Lesson 9 questions Flashcards
Describe the impressive characteristics of human language skills. Define the following terms: “phoneme,” “morpheme,” “syntax,” “semantics,” and “pragmatics.” What does Matlin mean when she says psycholinguistics is English-centred? Do Demonstration 9.1.
- The characteristics of human language skills: A few of the abilities you need to understand a spoken sentence, 1) encoding the sound of a speaker’s voice, 2) encoding the visual features of printed language, 3) accessing the meaning of words, 4) understanding the rules that determine word order, 5) appreciating whether a sentence is a question or a statement, based only on the speaker’s intonation.
- Phoneme: The basic unit of spoken language, such as the sounds a, k, and th. The English language has about 40 phonemes.
- Morpheme: The basic unit of meaning. Ex: reactivate, re-active-ate. Morphology is the study of morphemes.
- Syntax: Grammatical rules that govern how we organize words into sentences. The term Grammar, encompasses both morphology and syntax, so, examines both word structure and sentence structure.
- Semantics: Examines the meanings of words and sentences.
- Pragmatics: Refers to our knowledge of the social rules that underlie language use; pragmatics takes into account the listener’s perspective.
*“Psycholinguistics is English-centered”: Most researchers in the discipline of psycholinguistics focus on how people understand and use English. As a result, some of the findings may apply only to English speakers, rather than to all humans.
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What are the important contributions of Noam Chomsky to the early study of psycholinguistics? What two assumptions did Chomsky make regarding language abilities? Describe the difference between surface structure and deep structure. What are transformational rules? Provide an original example.
Comment: Chomsky’s theory is known as transformational grammar theory. Prior to Chomsky, language was represented by “phrase structure grammar.” Phrase structure grammar consists of grammatical symbols (e.g., sentence, noun phrase, verb phrase, nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, etc.); rules for rewriting the symbols (e.g., a sentence can be rewritten as a noun phrase plus a verb phrase, a noun phrase can be rewritten as an article plus an optional adjective plus a noun, etc.); and terminal elements or the actual words that used to replace symbols (e.g., a noun can be replaced by MAN, WOMAN, or DOG; a verb can be replaced by CARRIED or FED; etc.). Rules 1 to 3 illustrate rewrite rules, and Rules 4 to 6 illustrate terminal rules.
Rule 1: sentence = noun phrase + verb phrase
Rule 2: noun phrase = article + noun
Rule 3: verb phrase = verb + noun phrase
Rule 4: noun = man, woman, dog
Rule 5: verb = carried, fed
Rule 6: article = a, the
Phrase structure grammar is deceptively powerful. The rules described above are sufficient for producing any and all grammatical sentences involving the terminal elements specified in rules 4, 5, and 6. The tricky part of this grammar was specifying the complete set of rules. Although the details of phrase structure grammar are not important for this course, it should be noted that phrase structure grammar is an important part of Chomsky’s transformational grammar. In transformational grammar, the deep structure is generated by phrase structure rules. Chomsky suggested that an additional set of transformational rules would operate on the deep structure to produce the surface structure, or the words we actually hear. Transformational grammar is not covered in this section even though it generated much research.
Noam Chomsky’s contributions: - Suggested more to language than meets the eye (ear)
-Contributed to the decline of behaviourism.
-Argues that language abilities must be explained in terms of a complex system of rules and principles that are represented in your mind.
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Two assumptions Chomsky made regarding language ability:
- Proposed that humans have innate language skills, therefore we have an inborn understanding of the abstract principles of language.
- Proposed that language is modular; meaning people have a set of specific linguistic abilities that is separated from our other cognitive processes such as memory and decision making. According to this approach, children learn complex linguistic structures many years before they master simpler tasks. The standard cognitive approach argues that language is not modular, but is interconnected with other cognitive processes, such as working memory. According to this theory, we are skilled in language because our brains can master many cognitive tasks.
Difference between surface structure and deep structure:
- Surface structure is represented by the words that are actually spoken or written.
- Deep structure is the underlying, more abstract meaning of a sentence.
What are transformational rules? (example): People use transformational rules to convert a deep structure into a surface structure that we can speak or write. Two sentences may have different surface structures, but similar deep structures. Ex: Casey ate an apple, and, The apple was eaten by Casey.
Summarize the reactions to Chomsky’s theory. Describe the cognitive functional approach to language. Explain how it differed from Chomsky’s theory. Do Demonstration 9.2, and explain how it is related to the cognitive functional approach.
Reactions to Chomky’s Theory:
-Initially, psychologists responded enthusiastically to his ideas about grammar, but some of the research didn’t support his theories.
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The cognitive functional approach to language: This approach emphasizes that the function of human language in everyday life is to communicate meaning to other individuals. It also suggests that our cognitive processes, such as attention and memory, are intertwined with our language comprehension and language production.
In short, the cognitive-functional approach argues that people can use language creatively, in order to communicate subtle shades of meaning.
How did the cognitive functional approach differ from Chomsky’s theory?
Chomsky assumed that language was modular. The cognitive-functional approach assumes that we use our cognitive processes, along with language skills, to convey meaning.
Describe each of the following factors. Explain how each factor affects comprehension. What is the good-enough approach to language comprehension? Do Demonstration 9.3. negatives passive voice complex syntax ambiguity
In general, people have difficulty understanding sentences that contain the following:
Negatives: If a sentence contains a negative word, such as no, or not, or an implied negative, such as rejected, the sentence almost always requires more processing time than a similar, affirmative sentence.
Passive Voice: The active and passive forms of a sentence may differ in their surface structure, even though they have similar deep structure. The active form is more basic. We need to add extra words to create the passive form of a sentence. The English language uses the active voice more often than the passive.
Complex Syntax: People have difficulty understanding complex syntax, such as sentences with a nested structure. In a nested structure, one phrase is embedded within another phrase.
Ambiguity: Sentences are difficult to understand if they contain an ambiguous word or an ambiguous sentence structure. Words can be ambiguous, but so can sentence structure, such as when a sentence has no punctuation.
The good-enough approach to language comprehension: According to this approach, we process only part of a sentence. The approach is an example of a heuristic (a general rule that is typically accurate). In many cases, we read quickly, and try to grasp the general meaning of a sentence. Our knowledge of language typically leads us to an accurate interpretation, but can sometimes lead to errors in language comprehension.
Define “neurolinguistics.” Define “aphasia.” Describe the language deficits that usually occur when there is damage in Broca’s area and damage in Wernicke’s area. What is lateralization? Describe the roles of the left and right hemispheres in language processing. Do Demonstration 9.4. Describe the neuroimaging involving fMRI during normal language processing?
Comment: Broca’s aphasia and Wernicke’s aphasia are most often caused by a cerebral vascular accident (e.g., stroke or blood clot). These two types of aphasia also illustrate the distinction between syntax and semantics. Patients with Broca’s aphasia have difficulty with the syntax of language, whereas patients with Wernicke’s aphasia have trouble with the semantics of language.
Language impairment similar to aphasia is also a symptom in dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease. Although many people associate memory impairment as the primary symptom of Alzheimer’s disease, language impairments are also prevalent. In the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, word finding problems or anomia is frequently reported. As the disease progresses, many patients will show language deficits that are similar to that of Wernicke’s aphasia.
Neurolinguistics: The discipline that examines how the brain processes language.
Aphasia: A person with aphasia has difficulty communicating, caused by damage to the speech areas of the brain.
Broca and Wernicke’s area deficits: Broca’s area is located toward the front of the brain. Damage to Broca’s area typically leads to hesitant speech that primarily uses isolated words and short phrases. Broca’s aphasia is characterized by an expressive-language deficit or trouble PROCESSING language. Broca’s area is one area in the brain that manages motor movement. To produce speech, you have to move mouth and tongue, therefore, it makes sense that Broca’s damaged people have trouble with speech production.
Wernicke’s area is toward the back of the brain. Damage to this area typically produces difficulty in UNDERSTANDING language. They often have such difficulty understanding, they can’t follow simple instructions. Their spoken language is often wordy and confused with relatively few pauses.
Lateralization: Means that each hemisphere of the brain has somewhat different functions.
Left and right hemisphere’s roles in language processing: Left hemisphere performs most of the work in language processing, for the majority of people. It is especially active during speech perception, and it quickly selects the most likely interpretation of a sound. It is also very active when you are reading or trying to understand the meaning of a statement. High-imagery sentences activate the left hemisphere.
The right hemisphere is active when you are paying attention to the emotional tine of a message. It also plays a role in appreciating humour. In general, the right hemisphere is responsible for more abstract language tasks.
The two hemispheres work together on tasks such as interpreting subtle word meanings, resolving ambiguities and combining the meaning of several sentences.
Neuroimaging involving fMRI during normal language processing:
How does written language differ from spoken language? Do Demonstration 9.5. What does it reveal?
Comment: There is a close relation between working memory and reading skills, which should not be too surprising since many of the tests that measure working memory rely on reading ability. Obviously, good readers will do better on both tasks.
1) Reading is visual and is spread out across space, whereas speech is auditory and is spread out across time.
2) Readers can control the rate of input, whereas listeners usually cannot.
3) Readers can re-scan the written input, whereas listeners must rely much more heavily on their working memory.
4) Readers usually encounter standardized, error-free input, whereas listeners often need to cope with variability, grammatical errors, sloppy pronunciation and interfering stimuli.
5) REaders can see discrete boundaries between words.
6) Readers encounter only the stimuli on the page, whereas listeners encounter both non-verbal cues and auditory cues.
7) Children require elaborate teaching to master some written languages, but they learn spoken languages much more easily.
8) Adult readers typically learn new words more quickly when they appear in a written form, rather than a spoken form.
Describe the dual route approach to reading. Be sure to define the direct-access route and the indirect-access route, and the research that supports each. Do Demonstration 9.6. How is it related to the indirect-access hypothesis? Describe the whole-word approach and the phonics approach to teaching reading. How are these approaches related to theories of word recognition?
Dual route approach to reading: Sometimes readers sound out words and sometimes they don’t. The dual-route approach to reading specifies that skilled readers employ both a 1) direct access route; sometimes you read a word and recognize it directly through vision, without sounding it out, and 2) an indirect access route, Sometimes you read a word and translate the ink marks on the page into some form of sound, before you can access a word and its meaning (converting visual stimulus into phonological stimulus).
Research- 319
Whole-word approach: Argues that readers can directly connect the written word-as an entire unit-with the meaning that this word represents. This approach argues that children should not learn to emphasize the way a word sounds, Instead, this approach encourages children to identify a word in terms of its context within a sentence.
Phonics approach: states that readers recognize words by trying to pronounce the individual letters in the word (sound it out). This approach arguues that speech sound is a necessary intermediate step in reading. It also emphasizes developing awareness of phonemes. Research supports that phonics training helps children who have reading problems.
Define “discourse.” Why is it important to form an integrated mental representation of the text when reading? Define “inference.” Do Demonstration 9.7. Describe the constructionist view of inferences, and summarize the research by Huitema and his colleagues (1993) on this issue. Explain why their research supports the constructionist view.
Discourse: Interrelated units of language that are larger than a sentence.
In everyday life, we try to figure out the mental state of other people in our lives, a concept called theory or mind. Readers often try to figure out the mental states of the people they read about.
Readers and listeners form integrated representations when they hear spoken language. The research shows that skilled readers organize and integrate info into a cohesive story. Readers construct internal representations that include descriptions of the characters in a story. Readers often need to maintain these internal representations in long-term memory for many pages of a novel. Also, readers often make inferences that go beyond the info supplies by the writer.
Inferences in reading: People combine the info they are reading, together with the info presented in a passage. Then they dray a reasonable conclusion based on that combo.
Constructionist view of inferences: Readers usually dray inferences about the causes of events and the relationships between events. This perspective is called a constructionist view because readers actively construct cohesive explanations when they integrate the current info with all the relevant info from the previous parts of the text, as well as their background knowledge.
Research (326) supports that readers clearly try to connect material within a text passage, and they consult info stored in long-tern memory. During discourse processing, we try to construct a representation of the text that is internally consistent, even when irrelevant material intervenes.
Describe the factors that encourage people to draw inferences when they are reading. What are higher level inferences? What is metacomprehension, and why is it important?
Comment: Inferences are a pervasive part of the comprehension process. Consider the sentence: “The policeman stopped the car.” Despite the simplicity of this sentence, a number of inferences are usually made to complete our understanding of it. For example, we draw inferences about why the car was being stopped, who was being stopped, how the car was stopped, and so on. If this is followed by another sentence — “The bumper hit his leg.” — we infer that it is the bumper of the car being stopped, and that it is the leg of the policeman that was hit. As this example illustrates, inferences are made constantly, and often effortlessly, as a normal part of the comprehension process.
Factors that encourage people to draw inferences when reading:
- large working memory capacity,
- excellent metacomprehension skills.
- Expertise about the topic described in the text.
Higher level inferences: Higher level inferences are beyond the level of the paragraph. Some genres of books are likely to activate different expectations. Magic books, sci-fi etc, people must suspend their everyday schemas.
Another kind is based on our own preferences about he way we want a story to turn out. Research shows that readers do develop strong mental preferences for a particular outcome.
Metacomprehension: a term that refers to your thoughts about comprehension. Can be helpful when teaching older children learn ex: think out loud, summarize passages, make predictions about possible outcomes and describe puzzling sections.
Describe Cassady’s work on individual differences in test anxiety and what it reveals. What is latent semantic analysis (LSA), and how is it related to language comprehension. What are the limitations of LSA?
Cassady’s study: People who are high in test anxiety often perform poorly on exams. Most people attribute this to worry intruding on a person’s consciousness, blocking retrieval. However, Cassady proposes that test anxiety also decreases student’s skills in understanding the info in their textbooks. He examined the link between anxiety and discourse comprehension. 329. People who are highly anxious tend to do poorly on tests of reading comprehension and report poorer study skills.
Cognitive scientists have developed computer programs to help understand language. One program uses A.I and is called latent semantic analysis, which can perform many fairly sophisticated language tasks, for example assessing creative writing.
LSA used to analyze people’s self-descriptions before and after therapy and can also assess the amount of semantic similarity between two discourse segments.
Limitations: The current program masters only a small component of language comprehension. LSA ignores syntax, learns only from written text, whereas humans learn from spoken language, facial expressions and physical gestures.
