chapter 9 cognitive psych

indirect access route

as soon as you see a word you translate the ink marks on the page into some form of sound before you access the word and its meaning

an fmri is superior to a pet scan because it

can detect changes that occur very quickly . but it is inferior because it is inaccurate when people move their heads even slightly

bias in psycholinguistics

it is english centered

wernikes aphasia often have

such severe problems with language they cannot understand basic instructions such as point to the telephone

deep structure

the underlying more abstract meaning of a sentence

examples of ambiguous senteneces

they are cooking apples and the lamb is too hot to eat

the good enough approach

we frequently process only part of a sentence

recent research in fmri's highligh some specific brain regions in the left hemisphere are responsible for

well defined language tasks such as distinguishing between sentences and nonwords. also fmri research confirms that the right hemisphere processes subtle distinctions in meaning

mirror system

a network of neurons in the brains motor cortex; these neurons are activated when you watch someone perform an action

the english language uses the ___ voice much more than the ___ voice

active more than passive

if a sentence contains a negative word such as no or not, or an implied negative (rejected) then the sentence

almost always requires more processing time than a similar affirmative sentence

cognitive functional approach to lanugage

alternative to chomskys. emphasizes that the function of human language in everyday life is to communicate meaning to other individuals. Our cognitive processes like attention and memory are intertwined with language. people can use language creatively in order to communicate subtle shades of meaning

latent sematic analysis

an artificial intelligence program designed to understand language. This program can perform many fairly sophisticated language tasks. Can grade college essays. LSA illustrates humans' tremendous breadth of knowledge, cognitive flexibility, understanding of syntax and sources of information

psycho linguistics

an interdisciplinary field that examines how people use language to communicate ideas.

whole word approach

argues that readers can directly connect the written word as an entire unit with the meaning that is word represents - people who supported the direct route also supported this approach

readers can control the rate of input whereas listeners

cannot

language localizer task

compensates for the problem of individual differences. they can create a linguistic map from the fmri tests. found frontal lobe in the left hemisphere responded only to language tasks but not to other kinds of cognitive tasks such as performing mathematical problems

inferences

conclusions that go beyond the isolated phrase or sentence.

the right hemisphere manages to respond differently to connected language than to

disconnected language as shown in the ¨a¨ vs ¨the¨ sentence study. - right hemisphere responded differently to the two sets of sentences the left hemisphere responded the same

psycholinguistics are increasingly focusing on

discourse processing, or language units that are larger than a sentence.

lateralization

each hemisphere of the brain has somewhat different functions

grammar

encompasses both morphology and syntax. examines both word structure and sentence structure

readers encounter only the stimuli on the page whereas listeners

encounter both nonverbal cues and auditory cues

problem with the whole word approach

even skilled readers achieve only 25% accuracy when they look at an incomplete sentence and guess which word is missing

aphasia

has difficulty communicating caused by damage to the speech areas of the brain. typically caused by a stroke or a tumor

transformational rules

helps convert deep structure into a surface structure that they can speak or write

theory of mind

in everyday life we try to figure out the mental state of other people in our life.

research on reading shows that skilled readers frequently organize and integrate

information into a cohesive story

in your daily life you are continually processing discourse which is

interrelated units of language that are larger than a sentence.

reading is visual and is spread out across space whereas speech

is auditory and is spread out across time

chomsky's theory

language abilities must be explained in terms of a complex system of rules and principles that are represented in your mind. children all have a substantial inborn language ability

left hemisphere is important for

language processing, speech perception, and when reading or trying to understand the meaning of a statement, and high imagery sentences

both kinds of aphasia can create difficulties for both

language production and comprehension. these difficulties are even more likely when we examine languages other than english

there are very strong individual differences when conducting an fmri to determine where the

language related regions of the brain are.

according to noam chomsky

language skills are innate in humans, language is modular, and the deep structure of a sentence captures its core meaning

people are more likely to draw inferences if they have a

large working memory capacity and excellent meta comprehension skills

people typically read quite rapidly this is the good enough heuristic which usually but not always

leads us to accurate comprehension

many current psychologists emphasize the meaning of language rather than the

linguistic structure - cognitive functional approach

whenever we read we activate important mental processes by

making inferences that go beyond the information presented on the page.

communication goes beyond hearing auditory stimuli and reading written material because

mirror neurons also play a role in language comprehension. Mirror neurons can be especially active when we try to listen to someone talking in a noisy setting

brocas area is where the brain manages

motor movement

children require elaborate teaching to master some written languages but they learn spoken languages

much more easily

readers can rescan the written input whereas listeners

must rely much more heavily on their working memory

children whose parents frequently read to them are especially aware

of other peoples thoughts and feelings

readers can see discrete boundaries between words whereas listeners

often encounter unclear boundaries

readers usually encounter standardized error free input whereas listeners

often need to cope with variablility gramatical errors sloppy pronunciation and interfering stimuli

nested structure

one phrase is embedded within another phrase - an example of complex syntax

direct access route research found

participants experienced no hesitation in pronouncing the second word. if they did then that would mean that they were translating the first word, that is why this finding supports the direct access route.

indirect access route research found

participants incorrectly judged that lion and bare were the same. Suggesting that they were using the sound of the word to make the judgement which supports the indirect access route approach

plus and star research on negatives found

participants responded quicker to the sentence star is above plus than to plus isnt above star. also made fewer errors with affirmative sentences

passive and active language comprehension research found

participants were highly accurate in responding no to sentences in the active voice (the man bit the dog). Accuracy dropped when the sentences were converted to a passive voice (the dog was bitten by the man).

modular

people have a set of specific linguistic abilities that is separated from our other cognitive processes such as memory and decision making

people who are highly anxious tend to report

poorer study skills

brocas aphasia

primarily characterized by an expressive language deficit or trouble producing language. also have some trouble with language comprehension

people typically pause longer on a word when they are

processing an ambiguous word.

the near and far, consistent and inconsistent study about vacations supports the constructionist view because

readers read the consistent story faster than the inconsistent story

constructionist view of inferences

readers usually draw inferences about the causes of events and the relationships between events. readers actively construct cohesive explanations when they integrate the current information with all the relevant information from the previous parts of the text, as well as their background knowledge.

people who are highly anxious tend to perform poorly on a

reading comprehension test

whole language approach

reading instruction should emphasize meaning and it should be enjoyable to increase childrens enthusiasm about learning to read

pictures actually reduce

reading skills

pragmatics

refers to our knowledge of the social rules that underlie language use; takes into account the listener's perspective. ex. how you would define the word syntax to a 12 year old as opposed to a college classmate

semantic memory

refers to our organized knowledge about the world

surface structure

represented by the words that are actually spoken or written

damage to wernickes area typically leads to

serious difficulties understanding language

adult readers typically learn new words more quickly when they appear in a written form rather than a

spoken form

phonics approach

states that readers recognize words by trying to pronounce the individual letters in the word - people who supported the indirect route also supported this approach

research shows that readers who are involved in a story develop

strong mental preferences for a particular outcome - higher level inferences

the left and right hemisphere work together on

tasks such as interpreting subtle word meanings, resolving ambiguities and combining the meaning of several sentences

dual route approach to reading specifies

that skilled readers employ both a direct route and an indirect access route.

semantics

the area of psycholinguistics that examines the meanings of words and sentences

morpheme

the basic unit of meaning. ex. re, active, ate, and ed are all morphemes. So is giraffe

phenome

the basic unit of spoken language, such as the sounds a, k, and th

neurolinguistics

the discipline that examines how the brain processes language

syntax

the grammatical rules that govern how we organize words into sentences

morphology

the study of morphemes. Examines how we create words by combining morphemes

the right hemisphere is active when

you are paying attention to the emotional tone of a message, appreciating humor, and abstract language skills

direct access route

you recognize this word directly through vision without sounding out the words.

two reasons english is an outlier language

1 has simple grammar 2 has many more irregular pronunciations than other major world languages.

people have difficulty understanding sentences in these four conditions

1 if they contain negatives such as not. 2 if they are in the passive rather than the active voice 3 if they have complex syntax 4 if they are ambiguous

we can silently identify an isolated word in about ___ miliseconds

200

we read at a rate of ____ words per minute

255

Reading accuracy results of english readers at the end of the first grade

34% reading accuracy in english - other countries are much higher because the pronunciation for words are much more predictable

the english language has about __ phenomes

40

for about ___ of right handers and ___ of left handers, language is either localized in the right hemisphere or is processed equally by both hemispheres

5% and 50%

the frontal lobe is activated when english speakers listen to a complex sentence but the frontal lobe is not activated when

German speakers listen to a complex sentence

damage to brocas area typically leads to

a hesitant speech that primarily uses isolated words and short phrases