Language & Social Cognition Flashcards
Describe the differences between speech, language, and communication
speech: output of sounds from one human intended for another
language: set of learned codes that can be used to express our needs to others and understand others’ needs
communication: conveying ideas to one another
phoneme
• Phonemes: basic units of sounds of a language, used to build words, phrases, sentences
ex: bat is different from cat
morpheme
• Morphemes: meaningful unit of a language, that cannot be further divided
ex: -ed is a morpheme: walk is different from walked
syntax
Syntax: grammar that dictates how words can be combined
ex: colorless green ideas sleep furiously is syntactically correct
Although the sentence is syntactically correct, no obvious understandable meaning can be derived from it, and thus it demonstrates the distinction between syntax and semantics
semantics
• Semantics: meanings of words and how they can change in context of phases and sentences
ex: colorless green ideas sleep furiously is semantically nonsensical
Although the sentence is syntactically/grammatically correct, no obvious understandable meaning can be derived from it, and thus it demonstrates the distinction between syntax and semantics
pragmatics
pragmatics: rules of when to use language in particular
circumstances
ex: taking turns in conversation
Explain why the sentence “Colorless green ideas sleep furiously” is interesting to people
interested in language
Although the sentence is grammatically correct, no obvious understandable meaning can be derived from it, and thus it demonstrates the distinction between syntax and semantics
Explain what Patricia Kuhl means when she says that infants are born as “citizens of the
world”
Infants are born as “citizens of the world” (Patricia
Kuhl), able to recognize phonemes/acquire any
language
Explain why infants’ ability to learn words is so impressive and describe how statistical learning works broadly and how it might help explain how infants are able to learn words, especially how they’re able to decipher the beginnings and ends of words
Statistical learning: acquisition of structured
information by passive observation; no feedback,
reinforcement, or instruction required
Word segmentation cues: words in isolation,
pauses, prosodic cues (e.g., stresses on syllables),
correlations with objects/events in environment,
statistical cues
Transitional probabilities
— cute baby vs. cute puppy
Define an oronym
Oronyms: words or phrases that sound the same but
mean something quite different; typically the result
of breaking up sounds into different units
ex: madgab
- The stuff he knows can lead to problems
- The stuffy nose can lead to problems
Have a broad sense of developmental milestones in vocalization/speech and in language comprehension, i.e., you don’t need to know that at x months, a baby can do y, but you should know the general progression
vocal play —> babbling —> comprehension —> word production
Vocal play (4-6 mths) Babbling (6-10 mths) Single words (10-18 mths) Two words, telegraphic speech (~18-24 mths)
Adult-like sentences (~2.5 yrs)
Vocabulary of ~10,000 words by age six
Comprehension precedes production: Can understand many more words before they can speak them
, e.g., vocal play early on before babbling, and how comprehension precedes production
Have a broad sense of developmental milestones in vocalization/speech and in language comprehension, i.e., you don’t need to know that at x months, a baby can do y, but you should know the general progression
vocal play (4) —> babbling (6) —> single words (10-18) —> two words (18-24) —> adult-like sentences (2 years)
Vocal play (4-6 mths) Babbling (6-10 mths) Single words (10-18 mths) Two words, telegraphic speech (~18-24 mths) Adult-like sentences (~2.5 yrs) Vocabulary of ~10,000 words by age six
Comprehension precedes production: Can understand many more words before they can speak them
babies begin to use vocal play as they gain more control over their oral structures. They put vowels and consonants together and make true speech sounds. They also start to make non-speech sounds such as raspberries, yelling, and growling —> Reduplicated babbling is the repetition of a syllable several times, such as “ba ba ba ba”. Babies are now able to make several in one breath and will attempt to imitate adult sounds.
e.g., vocal play early on before babbling, and how comprehension precedes production
Describe the Wug test and what it demonstrated about language learning
gave kids nonsense words and prompted to complete a statement about it
ex: This is a WUG. Now there is another one. There are two of them. There are two________
A child who knows that the plural of witch is witches may have heard and memorized that pair, but a child responding that the plural of wug is wugs, has apparently inferred the basic rule for forming plurals
conjugations, possessives, and other common derivational morphemes
even young children possess implicit knowledge of linguistic morphology
——
Gleason’s major finding was that even very young children are able to connect suitable endings—to produce plurals, past tenses, possessives, and other forms—to nonsense words they have never heard before, implying that they have already internalized systematic aspects of the linguistic system which no one has necessarily tried to teach them
“Wug test” demonstrated that children can apply rules they’ve learned to novel situations, i.e., they don’t just imitate grammatical forms they’ve already heard others say.
Describe some typical errors children make when learning language
Overextension: tendency to use specific words to refer
to a broad class of objects (e.g., ”truck” to refer to all
motor vehicles)
Under-extension: tendency to use a general word to
refer to a smaller set of items (e.g., ”cereal” to refer to
Cheerios but not Fruit Loops)
Over-regularization: tendency to overuse grammatical
rules when they don’t apply (e.g., “two mouses,” “I
sawed the bird in the tree,” “I undarked it.”)
Errors parsing/understanding words, e.g., “I am have!”
(in response to “Behave!”); “I don’t want to go to your
ami” (in response to “We’re doing to Miami.”); “I want
boy cheese” (not “girl cheese,” aka grilled cheese)
Describe what characterizes “parentese”
Child-directed speech: • Slower • More animated • Wider pitch variations • Wider vowel contrasts • Heavier on questions and commands (fewer declarative sentences) • Preferred by newborns • Near universal, i.e., used by parents and non-parents in almost all cultures
** Parentese is not baby talk (“goo-goo, ga-ga”)
Describe the debate over whether language is learned vs. innate and some evidence for both sides
learned:
- language learned through imitation and reinforcement
- Children are excellent statistical learners
innate (linguistic nativism):
-babies are not blank slates, but instead come wired for language
-“Poverty of the input”: children don’t hear enough
examples of language to build a working model
from scratch
Best idea is it’s a mixture of both: Babies do seem
primed for language learning, but they need input
Describe what is happening during the sensitive period for learning language
Sensitive period: time when connections and pathways are developing and refining most rapidly, when brain is most plastic. Appropriate stimulation will ensure optimal development
- Acquired distinctiveness: We become better at perceiving stimulus properties important for distinguishing sounds in our native language
- Acquired similarity: We become worse at perceiving stimulus properties that are not
Describe some potential issues with interpreting graphs like Figure 4.14 as purely showing evidence of defined windows of neuroplasticity
But this could be confounded by other variables,
not just a reflection of neuroplasticity
Describe experimental evidence demonstrating the importance of social interaction in language learning
Could hear the same exact infantdirected, naturalistic speech, but if it wasn’t an in-person interaction, infants didn’t learn from it
LANGUAGE IS THEREFORE SOCIAL — Social interaction is critical to language development
Describe what is meant by the “bilingual advantage”: describe broadly what executive processes are and tests that are used to assess them
Describe the “file drawer problem” and how it’s worth being mindful of when evaluating
research in a given area
Explain why bilingualism is good for the brain
OVERALL: possible advantage in executive processes (processing info and being flexible) as seen in (tower of London, stroop) but file-drawer problem, older diagnosis for dimentia
- Bilingual advantage?
- Bilinguals seem to do better than monolinguals on tasks involving executive processes:
—processes that allow information processing and behavior to vary adaptively from moment to moment depending on current goals, rather than remaining rigid and inflexible
—executive attention, switching
attention
—inhibition, updating, monitoring
tower of London task: objective of the puzzle is to move the entire stack to another rod, obeying the following rules:
- only one disk may be moved at a time - no disk may be placed on top of a smaller disk
stroop task: when the name of a color is printed in a color that is not denoted by the name (e.g., the word “red” printed in blue ink)
*Many, many published studies reveal bilingual advantages in executive processes.
• But there is a question of a file-drawer problem (bias introduced into the scientific literature by selective publication)
• bilinguals diagnosed with dimentia at older age (Bilingualism is challenging for the brain. Such
challenges are good for the brain, especially as we
age.)
aphasia
loss of the ability to produce or comprehend
language for reasons based on damage to the brain
Describe Broca’s aphasia – its symptoms and neural substrates
difficulties communicating ideas to others (oral, written, sign language all affected)
Problems with expressing language, but not with
comprehension
Damage to left lateral frontal cortex, especially left inferior frontal gyrus —> difficulty in expressing language
Describe Wernicke’s aphasia – its symptoms and neural substrates
difficulties in receiving and comprehending language
Damage to left temporal cortex —> deficits in
comprehension
Describe the Wernicke-Geschwind model and how it’s a bit oversimplified
• A. Auditory input (heard speech) moves from auditory cortex to Wernicke’s area
• B. Visual input (written words) move from
occipital cortex through angular gyrus to Wernicke’s area
• C. After some analysis, language information travels to Broca’s area via arcuate fasciculus
• D. Broca’s area is necessary to create the
production of a response to the input
word salad
Word salad: normal sounding speech that has no meaning
neologism
Neologism: invention of a new word that has no meaning
prosody
Prosody: intonations, stresses, and rhythms of speech
Describe foreign accent syndrome
explain why calling the disorder “foreign accent syndrome” is a bit of a misnomer
Foreign Accent Syndrome: speech disorder characterized by change in prosody – intonations, stresses, rhythms — such that people sound like they have a new accent
don’t have an accent, but a speech impairment
Describe what the video on semantic mapping demonstrated about which areas of the
brain are involved in language processing
Language engages broad regions of the brain – bilaterally
Describe dyslexia and how it is often characterized by less activation in a particular region of the brain
Dyslexia: developmental reading disorder, characterized by difficulties in recognizing and processing alphabetical symbols and words.
Dyslexia characterized by less activation in temporoparietal region
responds well to remediation, especially if it occurs early
Describe alexia
Alexia: inability to recognize written language;
usually results from damage to the “visual word
form area,” a region of the left ventral
occipitotemporal cortex
Explain how the lateralization of face vs. word areas provides evidence for cortical competition
Be able to roughly locate the “visual word form area”
learning to read increases responses to letters and decreases responses to faces in the left fusiform gyrus
left side word area, right side face are
Explain why it’s not so accurate/meaningful to say someone is “left-brained” or “right-brained”
left: language, motor control — logic/reasoning
right: spatial ability, emotion
as differences that do exist tend to be minimal
Be able to locate the corpus callosum and describe what function it serves
Large bundle of axons connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres
Describe what happens in “split-brain” patients
Split-brain patients almost seem to have two brains,
each learning and performing independently
Describe how faces and provide useful socioemotional cues
Faces hold important socio-emotional cues
fearful, happy, or neutral facial expressions
Describe the unfortunate consequences of our ability to infer emotions from facial expressions
unfair judgement
snap judgments regarding abstract personal qualities – e.g., trustworthiness or dominance – based on physical qualities of a face
Describe what happens in the still-face paradigm and what that reveals about the socioemotional information we expect in faces
we expect for faces to convey socioemotional information—> when they don’t it’s very unnerving
Describe how infants’ behavior is affected by social cues from others
read facial expressions to help them make decisions
Describe key components of the theory of mind network in the brain
ToM: The ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions potentially different from one’s own
children under the age of four answered Anne’s box
Describe evidence provided by psychologist Laurie Santos (in the quiz video and in the video we watched in class) for some theory of mind capabilities for non-human primates but for some capabilities that seem exclusive to humans
rhesus monkeys’ ability to steal grapes when they know you’re not looking
