Language 8.3 Flashcards
What is comprehension? (3 points)
- Understanding
- Creating mental model of events (situation model/representation of state of affairs described)
- Situation models influence interpretation of sentences/memory of it
What are three theories of resolving lexical ambiguity? (1 sentence each)
Selective access
- context restricts access so only relevant is selected
Ordered access
- all senses of a word are accessed in order of frequency
Parallel access
- all senses activated and appropriate one selected based on context
What is a lexical decision task, and how did Swinney (1987) achieve this with a cross-modal priming task? (2 points)
Decide whether a word is real or fake
Listen to words, looking at the same time. See whether one has an influence on the other.
What is the reordered access model? (2 points)
Access is influenced by the frequency of words
In a biasing context, frequency and context affect access speed
What are three types of inferences and what do they mean? (1 sentence each)
Logical - logically implied by meaning of words
Bridging (backward) - relating new info to old info, helps maintain coherence
Elaborative (forward) - using knowledge to extend what has been said, not required for coherence
What is inference in relation to language comprehension? (1 sentence)
Any information that is part of a situation model that is not explicitly stated
What are three types of bridging inferences and an example of each?
Anaphoric/referential
The king had one son. The prince spent his days staring into space
Instrumental
The worker swept the floor. The broom was old
Causal
Charlie took an aspirin. Their headache went away
Why do semantic illusions occur? (3 points)
- Failure to notice linguistic input
- Expectation of cooperative speakers
- Limit on attention
What influences focus?
Acoustic (prosody)
Visual (italics, capitals, bold font)
Linguistic structure
What influences focus?
Acoustic (prosody)
Visual (italics, capitals, bold font)
Linguistic structure
What is shallow processing, and why is it useful? (3 points)
Partial analysis of the input (superficial coherence = heuristic processing)
Goal of comprehension - coherent representation
Efficient and fast (decreased accuracy)
What is goodness of fit? (1 sentence)
Greater discrepancy between imposter word and target semantic, the easier to spot
Relatedness to context is important
What is goodness of fit? (1 sentence)
Greater discrepancy between imposter word and target semantic, the easier to spot
Relatedness to context is important
What is goodness of fit? (1 sentence)
Greater discrepancy between imposter word and target semantic, the easier to spot
Relatedness to context is important
What is goodness of fit? (1 sentence)
Greater discrepancy between imposter word and target semantic, the easier to spot
Relatedness to context is important
