Language Flashcards
When do humans begin to exhibit the use of language?
- lang dev in humans typically follows pattern of babbling to form rudimentary parts of speech which eventually form into phonetic forms of speech
- at 1 year, one-word stage
- at 2 years, vocab of 2 words grows to 20-30,000
- might be critical period for language capacity to develop
Which brain regions are needed for language?
- Broca’s area - left frontal lobe, lateral, high motor association area, needed for word articulation
- Primary motor cortex - program movement in larynx etc
- Primary auditory cortex - have to have input as well
- Primary visual cortex - learn to read, need visual recognition
- Wernicke’s area - temporal-parietal junction, articulation of speech is fine, but doesn’t have sense, not reflective of understanding or language comprehension
- Primary somatic sensory cortex - cognitive control of language
Hemisphere asymmetry
language is lateralized in left hemisphere where right hemisphere involved in emotional content, prosody + agogics of speech
o Right hemisphere - interpreting emotional content of language, tone
o Also rudimentary - very basic, cant form whole sentences
What is aphasia?
partial or complete loss of language abilities caused by brain abnormality/damage resulting in specific aspects of language being lost depending on where it is affected
Broca’s aphasia = LEFT LATERAL FRONTAL LOBE damage = affect speech PRODUCTION
Wernicke’s aphasia = LEFT SUPERIOR TEMPORAL LOBE = affect speech COMPREHENSION
What is alexia?
word blindness where person has ability to write but cannot read, ability to recognize letters as a letter but cannot associate it with a sound, cannot read a word as a whole
left INFERIOR OCCIPITAL lesion (no awareness of their disability)
Can monkets use ‘generative’ language?
As monkeys don’t have the capacity to learn complicated intercalated language, even though they possess homologous areas (Broca’s area)
What is WORD ORDER?
a universal structure that is followed by 99% of all languages leading to the
hypothesis that any variations or diversity stems from the deep universal structure/rules that everybody possesses. As a result the natural language acquisition by children in their environmental language suggests existence of structure(s) expressed in the brain.
explains effortless language learning (toddler) and deep similarities
between languages (nearly all)
Exception to word order concept?
Piraha people of the amazon don’t follow this rule
CULTURAL EVOLUTION might be the primary factor in structure of people’s languages
But Pirahã people of the amazon don’t follow this rule: song-like
language (colour = refer to object like trees), with no tense,
numbers, colours, suggests no such thing of hard-wiring or language
instinct à Only develop stuff that you are going to use
What is the founder effect?
loss of genetic variation when new population (small no.) is established from large population —> same might be true for language
language is a culturally learnt phenomenon that is dependent on what you need
It seems possible that rather than a specific biological trait that has been strongly selected in evolution, language is simply a capacity afforded by a big brain with great capacity for classification and abstraction; **languages reflect the cultural and other environmental demands on the cultures that create them. **
READ IT AGAIN
Neurological deficit affecting speech follows. . .
autosomal dominant inheritance pattern
Why was FOXP2 thought to have a role in language?
- FOXP2 = gene belonging to forkhead transcription factor family, which plays a role in regulating expression of other genes
- During development, FOXP2 is expressed in diff parts of brain & other organs
- FOXP2 = mainly in basal ganglia (inc areas like nucleus accumbens) & brainstem
- Mutations in FOXP2 can cause neurological deficits, esp speech production
- The FOXP2 gene has been selectively maintained in humans, suggesting that it provides an evolutionary advantage, possibly related to our advanced language capabilities.
These brain regions are involved in motor control and various automatic functions, such as respiration.
Compare FOXP2 in humans and chimps
Amino Acid Differences: While chimps have the FOXP2 gene, it differs by only two amino acids compared to the human version.
Speculative Language Capabilities: This small difference is speculated to be a reason why chimps cannot develop language complexities similar to humans. However, this idea remains largely speculative.
Which hemisphere is the dominant one?
LEFT HEMISPHERE
Low frequency sounds are conveyed by. . .
right hemisphere
