideographic writing focuses on concepts or ideas directly.
Language Dependency:A true writing system aligns with the structure of a particular spoken language. In contrast, ideographic systems can, in theory, be interpreted across languages without depending on phonetics (though some languages, like Chinese, blur this distinction).
Expressiveness: A true writing system can represent complex grammatical structures and abstract ideas as spoken, while ideographic systems are limited in this respect.
2) What are the differences among logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic writing
systems?
- Logographic Writing System
Definition: Each symbol represents a word, morpheme, or idea rather than individual sounds.
Examples: Chinese characters, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs (in part), and Mayan glyphs.
Characteristics:
One symbol = one meaning (e.g., 木 = “tree” in Chinese).
A single character may carry multiple meanings depending on context.
Often requires thousands of symbols to fully express a language.
Advantages: Allows for concise visual representation; can transcend spoken language differences.
Challenges: Very large number of symbols to learn and remember - syllabic writing systems:
Definition: Each symbol corresponds to a syllable, a basic unit of sound typically consisting of a consonant-vowel pair or just a vowel.
Examples: Japanese Kana (Hiragana and Katakana), Cherokee script.
Characteristics:
One symbol = one syllable (e.g., か in Hiragana represents the sound “ka”).
Fewer symbols than logographic systems, but still more than alphabetic systems.
Advantages: Easier to learn than logographic systems due to fewer symbols.
Challenges: Less compact than alphabetic systems because each syllable needs its own symbol.
Alphabetic Writing System
Definition: Each symbol represents an individual sound (phoneme), like a consonant or a vowel.
Examples: English, Greek, Arabic, Russian.
Characteristics:
One symbol = one sound (e.g., the letter “b” represents the /b/ sound in English).
The smallest set of symbols among the three types, typically 20-30 letters.
Advantages: Efficient and flexible for representing a variety of sounds and words.
Challenges: Requires knowledge of spelling conventions and phonetic rules, which can vary by language (e.g., English has irregular spellings).
3) What is a transparent alphabetic writing system? Is English transparent in this
sense?
What is a Transparent Alphabetic Writing System?
A transparent alphabetic writing system is one in which the grapheme-to-phoneme correspondence (how letters represent sounds) is consistent and predictable.
In a transparent system, each letter (or combination of letters) corresponds reliably to the same sound(s), and there are few irregularities or exceptions.
This makes the process of decoding (reading aloud) and encoding (writing) straightforward, especially for learners.
Examples of Transparent Alphabetic Systems:
Spanish:
Each letter consistently represents the same sound (e.g., “a” is always pronounced /a/).
Finnish:
Almost one-to-one correspondence between letters and sounds, making it one of the most transparent languages.
Is English transparent in this
sense?
Is English Transparent?
No, English is not considered a transparent alphabetic writing system. It is classified as an opaque (or deep) orthography because of its inconsistent spelling rules and irregular pronunciation.
Reasons Why English is Opaque:
Inconsistent Grapheme-to-Phoneme Correspondence:
The same letter or letter combination can represent different sounds.
Example: “ough” in though, through, tough, and thought.
Multiple Spellings for the Same Sound:
Example: The /f/ sound is represented differently in fun, photo, and enough.
Historical Influences:
English has borrowed words from many languages (Latin, French, Greek, etc.), which has introduced a variety of spelling patterns.
Silent Letters:
Example: The “k” in knight or the “b” in comb are not pronounced.
What are the distinctions among word, morpheme, and phoneme levels of spelling
representation?
Word Level Representation
Definition: This level deals with whole words as the basic unit of meaning. Spelling representation at this level focuses on the correct arrangement of letters to form complete words.
Examples:
“cat”, “house”, “running”
Characteristics:
Entire words are stored in the mental lexicon and recognized as wholes.
Useful for languages with many irregular spellings (e.g., English words like “colonel” or “island”).
Sight words (words memorized as whole units) play a crucial role in early reading development.
Definition: A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in a language. This level of representation considers both roots and affixes (prefixes, suffixes, etc.) in spelling.
Examples:
In the word “unhappiness,” there are three morphemes:
“un-“ (prefix, meaning “not”)
“happy” (root)
“-ness” (suffix, meaning a state or quality)
Characteristics:
Morphological spelling patterns reflect word structure, even if pronunciation changes.
Example: The past tense “-ed” is pronounced differently in “wanted” (/ɪd/) vs. “walked” (/t/), but spelled the same.
Important for understanding inflection (changing word form for tense, number, etc.) and derivation (forming new words by adding affixes).
Phoneme Level Representation
Definition: A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that can distinguish meaning in a language. Phoneme-level spelling reflects how individual sounds (phonemes) map onto letters or letter combinations (graphemes).
Examples:
In “cat”:
/k/ = “c”
/æ/ = “a”
/t/ = “t”
Characteristics:
Phonemic spelling tries to represent each sound systematically (e.g., “bat” vs. “pat” differ by one phoneme).
Transparent alphabetic languages (like Spanish) have a closer match between phonemes and graphemes than opaque languages (like English).
In English, inconsistent phoneme-grapheme mappings create spelling challenges (e.g., “ough” in “though” vs. “rough”).
How does the tendency to preserve morphemic information in spelling contribute
to the non-transparency of English spelling?
Morphemic preservation means that spelling stays consistent across related words, even if the pronunciation changes. The goal is to retain the recognition of common roots, prefixes, and suffixes across word forms, which helps convey meaning but creates discrepancies between spelling and pronunciation.
How This Affects Transparency
Lack of 1:1 correspondence between sounds and letters:
The preservation of morphemes makes it difficult to predict pronunciation just by looking at the spelling.
Increased cognitive load for learners:
English learners must memorize morphemic patterns in addition to mastering the phonetic rules, which adds complexity.
Opaque orthography:
Because spelling prioritizes morphological consistency over phonetic accuracy, English has a deeper (more opaque) orthography than languages like Spanish or Finnish, which focus on phoneme-to-grapheme correspondence.
What is the difference between a phoneme and a speech sound?
- Phoneme
Definition:
A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that can change the meaning of a word in a particular language. It is an abstract category that represents a group of similar sounds.
Example:
In English, /p/ and /b/ are two distinct phonemes. They differ only slightly in articulation (one is voiceless, the other voiced), but changing /p/ to /b/ changes the word:
“pat” → “bat”
Characteristics:
Abstract: Phonemes exist in the mind as linguistic units, not as physical sounds.
Language-specific: Phonemes are specific to a given language; for example, some languages distinguish between sounds that others treat as identical.
Minimal pairs: Phonemes are often identified by finding minimal pairs—pairs of words where only one sound is different, resulting in a change in meaning (e.g., “bit” vs. “bat”). - Speech Sound (Phone)
Definition:
A speech sound (or phone) is the physical realization of a phoneme. It refers to the actual sound produced by the vocal tract when speaking.
Example:
The English phoneme /p/ has two possible speech sounds (phones):
[pʰ] (aspirated “p”) in “pat.”
[p] (unaspirated “p”) in “spat.”
Characteristics:
Concrete: A phone is a measurable, physical sound that can be captured and analyzed acoustically.
Allophony: Different speech sounds (called allophones) can represent the same phoneme, depending on the context. For example, both [pʰ] and [p] are allophones of /p/ in English.
Language-independent: Speech sounds exist across languages, but how they function and are categorized differs by language.
what are the key differences between each other?
Phoneme
Definition: Abstract unit of sound with meaning
Example: /p/ vs. /b/ (changes meaning)
Abstract or Concrete: Abstract (mental representation)
Function: Differentiates meaning in a language
Allophony: Includes multiple allophones
Language-specific? Yes
Speech Sound (Phone)
Definition: Physical production of a sound
Example: [pʰ] vs. [p] (does not change meaning)
Abstract or Concrete: Concrete (physical realization)
Function: May or may not affect meaning
Allophony: A specific allophone or variant
Language-specific? No (phones can exist in multiple languages)
What is articulatory?
Having to do with the peripheral processes for articulating words – for
example, the processes for positioning and moving the lips and tongue while
speaking. A selective articulatory deficit would be one in which a patient’s
knowledge of the sounds of words was intact, but she produced mispronunciations because of impairment in controlling the parts of the vocal tract used to produce
words.
What is auditorially?
In the form of sounds. Auditorially presented words are words that are
presented in spoken (as opposed to written) form
What is cerebral vascular accident (CVA)?
In incident in which obstruction or rupture of a
blood vessel in the brain cuts off or reduces the blood supply to an area of the
brain, causing temporary dysfunction or – if the reduction in blood supply is
sufficiently severe and prolonged, death of the affected brain tissue
what is dissociation?
Pattern of results in which one task or cognitive ability (e.g., ability to
recognize faces) shows impairment, while another task or ability (e.g., ability to
recognize objects) is intact, or at least much less impaired
What is excision?
cutting out, as in tumor excision
what is a lesion?
eneral term for tissue damage. A brain lesion is a site of damage in the brain
What is a lexical? What is a lexicon?
Having to do with words.
Literally, a list of the words in a language. In cognitive neuropsychology
usually refers to a ‘mental dictionary’ that stores certain forms of knowledge
about words. For example, an orthographic lexicon stores information about the
written forms (orthography) of words, and a phonological lexicon stores
information about spoken word form (phonology)
What is locus?
A location or place. The locus of brain damage is the place in the
brain that is damaged.
What is a motor plan?
A brain representation of the movements required to carry out some action,
such as throwing a ball or articulating a word.
What is a peripheral?
In cognitive science, having to do with the initial stages in processing
sensory stimuli, or the final stages in producing a movement or other response.
Contrasted with central. For example, in spoken production of a word, processes
that select a word form on the basis of a to-be-expressed meaning are central,
whereas processes that control the articulatory muscles are peripheral.
What is a Positron emission tomography (PET)?
A functional imaging technique for determining
what parts of the brain are active when a person is performing a task
What is premorbid.?
Prior to the onset of an illness or injury. For example, a stroke patient’s
premorbid state is his/her condition prior to the stroke
What is semantic?
Having to do with meaning.
What is syntax
The aspect of language that has to do with how words or morphemes are
combined into higher-level units such as sentences. For example, syntactic
knowledge tells you that in the sentence The cat chased the dog it is the cat that is
doing the chasing.
What is the distinction between form and meaning as applied to lexical knowledge?
- Form
Definition: Refers to the physical structure or representation of a word—how it is spoken, written, or constructed grammatically.
Components of Form:
Phonology: How the word sounds when spoken.
Orthography: How the word is written or spelled.
Morphology: The structure of the word (roots, prefixes, suffixes).
Example:
Word: “cats”
Form:
Pronunciation: /kæts/
Spelling: C-A-T-S
Morphology: Root = “cat,” Suffix = “-s” (plural marker)
Relevance to Lexical Knowledge: Knowing the form helps with recognizing, pronouncing, and spelling words correctly.
Definition: Refers to the semantic or conceptual aspect of a word—what it refers to, describes, or conveys.
Components of Meaning:
Denotation: The literal or dictionary meaning (e.g., “cat” = a small domesticated animal).
Connotation: The emotional or cultural associations of a word (e.g., “home” suggests warmth and comfort beyond its literal meaning).
Polysemy: Words with multiple meanings depending on context (e.g., “run” as in “running fast” vs. “running a business”).
Example:
Word: “cats”
Meaning: Refers to more than one domesticated feline animal (plural form of “cat”).
What reasons do Rapp & Caramazza provide for thinking that knowledge of form is
separate from knowledge of meaning?
Back (Answer):
Neuropsychological Evidence: Double Dissociation
Double dissociation between form (phonology/orthography) and meaning (semantics) in brain-damaged patients:
Some patients can spell or pronounce words correctly but cannot understand their meanings.
Others know the meaning of words but cannot produce the correct form (e.g., spelling or pronunciation errors).
Conclusion: Form and meaning operate independently in the brain.
Lexical Access without Semantic Access
Patients can read aloud or spell words correctly without knowing what those words mean.
They can also produce non-words correctly (e.g., pronounce or spell “blark”) following rules of phonology or orthography.
Conclusion: Phonological/orthographic knowledge can be accessed without needing semantic knowledge.
Modality-Specific Deficits
Separate impairments in spoken and written word forms:
Some patients struggle with spoken words (phonology) but are able to read and write correctly (orthography).
Others struggle with writing but retain spoken language abilities.
Conclusion: Phonological and orthographic systems are distinct from each other and from the semantic system.
Implications for Cognitive Models of Language Processing
Supports modular models of language:
Phonological and orthographic processing are separate from semantic processing.
The brain processes these forms in parallel and can continue using one system even if the other is impaired.
Summary of Key Insight:
Form (phonology and orthography) and meaning (semantics) are processed by independent neural systems.
This separation explains why patients with brain damage may have intact form knowledge but impaired meaning knowledge, or vice versa.
What hypotheses do Rapp & Caramazza consider regarding the relationship between
orthographic and phonological knowledge? Which hypothesis do they favor? What
supporting evidence do they present?
Hypotheses Considered:
Shared Storage Hypothesis (Integrated Representation):
This hypothesis suggests that orthographic and phonological knowledge are stored together in a shared, unified system.
Prediction: Damage to one form of representation (e.g., phonological) would lead to impairments in the other form (e.g., orthographic).
Example: If phonological representations are impaired, spelling ability would also be affected.
Independent Storage Hypothesis (Modular Representation):
This hypothesis proposes that orthographic knowledge (written form) and phonological knowledge (spoken form) are stored in separate, independent systems.
Prediction: Damage to one system (e.g., phonological) does not necessarily impair the other system (e.g., orthographic), meaning individuals can retain spelling knowledge even if they struggle with pronunciation or vice versa.
Interactive Storage Hypothesis:
This hypothesis proposes that while orthographic and phonological knowledge are separately stored, there is a high degree of interaction between them during use.
Prediction: While orthographic and phonological systems are independent, frequent interaction between them means damage to one might still impair performance in tasks involving both (e.g., reading aloud).
Which Hypothesis Do Rapp & Caramazza Favor?
Rapp & Caramazza favor the Independent Storage Hypothesis.
They argue that orthographic and phonological knowledge are stored independently in distinct cognitive systems.
Their neuropsychological research shows that orthographic and phonological impairments can occur independently in brain-damaged patients, supporting the idea that these systems are modular and not stored together.
Supporting Evidence Presented by Rapp & Caramazza:
Double Dissociations in Patients:
They present cases of brain-damaged patients who show:
Intact phonological knowledge (e.g., they can pronounce words correctly) but impaired orthographic knowledge (e.g., spelling errors).
Intact orthographic knowledge (e.g., they can spell correctly) but impaired phonological knowledge (e.g., pronunciation difficulties).
Conclusion: These dissociations indicate that orthographic and phonological systems operate independently.
Specific Case Studies:
Some patients are able to write words correctly but mispronounce them when reading aloud, suggesting separate orthographic and phonological representations.
Other patients can pronounce words but struggle to produce the correct spelling, further supporting independent systems.
Task-Specific Deficits:
Rapp & Caramazza highlight that some tasks rely exclusively on orthographic or phonological systems:
Silent reading primarily involves orthographic processing, while reading aloud requires both phonological and orthographic systems.
Patients who perform well in writing tasks but poorly in phonological tasks offer clear evidence of independent representations.
Theoretical Implications:
Their findings support a modular model of language processing, where orthography and phonology are independent systems with distinct neural bases, though they can interact when needed (e.g., during reading or speaking).
Conclusion:
Rapp & Caramazza favor the Independent Storage Hypothesis.
They argue that orthographic and phonological knowledge are stored separately in the brain.
The evidence of double dissociation in patients (e.g., intact spelling with impaired pronunciation and vice versa) supports the idea of modularity in language processing systems.
