introduction to psychology of language

Question 1

what are Marr’s 3 levels of explanation

Answer 1

Descriptive = What can the brain do
Algorithm = What is the algorithm that it uses? (How does the “software” work?) 

“Hardware” Implementation =
How is the algorithm physically implemented?

Question 2

sign language in animals

Answer 2

Washoe (Chimpanzee)
Learned more than 130 signs
Claimed to occasionally combine signs to get a new meaning
Nim Chimpsky
Learned 125 signs
But wasn’t able to form novel combinations or learn syntax

Question 3

Symbols on a computer keyboard

and animals

Answer 3

Kanzi (Bonobo)
Could associate 150 symbols with spoken words and objects
Responded correctly to 70-80% of sentences
Performance comparable to a 2-year-old child
But cannot compare to a 6-year-old

Question 4

what is universal grammar (chomsky)

Answer 4

All languages share an innate universal grammar
Language is modular
All humans are born with a module for language learning; a “language acquisition device” (LAD)
When children learn a language, they don’t have to learn the entire grammar
They just set certain parameters in their LAD

Question 5

evidence for universal grammar

Answer 5

Children who never receive proper language input (e.g. deaf children who don’t learn sign language) often create their own gestural language
Same grammatical properties as normal language

Question 6

critical period for lang acquisition

Answer 6

Neglected children
Genie: Found at age 13, had been neglected for more than 11 years.
Was able to learn some words
Contradicts critical period hypothesis
but did not acquire proper syntax
Maybe the critical period is for high-level language usage?

Question 7

what is pronoun omission

Answer 7

Example: pronoun omission
Not possible in English (“I am here” vs. “Am here”)
Possible in Spanish (“Yo estoy aquí” vs. “Estoy aquí”)

Question 8

what is syntactic order

Answer 8

English: subject-verb-object (SVO; 42% of languages)
The cat is eating my sandwich.
SOV: Turkish, Japanese, Arabic, Hindi, etc. (45% of languages)
“The cat my sandwich is eating”
VSO: Hebrew (9% of languages)
“Eating is the cat my sandwich”
Practically no language uses VOS, OSV, and OVS
Where does this preference come from?