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Psy102 > Lecture 9: Language > Flashcards

Lecture 9: Language Flashcards

1
Q

What is thinking?

A

Any mental activity or processing of information (ie. learning, remembering, communicating, deciding etc)

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2
Q

What is linguistic relativity?

A

The characteristic of language shape our thought processes

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3
Q

Supporting evidence

A

bilinguals recall information that was learned in a language better if they are asked to recall it in the same language, not the other domains of thinking (ie. memory) are more influenced by language

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4
Q

Higher-order cognition

A

Decision making & problem solving
..They require the integration more basic aspects of cognition (ie. perception, knowledge, memory, language & reasoning) into a plan of actions

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5
Q

What are the obstacles of problem solving

A
  1. Salience of surface similarities
  2. Mental Set
  3. Functional fixedness
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5
Q

Problem solving..Approaches to solving problems

A
  1. Algorithms = step-by-step learned procedure used to solve a problem

…Helpful when problem depends on the same basic steps for arriving at a solution but, they are inflexible

  1. Using reasoning from related examples
    More effective when algorithms are inflexible
    ie. analogies helping us to solve scientific problems (with similar structures)
  2. Breaking a problem down to subproblems that are easier to solve

Each approach is more or less appropriate depending on the problem

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6
Q

Explain salience of surface similarities

A

Salience refers to how attention-grabbing or noticeable something is. We tends to focus our attention on surface level properties of a problem

..Try to solve problems the same way we solved problems that showed similar surface characteristics. Ignoring the surface features of a problem and focusing on underlying reasoning is needed to solve its challenge

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7
Q

Explain mental Set

A

A phenomenon of becoming stuck in a specific problem solving strategy, inhibits our ability to generate alternatives. The inability to think outside the box when we find a solution that is workable. Getting stuck in that workable solution.

Having trouble “thinking outside the box”

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8
Q

Explain functional fixedness

A

Difficulty conceptualizing that an object typically used for one purpose can be used for another purpose. Become fixated on one conventional use of an object. Words are interpreted based on context, rather than fixed definitions.

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9
Q

What is language

A

A largely arbitrary system of communication that combines symbols (ie. words and gestural signs) in rule-based ways to create meaning. One hallmark of language is that it tends to be arbitrary.

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10
Q

Functions of language

A
  1. Transmission of information
  2. Emotional and social functions
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11
Q

What are the 4 levels of analysis of language

A
  1. Phenomenon
  2. Morphemes
  3. Syntax
  4. Extralinguistic Information
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12
Q

Explain Phonemes

A

The sounds of our language

These sounds are influenced by elements of our vocal tract (ie. lips, tongue placement, other physical manipulations of the mouth)

  • Each language includes only a subset of all available phonemes
  • Thus, some of language contain sounds (ie. phonemes) that don’t occur in other languages
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13
Q

Explain Morphemes

A

Smallest unit of meaning in a language..Stringing phonemes together. It can convey information about semantics

  • Meaning derived from words and sentences (ie. dog, jump etc)
  • Can attach to words to
  • “Re-“ (to do again)= (rewrite)
    “-ish” (to a moderate degree) = “pinkish”
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14
Q

Explain extra-lingual information

A

Elements of language that aren’t part of the content of language but are critical to
Interpreting its meaning

  • For example= nonverbal cues ( facial expressions, posture, gesture, tone of voice)
    We can easily misunderstand speech if we don’t pay close attention to this information, or if some of it is blocked
  • Eg. texting, talking on the phone
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15
Q

Explain Syntax

A

Grammatical rules that govern how words are composed into meaningful strings

Word order: “¡ love eating sushi” vs “sushi eating i love”

Morphological markers and sentence structure
“-s” = plural
“-ed”= past tense
“ing” = ongoing action

16
Q

LANGUAGE DIALECTS

A

There is variability across & within languages in morphemes, syntactic rules and etc

Dialects = language variation used by a group of people who share geographic proximity or ethnic background

  • Are not distinct languages
  • Slight variations in vocabulary, pronunciation or syntax of the language
  • Speakers of dialects that differ from the “standardised version of the native language are not making pronunciation and grammatical errors
17
Q

LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

A

The language learning process starts long before children begin speaking

By the 5th month of pregnancy, the auditory system is developed enough to allow fetuses to:
1. Learn their mother’s voice
2. Learn to recognize the melody/rhythm of their native language
3. Learn to recognise a specific song/story heard repeatedly

  • High-amplitude sucking procedure = allows us to test newborn’s ability to distinguish between sounds
  • 2 day old infants engage in more pacifier sucking when hearing mother’s native language than a foreign language
18
Q

BABBLING

A
  • Any intentional vocalization that lacks specific meaning
  • Any sound other than crying, burping, sighing and laughing

** Important in language development

  • Progress over the first year of life, demonstrating increasing control of vocal tracts (ie. lips, tongue placement, other physical manipulations of the mouth etc)

By the end of the first year of life, babbling takes on a conversational tone..Over the first year life, infants learn which phonemes are relevant for their own native language

All babies initially share the same basic phoneme categories (regardless of parents’ native language)

By ~10 months old, infant’s match that of adults’ (who speak their native language)

  • Motor coordination required to produce language-specific phonemes lags behind babies’ knowledge about phonemes of their native language
19
Q

LEARNING WORDS

A

..Comprehension precedes production

Due to limited ability to coordinate sounds to produce recognizable words. Most produce their first words around their first birthdays (can vary by children).

Children acquire first words slowly, but as they become more experienced at learning
new words..
* The difference between the number of words they know and those they can produce continues to narrow
* Children tend to frequently overextend and underextend

Overextend = applying words in a broader sense than adults do
All flying objects are birds

Under-extend= applying words in a narrower sense than adults do
“Dog” only refers to their dog

20
Q

SYNTACTIC DEVELOPMENT

A

One-word stage of language
development = children use single-word phrases to convey an entire thought (major milestone)

“Doggy” for where is the doggy, there is a doggy, doggy licked me

  • 2 word phrases (by ~2 yrs) = combining words into simple 2-word phrases
  • Use words in the correct order
  • Comprehension precedes production

3- and 4- word phrases & production of morphological markers (ie. ‘-s’ & ‘-ed’)

Most syntactic rules are acquired by preschool age (acquire more during early yrs of school)

21
Q

SPECIAL CASES OF LANGUAGE LEARNING; sign language

A

Challenges that may prevent or slow down acquiring a language

Sign Language…A language developed by members of a community with hearing loss that uses visual rather than auditory communication

  • Requires using hands, face, body & “sign space” to communicate

Many different sign languages in different communities & countries (ie. ASL,
French Sign Language)

22
Q

BILINGUALISM

A

Being proficient and fluent at speaking & comprehending 2 distinct languages

  • Factors that enhance how well (& quickly) a second language is learned
  • Living with native speakers of the second language

Motivation to learn the second language..Earlier age of acquisition (the younger a person is, the better they can master the second language)

Age-of-exposure effects are more dramatic for syntax and pronunciation than for vocabulary

23
Q

THEORIES OF LANGUAGE ACQUISITION, 4 major theoretical accounts of language acquisition

A
  1. The “pure” nature & nurture accounts
  2. The nativist account
  3. The social pragmatist account
  4. The general cognitive processing account
24
Q

What are misconceptions about sign language?

A
  • Sign language is not acting out what one would otherwise speak
  • It is a linguistic system of communication with its own words, syntax & extralinguistic info
25
Q

Advantages of bilingualism

A
  1. Bilinguals are able to communicate with two different language communities
  2. Bilinguals gain heightened metalinguistic insight = awareness of how language is
    structured & used
    - Bilinguals perform better on language tasks
  3. Bilingualism may offer protection from cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer’s disease & other forms of dementia
  4. The need to switch between languages enhances general executive function abilities involved in planning, attention & inhibitory control

The so-called “bilingual advantage” depends on how commonly one deliberately
between languages in everyday life

Simply knowing 2 languages is not enough to experience this bilingual advantage. You have to keep switching

  • Bilinguals who learned a second language earlier developmental process 2 languages using similar brain regions……But those who learned their second language later in development use different brain areas
26
Q

Do bilingual children experience a delay?

A

YES! bilingual children experience a delay in each of their languages…However, remains intact.

27
Q

What is IMITATION

A

Purely nurture account.. The most parsimonious explanation that children learn language through imitation…However, language is generative:
It allows an infinite number of unique sentences to be created by combining words in novel ways

Language isn’t predetermined set of sentences

28
Q

What is NATIVIST ACCOUNT

A

Children are born with some basic knowledge of how language works. Born with expectations that there will be syntactic rules that influence how sentences are constructed…

Noam Chomsky = invented the field of contemporary linguistics

Humans have a specific language “organ” in the brain, which houses these rules, called the: language acquisition device**

  • A hypothetical construct in the brain in which nativists believe knowledge of syntax resides
    Weakness = claims are difficult to falsify

A theory that can explain every possible outcome, explains nothing at all

29
Q

Explain, SOCIAL PRAGMATICS ACCOUNT

A

Account of language acquisition that proposes that children infer what words and
sentences mean from context and social interactions. For example..children can use the context of a conversation (such as gestures or expressions of the speaker) to infer its topic

According to research, children can figure out word meaning in such way as early as 24 months of age

(weakness) But, this assumes that infants understand a great deal about how others are thinking (than they actually do)

30
Q

Explain, GENERAL COGNITIVE PROCESSING

A

Children’s ability to learn language results from general skills that they apply across a variety of activities..For example: children’s ability to perceive, learn & recognize may be all that they need to learn a language

However, specific areas of the brain are more active in language processing than in other types of learning, memory, and pattern recognition activities
….suggesting that at least some distinct cognitive processes occur during language as opposed to other cognitive activities

Psy102 (6 decks)

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