EXAM 2: Language Flashcards
Language
A set of symbols used for communication and comprehension
- Verbal, Visual (and tactile)
Psycholinguistics
Cognitive processes involved in using language
Language: Duality of patterning
- Units can be rearranged and combined
- Leads to infinite productivity (can convey an infinite range of knowledge and beliefs)
Basic Principles: Phonemes
Sounds
/f/ /u/ /n/ /aw/ /l/ /u/ /j/ /ee/
Basic Principles: Graphemes
Letters
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Basic Principles: Lexicon
Words (Mental lexicon: the words you know)
dictionary
Phoneme
Clearly different speech sounds that change meaning of the word
- (/b/ed vs. /r/ed)
Morphemes
Smallest meaningful unit of language
- usually contain 2 or more phonemes
- root words, prefixes, and suffixes (pre- , un- , -ly, -ness)
Perceiving spoken words: How do we determine meaning of words?
Cohort Model
Cohort Model
Bottom up procesing
- First phoneme activates lexial candidates (/b/: boat, boast, bow, bat, etc.)
- Second phoneme eliminates candidates (/b/ /o/:boat, bost, bow)
- Continues until one word remains (/b/ /o/ /t/: boat)
Evidence for cohort model
Processing speed, # of lexical candidates
- More lexical candidates = slower processing speed (takes longer to eliminate all candidates)
- Fewer lexical candidates = faster processing speed (takes less time to decide on final word)
- Examples (xylophone - /z/ + /i/). (happy - /h/ + /a/)
TRACE Model
Sentence/context can also help word identification
- top down processing -> what is the evidence for this? phonemic restoration effect
Speech segmentation
- We often ‘hear’ pauses between words
- No clear boundaries, yet speech segmentation is effortless
How do we segment words? Phonotactic Knowledge
Use rules about phoneme combinations to segment
- /h/ often starts, rarely ends
- /t/ never precedes /th/ in a word
How do we segment words? Metrical Segmentation
Use syllable stress to segment
- In ENglish words OFTen have stress on the first SYLLable
Percieveing spoken words: Use knowledge of words to segment (EXAMPLE)
- both phontactic and semantic knowledge help, so easy to segment (THEDOGCHASEDTHECAT)
- Semantic knowledge can help when phonemes cannot (IRANDOWNTHESTAIRS) (BET RELATE THIN HEIFER)
Stages of speech production
(1) Conceptualizing what we want to say
(2) Planning (linguistic plan - organizing our thoughts in terms of language)
(3) Articulating linguistic plan
(4) Self-monitoring
Slips of the tongue: Anticipation
Sounds/words are spoken ahead of their time
- “Cuff of coffee” <> “Cup of coffee”
- Indicates you were thinking about what to say next
Slips of the tongue: Perseveration
Sounds/words are spoken later than they should have been
- “beef needle” <> “beef noodle”
- Indicates you were not planning enough / talking too fast
Language development: When are phonemic boundaries developed?
10 months
- Tune into important sounds
- Tune out unimportant speaker differences
Child-Directed Speech: Prosody
Rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech
Child-directed speech
Higher pitch, exaggerated “ups” and “downs”, extended pauses, elongated vowels, and a slower cadence
- babies prefer child directed speech
Functions of child directed speech
(1) Linguistic: Child-directed speech facilitates language acquistion
(2) Emotional: Let’s the child know their caretaker is focused on them
Non-human langauge: Communication vs. Language
Communication: Information transfer through symbols (honeybees = dance movements to signify nectar location) (vervet monkeys = sounds to signify danger)
Language: Complex, developed, dynamic, evolving system
