Week 5: Lexical Storage

Question 1

Define: LEXICAL STORAGE

Answer 1

How words are stored in the mind in relation to each other

Question 2

Define: LEXICAL RETRIEVAL

Answer 2

How we reach (or find) a word when we need it

Question 3

Define: NETWORK

Answer 3

A series of connections - Words are linked by a network of forms and meanings, so the things we store are connected

Question 4

What are the two types of RETRIEVAL?

Answer 4

• Selection

- Phonological encoding

Question 5

What are the 4 types of WORD RELATION?

Answer 5

• Derivation
• Co-ordination
• Collocation
• Similar Form

Question 6

Define: COLLOCATION

Answer 6

When two words appear together frequently in everyday speech e.g. salt and pepper, fish and chips

Question 7

Define: SIMILAR FORM

Answer 7

• Homophony (sound similar)

- Homography (orthographically similar)

Question 8

What are the 4 SENSE RELATIONS?

Answer 8

• Synonymy
• Meronymy
• Antonymy
• Hyponymy

Question 9

Define: SYNONYMY

Answer 9

Words that are similar in meaning, but are still contrastive and also can be swapped for one another

Question 10

What are the 4 types of WORD RELATION?

Answer 10

• Derivation
• Co-ordination
• Collocation
• Similar Form

Question 11

Define: HYPONYMY

Answer 11

A word whose semantic field is included with that of another word e.g. apple, fruit

Question 12

Define: COMPLEMENTARY ANTONYMS

Answer 12

Semantically opposite, but where one applies, the other cannot e.g. day, night

Question 13

Define: GRADABLE ANTONYMS

Answer 13

Semantically opposite, but they lie on ends of a scale e.g. big, small

Question 14

Define: ACTIVATION

Answer 14

The key to lexical retrieval and involves access and recognition

Question 15

What is COHORT THEORY?

Answer 15

• The basic idea is that human speech is comprehension is achieved by processing incoming speech continuously as it’s heard
• All words that begin with the first letter of the target word are activated, which creates a cohort, and this continues with each sound until the ‘recognition point’, which consists of a single word

Question 16

Describe: NEURONS AND THE IMPORTANCE OF FREQUENCY

Answer 16

• When we activate a word, a neuron fires an impulse
• The higher the frequency of the word:
  > the more often it needs to be activated
  > the more often the neuron needs to fire
  > the stronger the neuron
  > the quicker the word is activated
• THUS - the higher the frequency of a word, the quicker the word is activated

Question 17

Define: SEMANTIC PRIMING

Answer 17

It’s easier to recognise a word if you have just seen one that’s related in meaning e.g. BREAD and BUTTER

Question 18

Define: FACILITATORY EFFECTS

Answer 18

Where processing is sped up e.g. BREAD and BUTTER

Question 19

Define: INHIBITORY EFFECTS

Answer 19

Where processing is slowed down e.g. BREAD and CHAIR

Question 20

What is SPREADING ACTIVATION THEORY?

Answer 20

• The idea is that activation (like an electrical impulse) runs along the connections that link the words in our minds
• When we see or hear a word, it ‘triggers off’ a reaction, which ‘lights up’ words which have close connections to the stem word
• Thus, those words are more readily available to us if we need them

Question 21

What can evidence from SLIPS OF THE TONGUE show about lexical access and retrieval?

Answer 21

It can show how words are stored and accessed in the mental lexicon.
- If two things are similar to each other and are involved in the same level of processing, they’ll either assist or interfere with each other, but if unrelated there will be no effect

Question 22

Define: SLIPS OF THE TONGUE

Answer 22

‘Errors’ of speech production

Question 23

Define: DERIVATION

Answer 23

One word is derived from another, maintaining a semantic connection e.g. HAPPY, UNHAPPY

Question 24

Define: CO-ORDINATION

Answer 24

Refers to two words that appear together a lot, and are often, but not always, collocations

Question 25

Define: COLLOCATION

Answer 25

Where two words co-occur more often than would be expected by chance, which = higher frequency and strengthening of neural pathways

Question 26

Define: SIMILAR FORM

Answer 26

• Homophony (similar phonological features)

- Homography (similar orthographic features)

Question 27

Define: MERONYMY

Answer 27

Refers to the relationship between a whole and its constituent parts