Language Flashcards
What is Language?
A communication method which determines the way we think or a set of symbols that are used for communication
How is Language studied?
It is studied through phonology, semantics, syntax, and pragmatics, which involves a critical & sensitive period
What is Phonology (Phonemes)?
Smallest units of sounds in a language
What are Semantics?
Studies the meanings of words and sentences
What is Syntax?
A system that uses words (semantics) and word order to convey meaning (grammer)
What are Pragmatics?
Practical aspects of language - speech pace, gestures, body posture
What brain parts are involved in language?
- The Left Hemisphere of the brain is
considered the “Language Center” - The Broca’s Area is responsible for
Speech Production - The Wernicke’s Area is responsible
for Language Comprehension - Frontal Eye Fields are responsible
for Reading Language
What are the Gender Differences in Language?
- Girls tend to start talking before
boys, which is why they are faster
to acquire speech and language
comprehension - Women tend to use both
hemispheres to process language
information, while men process
language in a more lateralized manner
What problems can influence one’s language skills?
- A brain region that contributes to
language is damaged - Unhealthy Living Environments
(Poverty)
What is the connection between our thoughts and language?
Some of our thoughts like mental imagery and spatial investigation do not use verbal language
Summarize the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis
Hypothesis which suggests that language greatly influence how one thinks about certain objects and concepts in their own language
What are the 2 types of language?
- Expressive Language: ability to communicate thoughts/feelings through language
- Receptive Language: the ability to understand and express yourself through language
What is the structure of Language?
- Phonemes
- Morphemes: the smallest units of a language that conveys a meaning
- Syntax
- Pragmatics:
What is Agrammatism?
the inability to speak with proper grammar
What is Broca’s Aphasia?
- A form of Aphasia which causes the
inability to produce communicative
output - Impaired left-lobe
- Causes agrammatism
What is Broca’s Area?
Brain region located in the front lobe which is important for speech production
What is Wernicke’s Aphasia?
- Neurological condition that occurs
when the Wernicke’s Area is
damaged - Impaired Temporoparietal Junction
- Patient can speak, but their speech makes no sense
What is Wernicke’s Area?
- Brain region that is located in the
temporal lobe - Important for language
comprehension
What are Linguistics?
It is a method which studies how we communicate thoughts and ideas
Limitation: debate about whether not thoughts and ideas are actually related.
What is Knowledge?
An approach which stores the language we have, as well as refers to the content that we are familiar with.
What is a Prototype?
A mental representation about a category
What is (A)typicality Effect?
changes in discrimination time based on likelihood of features
What are Semantic Networks?
- Meaning of the words that are formed based on knowledge
- Refers to our understanding of the categories
What are the 2 types of Reasoning?
- Heuristic: an approach that develops a solution, quick, and is risky. More commonly used
- Algorithms: slow, accurate & problem solving strategy that always leads to a solution
What are the 2 types of Heuristic Reasoning?
- Availability Heuristic: tendency to
judge, rely on easily recalled events
(more common) - Representativeness; belief that objects/members of categories share alike characteristics, as well as draw conclusions from small groups of data & hold the tendency to ignore the important/relevant info that is associated with it
Mental Set
tendency to use a problem solving strategy, with the belief that if worked in the past, then it will work again (often used in the heuristic strategy method)
Functional Fixedness
Form of mental set, which tends to believe that objects only have 1 use
Template Memory
- the process of matching the subject
with the template, as it assumes that
we use memory representation - A subject is first a template, then it forms into a prototype
What is Rational Reasoning?
- decisions that tend to be made
based on the facts and information
that we have available at the
moment - it uses logical reasoning methods to
come to a decision
Bounded Rationality
refers to our inhibited/limited/“bounded” ability to make clear rational decisions under certain circumstances & limitations (lack time/info/constraints/emotions)
Decision Making
- Often driven by our emotions. Many people rely on their emotions or “gut instinct” as opposed to reasoning when they have to make decisions
- Usually involves irrational processes
Metacognition
refers to humans thinking about their own thoughts which involves the activation of the frontal cortex & hippocampus (stores info)
Source Amnesia
- A condition that occurs when the
hippocampus is damaged. As a result, the person is unable to accurately think about their own memories - Causes one to develop false memories, and struggle to view their memories in a meaningful way
Theory of the Mind
- form of metacognition that allows us to be aware of our own and others’ mental states
- Occurs when we infer what another person is thinking based on what we hear and see the actions that person commits
Critical Period
an early stage of life, where the individual is open to many social, learning, and emotional experiences that occur at that stage
Sensitive Period
a stage in the early life, where the individual can grasp a skill or characteristic at a faster rate as opposed to someone older. Humans go through more sensitive periods as opposed to critical periods
Overregulation
an linguistic error which causes a person (specifically a child) to make regular language into irregular (ex. Saying “breaked” instead of “broken”.)
Semantic Networks are…..
A) Abstract
B) Functional
C) Associative (Answer)
D) Representational
Semantic networks are shaped by…
A) Presence of Features
B) Heuristics
C) Context (Answer)
D) Experience with exemplars.
Which of the following represents the subordinate level category?
A) Mammal
B) Predator
C) Grizzly (Answer)
D) Bear
Thor overestimates the proportion of family chores which he takes responsibility for because it’s easier for him to recall what he has done than to recall what Loki has done. This best illustrates the impact of…
A) Availability Heuristic (Answer)
B) Representativeness Heuristic
C) Confirmation Bias
D) Functional Fixedness
Creativity is most related to…..
Algorithms
Babies acquire ___ last mostly because this aspect of language requires more explicit control and intention
Pragmatics
True/False: Deep structure is learned during a critical period
False
Broca’s aphasia is a disorder of…
Grammer
What does receptive language relate to?
Pragmatics
What is language development dependent on?
Communication
Categories are………
A. Abstract (answer)
B. Representational
C. Functional
D. Associative
Categories are determined by…
A. Presence of features
B. Context
C. Heuristics
D. Experience with exemplars (answer)
Which of the following represents the super-ordinate level category?
A. Mammal (answer)
B. Grizzly
C. Brown
D. Bear
Tony Stark believes that left-handed people are more creative than right-handed people. When he is at technology conferences, he always points out when a speaker he likes is using his left hand to hold the microphone, but never seems to notice when majority of the speakers are holding it in their right hand. This best illustrates the impact of…
A. functional fixedness
B. availability heuristic
C. confirmation bias (answer)
D. representativeness heuristic
The representativeness heuristics is most related to..
A. Prototypes (answer)
B. Exemplars
C. Algorithms
D. Insight
Language has a direct impact on…
A. Semantic Networks
B. Concepts
C. Categories
D. Pragmatics (answer)
