Psychology of Language

Question 1

Broca’s Aphasia

Answer 1

Lesions to left frontal lobe

Slow, halting speech and poor articulaltion

Question 2

Wernicke’s Aphasia

Answer 2

Lesions of superior left temporal lobe

Speech comprehension problems: speak fluently but with little sense

Question 3

Language Components

Answer 3

Phonology: sounds 'e' 'p'
Morphology: units 'ed' 'ph'
Lexicon: words
Syntax: grammar/structure
Semantics: meaning
Pragmatics: communicative context

Question 4

What is Language?

Answer 4

A system that can convey meaning from one person to another e.g. words, gestures, pictograms
Oldest written records: 5000 yrs old but spoken language much older
Unique to human brain

Question 5

Animals and Language

Answer 5

Washoe (chimp): learned over 130 signs
Kanzi (bonobo): could associate 150 symbols with spoken words/objects. Responded correctly to 70-80% of sentences, comparable to a 2-year old

Question 6

Behavourist Explanations of Language

Answer 6

-Stimulus and response (converse back and forth)
-Reinforcement: deprivation (stimulus) triggers response e.g. “I’m hungry” > parent gives food
Chomsky’s critique: how can operant conditioning produce the infinite variety of language and how do children learn it so quickly

Question 7

Language Acquisition Device (LAD) Chomsky

Answer 7

Suggested all languages share an innate universal grammar
All humans born with a module for language learning: LAD

Question 8

Levels of Explaining Language (Marr)

Answer 8

1. Descriptive: how people use language, how children learn, language problems etc.
2. Algorithm: rules underlying language, how does a computer produce human language etc.
3. Hardware Implementations: which parts of brain involved, how does a network of neurons produce so much language etc.