Psychology of Language Exam 3 Flashcards
What is thought?
The systematic manipulation of information; deducing new information from old information
How might language affect thought?
People may think using their language; if there is no language, there is no thought
Strong Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Having language makes certain thoughts possible. If you don’t have the language for a concept, there is no way for you to comprehend that concept (ex. Piraha cannot think of the concept of “two” because they have no word for it)
Weak Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Having language makes certain thoughts more probable, but just because your language might not have the words for a certain concept does not mean you cannot comprehend that concept; language makes certain concepts more easily accessible (ex. Spanish speakers omit the subject in a sentence but that doesn’t mean they lack the concept of responsibility, it might just take them longer to think of it)
What is the medium of thought?
The way in which people think; in language or in mentalese
Language as the medium of thought
Thinking in terms of your spoken language (ex. “I love you,” or “Te amo” as a thought)
Mentalese as the medium of thought
Thinking in terms of representations of information that your brain makes that are not linguistic; this means that people can have the same thought regardless of their language, represented in some other terms; you do not necessarily need language to think
Evidence of mentalese from the representation of numbers by infants and nonhumans
Show an infant a curtain and show them one person going behind, then another, and then lift the curtain; if there is anything other than 2 people behind the curtain, infants are surprised (shown by looking time)
Preverbal infants can add and subtract, they do not need language for that
Evidence of mentalese from mental rotation
Mental rotation: determining the degree of rotation from the 1st object to the 2nd; the larger the rotation, the longer it takes people to judge it
As the rotation angle increases, the response is slower
Making those judgments may take more than linguistic thoughts, i.e., you’re literally moving it in your mind (thinking using visual imagery)
Do English and Berinmo have different words for colors?
Yes
Do speakers of English and Berinmo sort colors differently?
Yes
English speakers differentiate between green and blue, but Berinmo speakers do not
Berinmo speakers differentiate between shades of green, but English speakers do not
When presented with a comparison of colors, English speakers can sort greens and blue into different categories and Berinmo speakers cannot, but Berinmo speakers can sort shades of green into different categories and English speakers cannot
Why do English speakers and Berinmo speakers sort colors differently?
Having 2 different words for colors should make the comparison between them easy, and colors that are named by the same name will be judged more similar
Berinmo are not incapable of PERCEIVING certain colors, they just cannot differentiate between certain colors because they don’t have the names for them
These judgements vary depending on the language
What is the linguistic difference in how Japanese and English speakers depict accidental events?
Japanese speakers tend to omit the actor when they talk about accidents, and misremember the individual involved (affects memory)
Does the difference in how Japanese and English speakers depict accidental events affect memory?
Yes; when English speakers learned to omit the actor when talking about an accidental event, the tended to misremember the individual involved in the event
Is the effect of linguistic differences on memory between English and Japanese speakers due to language or culture?
Language; when English speakers were trained to omit the actor in an accidental even (like Japanese speakers), it was seen that they too misremembered the individual involved in the event
Describe the number words in Piraha
There are no words for precise numbers; there are words for ‘roughly one,’ ‘roughly two,’ and ‘many’
There are also no plural markers (e.g., ‘s’)
Describe number cognition by the Piraha
Numeric cognition is highly limited; there is some capacity for 1-2, but larger numbers are simply a “guestimate”
3 systems of number cognition
Object files, analog magnitude, and recursive number
Object files
Number system that is precise but limited to small numbers (1-3), and ratios do not matter; found in animals, infants, and some adults
Analogue magnitude
Number system that applies to small and large numbers, is imprecise, allows for estimates, and discrimination between the number of objects depends on ratio; found in animals, infants, and some adults
Recursive number
Number system that is precise (irrespective of size), infinite, and recursive (one hundred million and one, and so on); found only after number words have been acquired
Which number system is missing in Piraha?
Recursive number; the Piraha do not have number words
How do the object files and analogue magnitude number systems explain the performance of the Piraha on numeric cognition tasks?
Numerical cognition task: see array of nuts that are then put in an opaque can, remove nuts one at a time, tell me when the can is empty
Piraha show perfect accuracy with zero variance when there are 1-2 nuts in the can, but their performance is imprecise when there are more than 3 nuts
Object files supports this because it allows for precision with 1-3 objects, but no more
Analogue magnitude supports this because it depends on ratios
Can the findings from the Piraha numeric cognition task be explained by cultural effects?
It could be; the lack of recursive number is due to the lack of need for number words in Piraha culture
It’s more likely that language is what influences thought: the lack of recursive number is caused by the lack of number words
What do the findings from number cognition by homesigners suggest concerning the effect of number words on recursive number?
Findings from number cognition by homesigners: homesigners lack number signs, they are precise in describing small numbers, and imprecise in describing larger numbers
Suggests that the absence of recursive number is due to the absence of number words, not due to culture; homesigners need number words (unlike Piraha), yet they still lack them
Summarize the existing findings with respect to the effect of language on thought
You can think without using language
Language is what affects thought, not culture
Why is language easy and reading hard?
Language is universal, acquired early and rapidly, and emerges without explicit instruction
Reading is not universal, it’s acquired late, requires explicit instruction, and it requires your brain to learn a new trick that it wasn’t designed to do
How are spoken words recognized?
We make connections between the sounds and its meaning in our lexicon
What modifications in how words are recognized are necessary to support reading?
You need to enrich your lexicon, create a new code for language (letters), and use that code to access language efficiently
Reading words like breast, bush, and cough is harder than controls, such as bless brute and carve. Why?
The words don’t sound like you would expect them to sound given their spelling
What is assembled phonology?
Assembling a phonological representation from scratch using phonics, then trying to find a match to the representation from the sound lexicon
It’s the phonology that you have assembled that opens the door to the lexicon
What is addressed phonology?
We access the lexicon directly from the spelling of words; retrieving stored phonology from the lexicon
Why are words like “deaf” harder to identify?
It’s an irregular spelling, meaning the sound of the word is not predictable from its spelling, so when analyzing it using both assembled and addressed phonology, there is a mismatch (/dif/ vs. /def/); this results in slow reading or errors
Describe the educational debate regarding phonology in reading instruction
According to the direct route, most familiar words are decoded by spelling only and assembled phonology is rarely used; this ascertains that phonics is not critical for reading
According to the phonological view, all readers rely on phonological decoding, and as they become more skilled, the decoding becomes automatic and unconscious; this ascertains that phonics is a critical skill
This debate results in many children not becoming skilled readers
How do the results from skilled readers speak to the educational debate regarding phonology in reading instruction?
When skilled readers are shown irregular words in which phonology is unpredictable from spelling, it takes longer to read these irregular words; this supports that words are accessed by assembled phonology
What is dyslexia
An unexpected difficulty in reading in children and adults who otherwise possess the intelligence, motivation, and schooling considered necessary for accurate and fluent reading
What are some of the typical difficulties of people with dyslexia?
Issues with phonology assembly, issues with phonemic awareness (what is “blog” without the first sound), and atypical speech perception (b or p?)
Is dyslexia a hereditary disorder?
Yes
Discuss the difficulties of infants at-risk for dyslexia in speech perception
Exhibit abnormalities in processing speech sounds (specifically abnormal brain response to “ga”); this tells us that dyslexia disrupts a neural network
What is the recycling hypothesis?
The brain takes a system you’re born with and repurposes it
How does the recycling hypothesis explain the link between reading and phonology?
Reading recycles the phonology/speech system that is possibly innate; if you have difficulties with phonology/speech, you may have difficulties with reading
Dyslexia is a reading disorder that is rooted in the speech-processing system. Explain this assertion.
Language “runs” on phonology, and reading “recycles the phonology/speech network; when dyslexia disrupts that network, it results in difficulties with reading
What are the two mechanisms of linguistic productivity?
Pinker’s word and rules, and the associative theory
Pinker’s word and rules theory
Regular inflection is formed by rules, irregular inflection is formed by lexical associations; when a new word is encountered, you search for a stored association and if there is none, you apply the rule; rules are the default/fallback mechanism applied when the lexical search fails
Phonological association mechanism of linguistic productivity
Regular and irregular plurals are both formed by lexical associations
How can we tell which mechanism of linguistic productivity is used in a given situation?
What is being tracked; associations between specific word instances, or rules like noun+s
Morphology
The knowledge of word formation
Morpheme
Unit of combined sound with meaning
Free morpheme
Morphemes that can be learned indefinitely; independent words, freely added
Bound morpheme
Morphemes that cannot be learned indefinitely; -s, re-, -ed, not independent words, limited in number
Affixation
A bound morpheme (prefix, suffix) is attached to a morphological base
Prefix
A bound morpheme added at the beginning of a word
Suffix
A bound morpheme added at the end of a word
Inflection
A change in the form of a word to express a grammatical function or attribute such as tense or number (ex. hugged)
Compounding
A morphologically complex word that is comprised of two free morphemes (ex. blackboard)
Regular inflection
Stem + suffix (rat + s = rats; like + ed = liked)
Irregular inflection
Everything else
Plural; change vowel: goose-geese, ending: child-children, no change: fish-fish
Past tense; change vowel: bear-bore, no change: hit-hit, change all: go-went
What is G-SLI?
Grammatical specific-language impairment; impairment in grammatical comprehension and expression of language
Regularization
The replacement of irregular forms by regular ones (ex. “gooses” instead of “geese”)
What is William’s Syndrome?
Delays in cognitive development or learning difficulties; shown to have impairment in forming irregular inflection
What brain mechanisms support regular and irregular inflections?
Regular inflection: basal ganglia
Irregular inflection: left temporo-parietal lobe
What brain mechanism is impaired in Alzheimer’s?
Temporal lobe
What brain mechanism is impaired in Parkinson’s?
Basal ganglia
What can be learned from Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s?
Regular and irregular inflection dissociate; Alzheimer’s has a deficit in the temporal and impairments in forming irregular inflections but not regular; Parkinson’s has a deficit in the basal ganglia and impairments in forming regular inflections but not irregular
Are regular plurals allowed in compounds?
No
Are irregular plurals allowed in compounds?
Yes
How does the Words & rules theory account for the ban on regular plurals in compounds?
Compounding only allows input from the lexicon; in the words and rules theory, regular plurals are formed by rules and irregular plurals are formed by lexical associations
How does the associationist phonological view account for the ban on regular plurals in compounds?
Regular plurals end with a consonant (-s), and compounds made with words ending with a consonant rarely occur; rare sound combinations are disliked
Does the acceptability of a noun in a compound depend on whether it sounds like a regular plural?
No, the ban concerns morphological structure (whether the noun actually is (ir)regular), not phonology (sound); people give similar responses to hose-installer and pipe-installer, and prefer the irregular “breex” to the regular “breaks” even though they sound the same
What is typical of regular English plurals?
Tend to be the most frequent type (over irregular), and tend to preserve the base (rat - rats)
Is what’s typical of regular English plurals true of German and Hebrew?
No:
German—regulars are less frequent than irregulars
Hebrew—regulars and irregulars can both preserve the base
There are still rules to these changes, however
What is a regular plural?
Plurals generated by a rule
Do newborn babies exhibit categorical perception?
Yes
Categorical perception
The extent to which acoustic differences between variants of the same phoneme are less perceptible than differences of the same acoustic magnitude between two different phonemes
Can infants perceive categories absent in their parents’ language?
Yes
What were the findings of Eimas and colleagues?
Baseline—play one sound and sucking increases (interest), play the same sound and sucking (interest) decreases
Different phoneme—play one sound (/b/) and sucking increases (interest) and then falls off, play a different phoneme (/p/) and sucking rate (interest) increases again
Conclusion: Infants perceive voicing like English adults despite minimal experience; experience may not be necessary for categorical perception
Can English-speaking infants perceive the non-English contrasts at 6 months?
Yes, the ability to discriminate between Hindi/Salish phonemes is around 80%
Can English-speaking infants perceive the non-English contrasts at 11-12 months?
No, they can no longer tell the sounds apart
Can Salish/Hindi infants perceive their native contrasts at 11-12 months?
Yes
What do the results of the Hindi/Salish contrasts study suggest?
From birth, people perceive all speech sounds categorically, even sounds that are absent in their language; sensitivity to speech categories narrows as we age
Can adult English speakers perceive Zulu clicks? What does this show about the role of experience in speech perception?
Yes; When we have no competing experience, some non-native sounds are maintained, so the narrowing (loss) of non-native phonemes can be attributed to the experience (but not entirely)
Is experience sufficient to alter speech perception? Consider the evidence from pre-term infants
No; at 9 month gestations (12 months for preterm), preterm and full-term infants behave alike—still sensitive to non-native sounds
What matters is time since gestation, not how long they’ve been exposed to language/experience
Does maturation play a role in speech perception? Consider the evidence from synesthetes
Yes; synesthetes perceive non-native phonemes significantly better than controls, as early synaptic pruning is weaker so the brain remains “young”
Is the perception of speech categories specific to humans?
Not entirely; chinchillas perceive human voicing contrasts virtually the same as English speakers
Differences between categorical perception in
animals and humans
Human infants are tuned to speech from birth, categorical perception in humans doesn’t require intense practice, and humans can talk but animals cannot
Speech perception is achieved through motor action. Explain.
Speech perception engages congruent motor areas; b/p activates lip areas, d/t activates the tongue area
What is the McGurk effect?
The auditory component of one sound is paired with the visual component of another sound, leading to the perception of a third sound
Hear: ba (front of mouth)
See: ga (back of mouth)
Report: da (middle of mouth)
Not going only by what you hear, but also what you see
How does TMS affect the perception of speech sounds?
Stimulating the lip motor area affects the discrimination of p/t; you won’t hear/perceive the right thing
Discuss the effects of mechanical articulatory suppression on the discrimination of speech sounds by infants
2 different /d/ sounds in Hindi that can be perceived by infants (one requires tongue, one does not)
Give infant teether toy (disrupts tongue tip) or control gummy toy (does not disrupt tongue tip)
Result: when their tongue is engaged, their ability to perceive the contrast is lost, perception depends on articulation
What is the motor theory of speech?
Speech perception is based on speech production; speakers perceive speech by simulating the talkers’ articulatory gestures
