human language test 1

is language lateralized/localized?

For most people, much (but not all) of language is lateralized to the left hemisphere. Both hemispheres are involved in language processing. The degree of left hemisphere dominance varies somewhat across people.

productivity or creativity

We can produce and understand an infinite number of messages that have never been expressed before.

other evidence for lateralization

We have seen that lesions in specific areas of the left hemisphere (LH) result in language disorders. This suggests that some language functions are lateralized to the LH. Another kind of data: Wada test

knowledge of speech sounds:

We know the sounds of our language and the rules for combining sounds. Could fing be a word in English? Could ngif be a word in English?

wada test

consists of behavioral testing after the injection of an anesthetic into the right or left internal carotid artery. The goal is to establish which hemisphere controls different functions prior to brain surgery.

three types of grammars

descriptive, prescriptive, teaching

features that only language has

displacement productivity or creativity

major domains of language

knowledge of words: Most words in all languages are arbitrary connections of sound to meaning hand main nsa ruka (English) (French) (Twi) (Russian)

wernikes area (aphasia)

language comprehension. Also known as receptive aphasia or fluent aphasia Identified by Carl Wernicke in late 1800s Speech is fluent, but lacking coherent content Comprehension is impaired

brochas area (aphasia)

language production. Also known as cortical motor aphasia, expressive aphasia, and nonfluent aphasia Identified by Paul Broca in 1861

displacement

Complex messages are built up out of smaller parts

phrenology

Different locations in the brain have specific functions

descriptive

A linguist's model of the mental grammar, including the units, structures, and rules. A descriptive grammar describes our linguistic competence. we want to describe what humans know about language (our lingustic competenece)

teaching grammars

A set of language rules written to help speakers learn a foreign language or a different dialect of their language.

language

A socially shared code or conventional system for representing concepts through the use of arbitrary symbols and rule-governed combinations of those symbols

additional evidence

Additional evidence that RH has a role to play in language processing and comprehension. Dichotic listening task (see text for explanation): LH processing of consonants, but not vowels. This may be because the LH is not specialized for language, but for rapid frequency changes. Brain imaging indicates that some "language areas" in the LH also engage in processing non-linguistic input. For example, Broca's area is active during a non-linguistic visuo-spatial task.

example of RH use

An example of RH involvement in language processing (Mason & Just, 2004) Neuroimaging techniques allow us to examine healthy subjects rather than relying on patients with brain damage. Measured brain activity using fMRI while healthy subjects read pairs of sentences. Measured activity in the LH language areas, corresponding areas in the RH, and the prefrontal cortex in both hemispheres

more on lateralization

Another kind of data: Split-brain patients Commisurotomy is a surgery that severs the corpus collosum (the fibers that connect the two brain hemispheres) to prevent the spread of electrical charges during seizures. The result is that the two hemispheres cannot pass information back and forth

critical periods

Another way the brain is involved in language is that it sets a timetable for language learning. Critical period = Span of time in development during which a particular behavior is best acquired

is there a lM?

Arguments against a left hemisphere language module: The right hemisphere (RH) is also involved in language processing. Language representation and processing is distributed throughout the hemispheres. Regions that process language also are involved in other kinds of cognitive processing

as with second language learning...

As with 2nd language learning, the lack of native-like proficiency is apparent even when people start the language well before puberty.

is there a critical period for language acquisition?

Data from isolated children who were discovered around puberty (e.g., Genie, Viktor) suggests that they can learn word meanings, but are limited in learning syntax.

rexamining isolated children

Can one ever learn a 1st language later in life? Nothing about either Victor's or Genie's early childhoods was normal.

pure word deafness aphasia

Cannot comprehend spoken language, but can still produce verbal language and can read. Damage to the auditory nerve, which sends messages to the auditory centers in the LH, and portions of the corpus callosum that send messages from the auditory region in the RH to the language areas

hierarchical structure

Complex messages are built up out of smaller parts

critical period for language acquisition

Data from 2nd language acquisition shows that we can learn a great deal of another language after puberty, but we make errors. The decline in native-like proficiency is apparent even when first exposure is well before puberty.

Is there a critical period for first language learning? How can we test this?

Data from adults who were born profoundly deaf, but first exposed to sign language after puberty also shows that people can learn a lot of language (words and syntax), but they make errors.

is lh necessary part two

Data from the WADA test and split-brain patients patients shows that speech production is lateralized to the LH for most people. The RH is able to do semantic processing. The RH can take on speech and language functions if the LH is removed early in life.

wada test results

From Rasmussen and Milner, 1977 Speech Lateralization in patients without early brain damage to the left hemisphere Speech Representation Handedness Left Bilateral Right Right 96% 0% 4% Left 70% 15% 15%

is LH necessary for language processing?

Hemispherectomy: removal of an entire hemisphere for treatment of epilepsy. If the operation is performed prior to five years of age, recovery and development of language functions is quite good. March 21, 1928 My dear Dandy: As I have told you before, you are rightly named. Here you are removing half of a fellow's brains and letting him go around just as usual. Whenever you get to the point when you can take out all the brains, I may consult you. Sincerely yours, W.W. Keen

high RH involvement

High RH involvement in reading the moderately related sentences The authors suggest that this is because the RH language areas have to generate inferences for sentences that are moderately related. For the highly related sentences, no inferences are needed. For the distantly related sentences, subjects assume no relationship and do not generate inferences.

sometimes we make performance errors despite our competence

I went to Betsy's baby shower yesterday I went to baby's Betsy shower yesterday. Does it sound different? Does it hear different? ...if he swam in the pool... ...if he swimmed in the pool... instantaneous/momentary momentaneous I'm in a quandry I'm in a quarry.

is language modular?

If yes, then specific areas of the brain should handle language and only language.

split brain patients

In experiments, commissurotomy patients look at a screen and focus on the midpoint. A stimulus is presented to the left or right of midpoint for about 50 msec (too brief for subjects to shift eyes) What they see with the right eye goes to the LH and what they see with the left eye goes to the RH. If only the LH can handle language and the two hemispheres cannot pass information back and forth, then they will not be able to name the stimulus seen by the left eye.

interchangeability

Individuals can both send and receive messages

features that some communication systems share

Interchangeability: Cultural Transmission: Arbitrariness

LC example

Irv drove the car into the garage. Irv drove the car. Irv put the car into the garage. *Irv put the car. John liked the pictures of Bill that Mary took. John liked Mary's pictures of Bill. John liked the pictures of himself that Mary took. *John liked Mary's pictures of himself.

is there a language module

Is language representation and use lateralized to the left hemisphere (LH) and localized within the LH to particular regions? Are ONLY those regions used for language processing? Are the regions that are said to be "language areas" used ONLY for language processing?

linguistic competence: major domains of language. So what do you know when you know a language?

Knowledge of words We all know 10s of 1,000s of words Most words in all languages are arbitrary connections of sound to meaning

how is language more powerful than other communication systems?

Language is essential for human communication. It allows us to transmit information and ideas about things that are not present in the "here and now". One way of seeing the importance of language to humans is looking at cases where language becomes disordered.

is language modular

Language module would suggest that there are areas of the brain that handle language and only language. However, data that finds that language processing is distributed across hemispheres and that language areas may also engage in non-linguistic tasks suggests that language processing is not modular. This is still an open question.

how it feels to suffer from aphasia

Mark Ashcraft (1993): aware of what he wanted to say, but thoughts were not verbal. "[My inner thoughts] were not simply inner or subvocal speech, however. The most powerful realization I had during the episode ... was the dissociation between a thought and the word or the phrase that expresses the thought. The subjective experience consisted of knowing with complete certainty the idea or concept that I was trying to express and being completely unable to find and utter the word that expressed the idea or concept. The thoughts can only be described in sentence-like form, because they were as complex, detailed, and lengthy as a typical sentence. They were not sentences, however. The experience was not one of merely being unable to articulate a word currently held in consciousness. Instead, it was one of being fully aware of the target idea yet totally unable to accomplish what normally feels like the single act of finding-and-saying-the-word."

example

Mason and Just (2004) had subjects read the sentences while in an fMRI machine and looked at brain activation in the LH and RH during reading of the second sentence. Both hemispheres were involved.

mode of communication

Means by which a message is transmitted

semanticity

Messages have meaning

pragmatic function

Messages serve a purpose.

features that all communication systems share

Mode of Communication Semanticity Pragmatic Function

other data: patient appeared normal after commissurotomy but....

Naming objects via tactile modality: Could name objects placed in right hand (out of sight), but not left hand. What the RH could do: Semantic processing (could identify object, but not name it; could select related objects; could pick out the referent of a printed word)

knowledge of sentences

Obviously, we don't have a dictionary of sentences stored in our brains the way we do for words (why not?) Any language has an infinite number of sentences. Using a large, but finite, vocabulary and a relatively small set of rules that are part of our syntactic competence, we can generate an infinite set of sentences. We can't articulate the complete set of rules, but they are part of our linguistic competence. What he did was climb a tree. *He did was climb a tree.

why make the distinction of linguistic competence vs linguistic performance?

Our speech is characterized by false starts, disfluencies, and sentence fragments. Is this because we don't know the language? We know the language, but we have performance limitations. Linguists want to describe linguistic competence: What do humans mentally represent despite limitations in linguistic performance? In other words, what do humans know about language? Psychologists want to describe how we represent and use that knowledge in real time. That is, they want to understand our linguistic behavior or performance

conduction aphasia

Patients understand and produce speech, but cannot repeat what they have just heard . Connection between Broca's and Wernicke's areas (arcuate fasciculus) are damaged

alexia/anomia aphasia

Prevents recognition of letters/naming of objects. Caused by damage to the angular gyrus, an association area in the brain that connects one region with another (e.g., visual stimuli, such as letters, with linguistic symbols).

communication

Process of encoding, transmitting, and decoding signals to exchange information and ideas between the participants

profoundly deaf subjects

Profoundly deaf subjects, who had first been exposed to sign language at varying ages, recalled signed sentences or judged whether sentences were grammatical.

RH contributions to language use

RH can access stored knowledge about printed words. RH maintains activation of distant semantic relations of words, multiple meanings of ambiguous words, and metaphoric interpretations. RH is sensitive to semantic relations between words, rather than to sentence-level constraints (e.g., He dug with a spade activates shovel in the LH, but card and shovel in the RH). RH makes inferences about events in a story and processes metaphors.

what might someone feel part 2

Reported that his thoughts were as lengthy as a typical sentence, but they were not sentences. The experience was not one of simply being unable to articulate a word held in consciousness. He was fully aware of the target idea but totally unable to accomplish what normally feels like "the single act of finding-and-saying-the-word." He was able to conceptualize ideas without being able to assign words and syntax to them. This suggests that thought is independent of language.

prescriptive

Rules of grammar brought about by grammarians' attempts to legislate what speakers' grammatical rules should be, rather than what they are

cultural transmission

Some aspect of a communication system is learned through communicative interaction with other users of the system

RH contributes to language use

Subjects read pairs of sentences. High causal relationship: Joey's big brother punched him again and again. The next day his body was covered in bruises. Moderate causal relationship: Racing down the hill, Joey fell off his bike. The next day his body was covered in bruises. Distant causal relationship: Joey went to a neighbor's house to play. The next day his body was covered in bruises.

subjects who were not deprived of social interaction

Subjects who were not deprived of social interaction, but were exposed to a language later in life, can learn aspects of semantics and syntax throughout life. However, native-like proficiency is not achieved if language is begun after early childhood (e.g., after about age 6). Nonetheless, enough grammar is mastered to successfully use the language. In sum, the brain sets a sensitive period during which language is best learned.

similarities and differences between aphasia and locked in syndrome

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly author had locked-in syndrome. In terms of Linguistic Performance, compare and contrast locked-in syndrome, Broca's aphasia, and Wernicke's aphasia. In terms of Linguistic Competence, compare and contrast locked-in syndrome, Broca's aphasia, and Wernicke's aphasia.

sytax

The analysis of the structure of phrases and sentences

arbitrariness

The form of the signal is not logically related to its meaning.

linguistic competence

The knowledge of a language represented by the mental grammar that accounts for speakers' linguistic creativity. For the most part, linguistic competence is unconscious knowledge

neurolingustics

The study of brain mechanisms that underlie the acquisition and use of human language. Language behavior is mediated by brain structures. Language is subtle and multifaceted. It has a complex representation in the brain. Why do we need to know about the relation between brain and language? Theoretical Understanding Applications

language acquisiton

The study of how children acquire speech sounds, words, and syntax

psycholinguistics

The study of how people produce and comprehend language

pragmatics

The study of language for communication, conversation, and discourse

phonetics

The study of the characteristics of speech sounds

semantics

The study of the meanings of words, phases and sentences

phonology

The study of the patterns of speech sounds in languages

sociolingustics

The study of the relationship between language and society including conversation and dialects

neurolinguistics

The study of the relationship between language and the brain

linguistic performance

The use of linguistic competence in the production and comprehension of language Behavior as distinguished from linguistic knowledge. Linguistic performance involves unconscious processes.

forbidden experiment

There is a population that provides a natural case study for the "Forbidden Experiment" Deaf children born to hearing parents: These parents do not know sign language. The children vary in the age at which they are first exposed to American Sign Language (ASL). These children have a normal, loving upbringing, but lack language input in early childhood. We can examine whether proficiency with ASL as a first language varies by age of acquisition to assess whether there is a critical period for language acquisition.

reexamining part 2

What role might social contact play in the ability to learn language? Ideal data set would be the "Forbidden Experiment" In the Forbidden Experiment, we would vary the ages at which children were first exposed to language input. This study would be unethical since we do not want to deprive children of language.

aphasia

any language disorder that results from brain damage caused by disease or trauma Studies of aphasia provide evidence concerning the areas of the brain that are used for language.

universal grammer

refers to the universal properties that all languages share The basic blueprint that all languages follow. It is a major goal of lingustic theory to discover the nature of UG.

morphology

the analysis of the structure of words