L7 - How is language meaning mental represented in the brain

Question 1

amodal symbol system

Answer 1

all mental representations are abstract codes or symbols

Question 2

phonological lexicon

Answer 2

a store of the abstract speech sounds that make up known words

Question 3

lexical access

Answer 3

the process of matching a perceptual of a word onto a stored memory of the word

Question 4

symbol grounding problem

Answer 4

it is impossible to get a satisfactory definition of any given word without knowing the meaning of other words in advance

Question 5

embodied cognition

Answer 5

mental representations cannot be abstract symbols - instead are SENSORY EXPERIENCES.

• the idea that the body (its movement/internal state) can be used in cognition (to understand words/social situations)

Question 6

research evidence for sensory /abstract experience theories

Answer 6

where image showed was illogical (e.g. pencil facing the wrong way, not in correct spatial order, moving hand backwards against an arrow etc) RT were impaired - supports sensory

Question 7

neural predictions of the two models

Answer 7

• if abstract - neural processes would be expected to occur separately
• sensory - expect a range of brain regions (a DISTIBRIBUTED SEMANTIC SYSTEM)