Lecture 9 keyterms Flashcards
What is the difference between language and communication?
Language is a structured system of symbols and rules for generating meaning, while communication is a broader concept that may not require structured language (e.g., gestures).
What role does writing play in communication?
Writing serves as a medium to transmit thoughts directly from one person’s mind to another using symbols.
What is language acquisition?
The process by which individuals, primarily children, learn and develop language.
What is the difference between innate and learned language?
Language may be an innate biological capacity (e.g., Noam Chomsky’s Universal Grammar) or learned through interaction and reinforcement (e.g., Skinner).
What did B.F. Skinner propose about language development?
Skinner proposed that language development occurs through operant conditioning, reinforcement, and imitation.
What is Noam Chomsky’s view on language ability?
Chomsky argued for an innate language ability, emphasizing structures like Universal Grammar to explain rapid acquisition in children.
What are linguistic units?
Elements of language such as phonemes, morphemes, lexicons, and grammar.
What is a lexicon?
The mental dictionary containing all words an individual understands.
What comprises spoken language?
Comprised of sounds organized into phonemes and morphemes to create meaningful words.
What are phonemes?
Smallest sound units that distinguish one word from another (e.g., /p/ in ‘pat’ vs. /b/ in ‘bat’).
What are morphemes?
Smallest units of meaning in a language, including free (stand-alone) and bound (affixes) morphemes.
What are free morphemes?
Morphemes that function independently as words (e.g., ‘tree’).
What are derivational morphemes?
Change the meaning or grammatical category of a word (e.g., ‘happy’ to ‘unhappy’).
What are inflectional morphemes?
Modify tense, number, possession, etc., without altering grammatical category (e.g., ‘walk’ to ‘walked’).
What is the phonemic restoration effect?
The brain fills in missing phonemes based on context to aid comprehension.
What cannot be separated in language?
Syntax and semantics are interdependent and must work together for language to convey meaning.
What is written language?
Uses graphemes and symbols to represent spoken language in a visual form.
What are graphemes?
Written characters that correspond to specific phonemes.
How does text appearance affect reading?
Font, size, and spacing influence the readability of written text.
What influences perception in reading?
Reading is influenced by the interaction between visual perception and linguistic knowledge.
What is readability?
The ease of understanding text based on design and structure.
How does font choice affect reading?
Font choice affects reading speed and comprehension.
What are eye movements in reading?
Saccades and fixations are the primary eye movements when processing written text.
What is the word superiority effect?
Letters are recognized faster and more accurately in the context of words than in isolation.
What is the word frequency effect?
Frequently encountered words are processed more quickly than rare ones.
How does the brain compensate for missing information?
The brain uses context to infer omitted linguistic elements.
What is lexical ambiguity?
Words with multiple meanings (e.g., ‘bank’) are resolved through contextual cues.
What is biased dominance?
When one meaning of an ambiguous word is used more frequently than others.
What are garden path sentences?
Sentences that initially mislead readers into incorrect interpretations (e.g., ‘The horse raced past the barn fell’).
What do eye-tracking studies show about garden path sentences?
Eye-tracking studies show increased fixation times during misinterpretation of such sentences.
What does EEG reveal about garden path sentences?
Brain activity increases when resolving ambiguity in garden path sentences.
What does the study of language and thought explore?
Explores the relationship between language and cognition.
What does the study of language and perception examine?
Examines how language influences sensory experiences.
What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
The idea that language shapes thought processes and perception, with strong and weak versions.
