EXAM 3: Biological Foundations of Language

Question 1

Language for humans

Answer 1

Is universal
Humans can’t help but do language (typically)

Language creation shows that language is intrinsic. Humans create their own if there is no model to learn from

Question 2

Nicaraguan Sign Language

Answer 2

A complete and complex language system developed by deaf Nicaraguan children at a school for the deaf

The children each had their own home signs, but no shared language within the school

Question 3

Home signs

Answer 3

Signs deaf children used at home for their specific familial communication purposes

Question 4

NSL Study

Answer 4

Question:
How did this complex language system develop?

Study:
Examined verb-agreement inflections (i.e. -ed, -s) and year of entry to school and age
1st factor: Generation
Before 1983 (1st cohort)
After 1983 (2nd cohort)

2nd factor: Age
Young, old, middle

Results:
Younger learners produced more inflections in both cohorts
Later cohort used more inflections in general compared to early cohort
New inflections and changes/advancements to language comes from young language learners

Children are the engines that drive language creation as NSL has become richer over the generations as newer gen acquires it

Universal phenomena: Gen Z/Alpha lingo

Question 5

Hudson Kam and Newport (2005)

Answer 5

Question:
Can children acquire consistent, accurate and systematic language from inconsistent/corrupt input?

Study:
Taught an artificial language to both adults and 5-7 year old children
Language is consistent, but has some inconsistent patterns with determiners
Determines change depending on whether it is a countable noun or mass noun
Participants for both adults and children split into 2:

1st group: Exposed to determiners correctly only 60% of the time, the rest 40% were either omitted or incorrect (60% group) (inconsistent and variable/omitted)

2nd group: Exposed to determines correctly 100% of the time (100% group) (consistent and invariable)

Results:
Adults: those in the 60% group did not produce determiners reliably, could only produce it correctly if they were exposed to it correctly 100% of the time

Children: Those in 60% group although slight different, was able to use the language reliably
Even if input is correct, many still produced the correct system reliably

Conclusion: Children and adults learn from input in different ways, most notably that children can learn the correct language system from incorrect input

Question 6

Cerebral cortex

Answer 6

Outer layer specializing in higher mental functions and localization
Front, temporal, parietal, occipital

Front: Executive function, motor and planning
Temporal: Hearing and understanding
Parietal: Sensing
Occipital: Vision

Question 7

Lateralization

Answer 7

Left/Right hemisphere?
Different hemispheres of brain in charge of different functions

Question 8

Localization

Answer 8

Where in the brain specifically is the function?
I.e. frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital

Question 9

Functional Asymmetry (Lateralization)

Answer 9

Asymmetry of functions between 2 hemispheres
One hemisphere is more important/involved for particular function

Left hemisphere: Language
Right hemisphere: Visual-spatial

Question 10

Milner (1977)

Answer 10

Normal speakers:
Right handed: left-hemisphere
Left handed: Left hemisphere dominant but bilateral ~10% right

Left hemisphere damage:
Right handed: left dominant but bilateral with right ~10%
Left handed: left 20%, bilateral 10%, right 50%

Results:
Shows the potential to recover from left hemisphere damage by letting right side take over
Especially for children with high neural plasticity

Question 11

Weniger D. (2001)

Answer 11

Question: What is the lateralization functions?

Study:
3 different tasks:
1. Semantic (is dog an animal?)
2. Lexical (is “buv” a word?)
3. Complex visual tasks (Does “A” have an enclosed space?)
Slight error: Cannot be solely visual, understanding the question is already lexical/semantic!

Results:
Left hemisphere more active during lexical processes

Right hemisphere and left hemisphere involved in semantic processes

Suggests right hemisphere involvement in language, especially semantics (probably because semantics is more challenging/complex)

Question 12

Lambertz (2010)

Answer 12

Question:
What does lateralization look like for infants?
What do infants prefer? nonspeech? speech?

Study:
Used fMRI to study organization of brain activity in 2 month olds when listening to 3 different stimuli:
1. Music
2. Mother speech
3. Stranger speech

Results:
Lateralization of brain:
Left for speech, right was not speech/very little speech
Infants brain as young as 2 month old was lateralized to the left for speech

Preferred speech over nonspeech; more brain activity for speech sounds

Preferred mother speech over stranger speech

Question 13

Contralateral Function

Answer 13

Each part of the brain responds to the opposite side of body (contralateral)

i.e.
Left eye stimuli processed in right hemisphere

Right eye stimuli processed in left hemisphere

Question 14

Split brain patients

Answer 14

No corpus callosum that bridges the 2 hemispheres
Each hemisphere acts individually with the info that they receive contralaterally
No sharing of information from hemispheres

Meaning, if info was received from right eye, it will ONLY go to left hemisphere and VV

Question 15

Split brain patient task 1

Answer 15

See a word on the RIGHT vision field with RIGHT eye
Processed by LEFT hemisphere
left hemisphere in charge of language
patient can say the word

Question 16

Split brain patient task 2

Answer 16

Sees a word in the LEFT vision field by the LEFT eye
Processed by RIGHT hemisphere
Right hemisphere not in charge of language
Although they knew the word, they cannot say it
Left hemi (lang) has no idea what’s going on because stimuli is not shared

BUT they can draw the word since that is a right hemisphere function

Question 17

Split brain patient another task

Answer 17

A word is separated from left and right vision field (HE/ART)
“ART” only perceived by right eye, processed in left hemisphere, left can say language, says “ART” only

“HE” only perceived by left eye, processed in right hemisphere, cannot say language, says “ART” only

Question 18

Split Brain conclusion

Answer 18

Inability to verbally indicate whenever stimuli is perceived on left side and processed in right hemisphere

Right cannot speak
Left can speak only if it knows the stimuli

Provides evidence for left hemisphere dominance in language

Question 19

Aphasia

Answer 19

Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage to either the broca’s or wernicke’s area

Question 20

Broca’s area

Answer 20

Left frontal
Speech production (motor/planning) in frontal lobe

Question 21

Wernicke’s area

Answer 21

Left temporal
Speech understanding and comprehension in temporal lobe

Question 22

Broca’s aphasia

Answer 22

Difficulty with producing motor speech
lacking:
grammatical structure, morphemes, syntax, and difficulty producing speech

Damage to frontal left hemisphere
SEAT OF GRAMMAR

Question 23

Broca’s aphasia: Cookie theft picture

Answer 23

Asked a patient with broca’s aphasia to describe a picture of children stealing jar of cookies
Characteristics of response:
Lots of pauses “…”
produces individual words, no syntax or grammar
But seems to know the meaning/semantics of words
Difficulty producing

Question 24

Wernicke’s aphasia

Answer 24

No difficulty producing speech, but speech makes no sense
Very fluent speech with no pauses and any syntactic/grammatical errors
but nonsense

Inability to “understand” what they are saying/hearing disregarding what they think they understand

Doesn’t realize that there is a problem since they don’t understand what they’re saying makes no sense – it makes sense to them

Grammatically fluent but lexically incomprehensible

Damage of left temporal

SEAT OF MEANING

Question 25

Development of left hemisphere specialization

Answer 25

Question:
When does left hemisphere specialization develop? Was it always the left or does it develop with maturity?

Question 26

Equipotential hypothesis

Answer 26

Left is NOT specialized for language at birth
Left and right have EQUAL potential to specialize, but left specializes with development
IF this is true, children should have different lateralization that adults and lateralization should change with development

Question 27

Invariance hypothesis

Answer 27

Left specialization for language since at birth
Lateralization does not change with development
If this is correct, children should have the same lateralization as adults

Question 28

Evidence for Invariance hypothesis

Answer 28

Lambertz (2010) study
Children at 2 months old use left hemisphere more for speech, but 2 months old is NOT at birth

Question 29

Evidence for equipotential hypothesis

Answer 29

Szaflarski (2006)
Question:
How does lateralization develop?

Study:
Asked 170 individuals ranging from 5-67 years old to do verb generation task and used fMRI to see lateralization

Results:
Language lateralization proportion consistent from young to old
But differing degrees of involvement of hemispheres
Language lateralization of left increases from 5-20 years, plateaus, then decreases with age

Supports the equipotential hypothesis as it shows LH lateralization with development

Question 30

Plasticity

Answer 30

Ability of different parts to take over function, the malleability of the brain

Children have high neural plasticity, which is why they can recover language even after left hemi damage (right takes over) faster

Question 31

Critical period hypothesis

Answer 31

Biologically determined period where language acquisition must occur if it will ever

Question 32

Nim Chimpsky

Answer 32

Was taught ASL
Could do 100 signs and sign combinations

Problems:
MLU constant 1-1.6 signs
No increase of MLU with development
Long utterances were repetitions, not more complex/content
Followed the instructor’s sign more often than not
Not conversational, limited signs, lack of syntax/reference
Almost no grammar

Conclusion: Chimps cannot acquire human language