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PSY112 - Brain & Behaviour > Week 7 - Language > Flashcards

Week 7 - Language Flashcards

1
Q

What is language? (3)

A

Primary mode of communication in every human culture
Range of informational, social and emotional functions
System of symbols, sounds, signs, meanings and the rules for combining them

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2
Q

How is spoken language acquired? And what does it require?

A

Spoken language is acquired without specific instruction and becomes automatic

Requires co-ordination of physical, cognitive and social skills to produce language effectively

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3
Q

Language symbols are what?

A

Arbitrary and have limited sound symbolism

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4
Q

Onomatopeia example

A

hiss, buzz

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5
Q

Phonaethemes example

A

flap, flee, fling

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6
Q

What are the 5 elements of language?

A 
Phoneme
Morpheme
Syntax
Semantics
Extralinguistic Info
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7
Q

What is a Phoneme?

A

The smallest unit of sound in a language

eg th, a, t, s

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8
Q

What are Morphemes?

A 
The smallest unit of meaning in a language
Many are whole words
- interest
Many others are parts of words
- un-, inter-, -ing
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9
Q

What is a Syntax?

A

Grammatical rules for ordering words and modifying words

Basically sentence forming (arrangement of words and phrases)

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10
Q

What does the knowledge of syntax allow us to do?

A

Alter surface structure but maintain deep structure
eg the fish was bitten by the girl
OR the girl bit the fish

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11
Q

What are Semantics?

A

Literal meaning of morphemes, words, sentences

The meaning is very specific

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12
Q

What helps us disambiguate meaning/sentences/words?

A

Semantic context and syntax

eg look at that girls calf

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13
Q

What are the 2 forms of Extralinguistic Information?

A

Pragmatics

Nonverbal Communication

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14
Q

What are Pragmatics?

A

The way language is used and understood in everyday life
- The literal meaning is not always the intended one
eg.. my door is always open
eg its a bit cool in here

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15
Q

What is nonverbal communication? Why is it important?

A

Body language and gestures, facial expression, vocalisation

It can speak louder than words

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16
Q

When can infants start hearing language?

A

About 5 months in the womb

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17
Q

During babbling infants learn to produce what?

A

phonemes and intonation

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18
Q

After 6 months of age individuals understand =

A

ones own name

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19
Q

After 9-12 months individuals understand =

A

other words

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20
Q

After 12 months individuals =

A

start saying first word

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21
Q

After 12-18 months individuals =

A

saying 20-100 words

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22
Q

What occurs between 18-24 months of age?

A

A vocabulary explosion

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23
Q

24 months of age =

A

several hundred words

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24
Q

48 months of age =

A

several thousand words

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25
What are the 2 early linguistic errors?
Phonemes: Children pronounce words imperfectly due to production constraints Semantics: Hard to learn exactly what words mean - Overgeneralisation/overextension - Undergeneralisation/underextension
26
During later development what 2 things occur?
Syntax: Holophrases, No. of words increases, Word order and morphological markers Extralinguistic Communication: Development is more gradual, 24mths + can use speaker's looking/pointing to help understand and emotional tone
27
Bilinguals show what in regards to language acquisition?
Same progression Slight delay in acquiring syntax, but not vocab Superior metalinguistic awareness
28
Difference between Bilingualism in early development vs later in development (regards to brain)
``` Early = Uses same brain areas Later = Uses different brain areas ```
29
Sign language uses which areas of the brain?
Language and visual/spatial areas
30
Sign language is what key thing?
Generative with syntactic structure
31
What is the critical period for acquiring language?
Very first early years (up to age 7)
32
Proficiency in a second language is much higher when learnt when?
Before the age of 7
33
What are the 4 theories of language acquisition?
Imitation/learning Nativist/innatist Social pragmatic/social interactionist General Cognitive Processing
34
Imitation/learning theory believes that language is learned through what? (Bandura)
imitation and classical/operant conditioning | Parents model words/phrases which shape and reinforce children's responses
35
Criticism of Imitation/learning theories
Parents tend to reinforce correct meaning, not correct grammar
36
Nativist/Innatist theories believe in a what? (Chomsky)
Humans are pre-programmed with the innate/natural ability to develop language (Language acquisition device) Explains rapid acquisition, similarity across children/language
37
Criticism of Nativist/Innate theories?
Grammar is learned slowly and doesn't actually explain how it occurs
38
Social pragmatic/social interactionist theories believe language is learnt from? (Vygotsky)
Role of social interaction between the developing child and linguistically knowledgeable adults. The environment but emphasises the social context of language (actions, expressions) - infant-directed speech - feedback - joint attention - social interaction
39
Criticism of Social pragmatic/social interactionist theories?
Social cues may be more difficult to use than theory assumes, or other non social cues may be used
40
What does the General Cognitive Processing believe about how language is acquired?
Learning language is just like learning anything else | Ability to perceive, learn, recognise patterns is enough to lean language
41
Criticism of General Cognitive Processing theories (2)
Children are better than adults at learning language but not anything else Distinct cognitive processes and brain activation occur during language processing
42
Written languages can be what 3 things?
Logographic Syllabic Alphabetic
43
Reading in English takes years to achieve but it becomes what in literate adults?
Automatic ie we can't not read things | eg stroop task
44
What 4 things must one understand about writing and written language before learning to read?
Written words hold meaning Writing has direction Written symbols are a set of graphemes Each grapheme has its own phoneme
45
What is a grapheme?
The smallest meaningful contrastive unit in a writing system.
46
What are the 2 routes of the Dual-Route Model of Reading?
``` Whole Word (lexical) Route Phonetic (sublexical) Route ```
47
What is the Whole Word Route?
Whole word recognition | Familiar and irregular (eg yacht)
48
What is the Phonetic (sublexical) Route?
Phonetic decomposition: Graphemes translated to phonemes (eg c-a-t) Unfamiliar and non-words (eg dilt)
49
Teaching whole word reading is usually what outcome?
Inefficient and unhelpful
50
What is the most efficient and helpful way of teaching reading?
Using phonics
51
What are the 5 language processes in regards to the biological bases of language?
``` Auditory Speech Recognition Visual Word Recognition Mental Lexicon Language Comprehension Language Production ```
52
Word Representations (Mental Lexicon) is what?
Mental store of information about words
53
What 3 things are apart of the mental lexicon?
Word forms: Visual (orthographic) and sound (phonological) Syntactic: How words form to make a sentence Semantic: Word meaning
54
What is Auditory Word Recognition?
A complex auditory discrimination process
55
What is involved in Phoneme production?
Voicing, manner of articulation, point of articulation, tongue placement
56
What is Speech Segmentation?
Process of identifying the boundaries between words, syllables, or phonemes in spoken natural languages. The illusion of word boudaries
57
Which knowledge helps us to interpret incoming information?
Top-Down
58
What brain region is important for visual word forming and processing?
Left occipito-temporal temporal
59
What two forms of language share processes?
Spoken and written
60
What is the area of the brain that is associated with speech comprehension?
Wernicke's area
61
Poor comprehension means?
speech sounds normal but has no meaning (word salad)
62
What is the area of the brain that is associated with speech production?
Broca's area
63
What is receptive aphasia and damage to what area of the brain leads to this?
Individuals have difficulty understanding written and spoken language. Damage to Wernicke's area causes this
64
What is expressive aphasia and damage to what area causes this?
Characterised by partial loss of the ability to produce language (spoken, manual, or written), although comprehension generally remains intact. Damage to the Broca area leads to this (agrammatic)

PSY112 - Brain & Behaviour (11 decks)

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