Module 1 - Thought and Language Flashcards
what is a phoneme
a single unit of sound that changes the meaning . They are important initial blocks of building blocks
what are morphemes?
are units of language which have meaning, which can only be realised when it is attached to the word
words, suffixes and prefixes are examples of ?
morpheme
content and function words are example of ?
morphemes
what are content words?
these words carry meaning of the sentence
what does semantic processing rely on?
content words
What are function words?
these carry grammatical information, help you understand the relationship between content words
what does syntactic processing rely on?
function words
examples of content words?
- nouns, verbs, adjectives , some adverbs
Examples of function words?
- pronouns, prepositions, conjunctivas
brocas aphasia ?
the inability to produce language
where is broca’s area located in the right handed people?
left hemisphere, mostly lower edge of the frontal lobe and upper edge of temporal lobe
what is syntax refer to?
refers to the structure of language, phrases and sentences
- it refers to the rules for ordering words are learned implicitly
what is syntaxed cued by?
- word order
- word class
what does word order help us identify?
word class i.e subject, object
wernicke aphasia ?
the inability to understand language
where is wernickle area located in right handed people?
left temporal -> next to primary auditory cortex -> translated sounds into meaning
what is a proposition?
statement that expresses an idea
what is surface structure ?
organisation of words at a surface level
What is deep structure ?
meaning of sentence
what does one deep structure but two surface structure ?
words in two sentences are organised differently but underlying meaning is the same
Explain the experiment involved in early infant speech perception?
infants were able to detect the difference between ga and ba. The experiment consisted of infants sucking on the device and the sucking would lead to it making a sound. When they detect a new sound they start sucking hard, when they get used to the sound they stop sucking hard and then again when the sound changed they start sucking hard again
how is phonemic change detected ?
modified by experience
why are infants limited to making limited set of sounds?
- the shape of the infant vocal tract hence less space for tongue to move around
- development of motor cortex
what is the age by which word comprehension precedes productive vocabulary?
an average of 4 months
does phoneme production lag behind comprehension?
Yes
when does the major increase in productive vocabulary acquisition rate happen
after the first 50 words are learned
why is there a major increase in productive vocabulary acquisition rate happen after the first 50 words
- symbolic nature of language
- control over articulation
- easier retrieval
what is underextension?
I.E dog only applies to the family dog but not other dogs
what is overextension?
i.e milk word used for white blanket, puddle as it shares similar characteristics of milk
what are non-verbal function of language ?
convey something to you - i.e pitch, question, statement
what are holophrases?
a single words that stand for an entire statement i.e water
by what age does syntax begins to resemble adult language ?
by 4 years
what are nativist idea of language ?
- children are biologically predisposed to learn language
what are the nativist views of language ? (3)
- children acquire language rapidly
- children acquire language effortlessly
- Children acquire language without being taught
Pidgin languages ?
invented language drawing on words and grammar from a group of language
Creoles languages ?
- when the pidgin is acquired as a native language
- grammatically more complex
what is a sensitive period ?
ideal time for acquiring certain parts of language
what does sensitive period end?
by end of puberty once lateralisation
what was newport 1990 experiment ?
it was in deaf signer individuals, where he exposed the sign language at different times to different groups, it was seen that the earlier the sign language is introduced the more they are able to detect syntax in adults
what are the 3 theories which is believed through which children acquire langauge?
- language is innately acquired
- children learn language through general learning mechanisms
- language is leaned through social interactions
what does the theory of children learn language through general learning mechanisms state?
Children have the ability to pick up on statistical leaning - it is statistical learning through which they learn
what are the general learning capactites?
- children have highly developed pattern recognition systems
- allow children to form language categories through picking up on regularities without resorting to innate language categories
what was the experiment conducted by Saffran et a; 1996
he discovered that in both of his experiment infants listened to novel words
what is social learning ?
social learning is the way child learns to pick up vocal from the people they tend to spend the most time with as children’s vocabulary are strongly associated with the amount of language parents use with their children
what are the social context of early word learning
- parents let child’s behaviour guide their talk
- words refer to things - children learn that gaze and objects are connected
- early words emerge as parts of social routines
properties of independent cultures?
- internal attributes most salient
- self concept seperate from group
- personal goals will take priority over group goals
properties of interindependent cultures?
- social role most salient
- concept is part of the group
- group goals take priority
- relationships crucial
what is child-centred talk ?
adapt talk to child’s level
what is situation centred talk
adapt learns to adapt to situation
what is representation?
knowledge of the world which forms the content of our thoughts
how do you re-present the world to oneself?
- analogical representations
2. Symbolic representation
what are analogical representation?
mental images
what are symbolic representations?
propositional thoughts - internal statement
what is mental imagery ?
a representation of a stimulus that originates inside your brain, rather than from external sensory input.
what was the mental rotation study?
Participants are shown a stimulus i.e R which is rotated between 0 and 360 degrees and decide whether the letter is normal or mirror image.
The results were that how long it takes them to decide is dependent on how much the letter is rotated