Psychology and Sociology: Language

Question 1

Phonology

Answer 1

-refers to the actual sound of language
-About 40 speech sounds or phonemes in English
-Categorical perception: when a language has subtle differences in speech sounds that represent a change in meaning, children are able to learn to distinguish those phonemes
-Constancy: the ability to recognize a word as being the same, even if the pronunciation of the word varies between people

Question 2

Morphology

Answer 2

-refers to the structure of words
-Morphemes: building blocks of words

Question 3

Semantics

Answer 3

refers to the association of meaning with a word

Question 4

Syntax

Answer 4

refers to how words are put together to form sentences

Question 5

Pragmatics

Answer 5

Refers to the dependence of language on context and preexisting knowledge; the manner in which we speak may differ depending on the audience and our relationship to that audience

Question 6

Timeline for language acquisition

Answer 6

-9-12 months: babbling
-12-18 months: about one word per month
-18-20 months: “explosion of language” and combining words
-2 to 3 years: longer sentences (3 words or more)
-5 years: language rules largely mastered

Question 7

Nativist (Biological) Theory

Answer 7

-Nativists believe in a critical period for language acquisition between two years and puberty
-Language acquisition device (LAD): a theoretical pathway in the brain that allows infants to process and absorb language rupees
-Noam Chomsky determined that the ability for children to implement transformation grammar must be innate
-Sensitive period: a time when environmental input has maximal effect on the development of an ability

Question 8

Learning (Behaviorist) Theory

Answer 8

-Explained language acquisitioning by operant conditioning and reinforcement
-Parents and caregivers repeat and reinforce sounds that sound most like the language spoken by the parents. The infant then perceives that certain sounds have little value and are not reinforced while other sounds have value and are reliably reinforced

Question 9

Social Interactionist Theory

Answer 9

-Focuses on the interplay between biological and social processes
-Language acquisition is driven by the child’s desire to communicate and behave in a social manner

Question 10

Whorfian Hypothesis

Answer 10

our perception of reality is determined by the content of language

Question 11

Broca’s area

Answer 11

located in the inferior frontal gyrus of the frontal lobe, controls the motor function of speech via connections with the motor cortex

Question 12

Wernicke’s area

Answer 12

located in the superior temporal gyrus of the temporal lobe, is responsible for language comprehension

Question 13

Arcuate fasciculus

Answer 13

-connects Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas
-a bundle of axons that allows appropriate association between language comprehension and speech production

Question 14

Aphasia

Answer 14

deficit of language production or comprehension

Question 15

Broca’s (expressive) aphasia

Answer 15

inability to produce spoken language but still has speech comprehension

Question 16

Wernicke’s (receptive) aphasia

Answer 16

production of speech is retained but comprehension of speech is lost

Question 17

Conduction aphasia

Answer 17

the arcuate fasciculus is affected. Speech production and comprehension are still intact, but the patient is unable to repeat something that has been said because the connection between the two regions has been lost