Module 8.3 - Language and Communication Flashcards
language involves combining elements that are inherently meaningless into _________
utterances that convey meaning
how did language help our ancestors?
helped them communicate intentions, prevent conflict, and form social groups
true or false: early studies showed that the left hemisphere plays a critical role in language
true
Aphasia
a language disorder caused by damage to the brain structures that support using and understanding language
what showed that language is not a unitary process?
the existence of different types of aphasias
brocas area
a region of the left frontal lobe that controls your ability to articulate speech sounds that compose words
what does damage of brocas area lead to?
brocas aphasia, a disorder of language production
brocas aphasia
speech is difficult to initiate, non-fluent, laboured and halting. intonation and stress patterns are deficient t
wernickes area
a region of the left temporal lobe associated with finding the meaning of words
damage to wernickes area leads to what?
wernickes aphasia, a disorder of language comprehension
wernickes aphasia
speech is preserved, language content is incorrect (word salad), word substitutions are common (paraphasia) and make up words (neologisms)
language
a form of communication that involves the use of spoken, written or gestural symbols that are confined in a rule-based form
phonemes
the most basic of units of speech sounds
true or false: you only need one phoneme to create a sound with meaning
FALSE: you usually need multiple phonemes to create a sound with meaning
morphemes
the smallest meaningful units of language
semantics
the study of how people come to understand meaning from words
syntax
the rules for combining words and morphemes into meaningful phrases and sentences
surface structure
the way the sentence is actually spoken, heard or signed
deep structure
how the sentence is to be understood
pragmatics
the study of non-inguistic elements of language use
what does pragmatics include?
the speakers behaviours and the social situation
true or false: at 2 months, infants prefer speech sounds to perceptually similar non-speech sounds
true
before when do infants respond to most phonemes?`
before 10 months
when do infants become sensitive to sounds from our own language?
after 10 months
by 20 months, what can infants do?
infants can use perceptual categories to rapidly learn words
fast mapping
the ability to map words onto concepts or objects after only a single exposure
sensitive periods
a time during childhood in which children brains are primed to develop language
when is the sensitive period?
approx. age 7
what is a pidgin?
a make-shift language which adult immigrants use to combine languages from different regions
true or false: it is much easier to learn additional languages before age 7
true
disadvantages of bilingualism?
1) slightly smaller vocab
2) slower at word finding and at making word/non-word decisions
advantages of biliguialism
1) superior executive functions, from infancy to old age
2) denser frontal lobe networks, which precast against the onset of dementia and alzheimers disease
FOXP2
a gene on chromosome 7 related to putting thoughts into words
what can people with FOXP2 do. what can’t they do
can perform a task, but can’t use language to explain how they did so
specific language impairment
a rare genetic disorder that prevents normal language acquisition found in 3 generations of a british family
cross fostered
an animal raised as a member of a family that was not of the same species
Lexigrams
small keys on a computerized board that represent words and therefore can be combined for form complex ideas and phrases
