Psychology Of Language Defs

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Cognitive Science

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Interdisciplinary venture that draws upon the insights of psychologists, linguists, computer scientists, neuroscientists, and philosophers to study the mind and mental processes

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Linguistics

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Branch of science that studies the origin, structure, and use of language

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Tacit Knowledge

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Knowledge of how to perform various acts

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Explicit Knowledge

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Knowledge of the processes or mechanisms used in performing various acts.

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Semantics

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the meanings of sentences and words

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Syntax

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the grammatical arrangement of words within a sentence

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Phonology

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concerns the system of sounds in a language

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Pragmatics

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the social rules involved in language use

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Garden Path Sentences

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sentences that seem to be following a path to a predictable destination, but then force one to backtrack and reread the sentence to interpret it correctly

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Sociolinguistics

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the study of relationships between language and social behavior

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Aphasia

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a language disorder due to brain damage

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Wernicke's Aphasia

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type of aphasia in which the semantic relationships between words are severely disrupted, indicating patient's semantic knowledge is impaired by brain damage

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Neurolinguistics

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the study of the relationship between the brain and language

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Closed class or function words

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prepositions, conjuncions and so on that children may use to express themselves at first

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Open class or content words

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nouns, verbs, adjectives that children start to use as they grow older, eliminating closed class words

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Eye voice span

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the lag between eye position and voice when reading aloud, about six or seven words

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Tachistoscope

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a machine that presents visual stimuli for very brief periods of time

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Behaviorism

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theory which states that experience, environmental contingencies, and models present in the immediate environment are what shape our behavior

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Semantic differential

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a tool for measuring the associative meaning of words by asking people to rate words on dimensions such as good/bad and strong/weak. developed by osgood and associates

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Associative chain theory

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theory that states that a sentence consists of a chain of associations between individual words in a sentence

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Constituent

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a linguistic unit

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Discontinuous constituent

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a grammatical constituent in which some elements are separated (ex. picked up)

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Longitudinal investigation

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a method of studying child development in which a small number of children are studied over a period of years

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Rationalism

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philosophical tradition that emphasizes the use of argument and the belief that innate knowledge guides human behavior

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Empiricism

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philosophy that emphasizes the use of controlled observation and the belief that experience shapes human behavior

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Discourse

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units of language larger thatn the sentence, such as paragraphs and stories

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Lexicon

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mental dictionary

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Duality of Patterning

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a feature of a communication system in which a small number of meaningless units can be combined into a large number of meaningful units

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Phones

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speech sounds

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Aspiration

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puff of air when making speech sounds

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Phonemes

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differences in sound that make a contribution to meaning, indicated by slashes

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Distinctive feature

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characteristic of a speech sound whose presence or absence distinguishes the sound from other sounds

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Morphology

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the system of word forming elements and process in a language

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Morpheme

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the smallest unit of meaning in a language

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free morpheme

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stand alone

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bound morpheme

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aka grammatical morpheme, contribute to word meaning but are not words themselves

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phrase structure

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the hierarchical organization of sentences into phrases

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determiner

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a part of speech that quantifies or specifies a count noun

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phrase structure rules

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syntactic rules that specify the premissible sequences of constituents in a language

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lexical insertion rules

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rules that govern how lexical entries are inserted into a tree structure during the derivation of a sentence

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derivation

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the entire sequence of rules that produces a sentence

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phrase structure ambiguity

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a form of ambiguity in which a sentence has multiple meanings that may be revealed by regrouping the sentence constituents

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Linguistic productivity or linguistic creativity

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our ability to create and comprehend novel utterances

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recursive rule

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a rule that applies to its own output, such as a rule for self embedded sentences

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American Sign Language

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the form of sign language used in the US, it is a complete language distinct from oral languages

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Arbitrariness

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a feature of language in which there is no direct resemblance between words and their referents

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iconicity

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characteristic of language in which words resemble their referents

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reciprocity

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in ASL, the distinction between wether the subject is the agent of the action and whether there is mutual interchange between the subject and object

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language

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within linguistic theory, an infinite set of well formed sentences

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grammar

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formal device with a finite set of rules that generates sentences in the language

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observational adequacy

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the extent to which a grammar can distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable strings of words

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descriptive adequacy

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the extent to which a grammar can provide structural description of a sentence

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explanatory adequacy

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the extent to which a grammar can explain the facts of language acquisition

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deep structure

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the underlying structure of a sentence that conveys the meaning of a sentence

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surface structure

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the superficial arrangement of constituents in a sentence, reflects the order in which the words are pronounced

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deep structure ambiguity

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a form of ambiguity in which a sentence may be derived from two different deep structures

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transformational rules

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rules that transform one phrase structure into another by adding, deleting, or moving grammatical constituents

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particle movement transformation

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a transformational rule that accounts for the movement of particles such as up around noun phrases

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structure dependent

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movement of constituents that is dependent upon the grammatical structure

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passive transformation

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transformational rule that transforms the deep structure of an active sentence into the passive voice

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derivational theory of complexity

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the theory that states that the psychological complexity of a sentence is directly proportional to the length of its derivation

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lexical functional grammar

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a grammar in which structural relationships are built into enriched lexical entries rather than with transformational rules

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agent

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person doing the action

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patient

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the one to whom the action is done

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psychologically realistic grammar

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bresnan's lexical functional grammar is also called this because it takes psychological or processing considerations into account

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parameter

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a grammatical feature that can be set to any of several values

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null-subject parameter

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deals with wether a language permits constructions that have no subject

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sensory stores

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take in the variety of colors, tones, tastes, and smells that we experience each day and retain them for a brief time in a raw, unanalyzed form

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partial report technique

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sperling's response to retention problem, participants only had to report a portion of the entire array

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working memory

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short term memory

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chunking

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grouping individual pieces of information into larger units

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processing capacity

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total amount of cognitive resources we may devote to a task, is assumed to be limited

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permanent memory or long term memory

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repository of our knowledge of the world

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semantic memory

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our organized knowledge of words, concepts, symbols, and objects

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episodic memory

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holds traces of events that are specific to a time and place

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pattern recognition

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occurs when information from one of the sensory stores is matched with information retrieved from permanent memory

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serial processing

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if a group of processes take place one at a time

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parallel processing

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if two or more of the processes take place simultaneously

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parallel distributing process

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model that views the mind as massivelly parallel, that is, as simultaneously processing a large amount of information

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bottom up processing

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that which proceeds from the lowest level to the highest level of processing in such a way that all of the lower levels of processing operate without influences from the higher levels

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top down processing

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states that information at the higher levels of processing ma influence processing at lower levels (ex. a sentence context may affect the identification of words within that sentence)

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controlled process

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an activity that requires processing capacity

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automatic process

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an activity that does not require processing capacity

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modularity

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the degree to which language processing is independent of general cognitive processes such as memory and reasoning. also refers to the degree in which an aspect of language is independent of other aspects of language

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speech perception

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the process of using acoustic information to arrive at a recognition of the speech sounds in a message

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voice onset time (vot)

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the period of time from when a consonant is released until the vocal cords vibrate

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habituation

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the decline in a response to a stimulus following repeated presentation of the stimulus

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dishabituation

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the recovery of the strength of a habituated response when a novel stimulus is presented

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schemata

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a structure in semantic memory that specifies the expected sequence of events

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object permanence

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children's understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be perceived

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pretend play

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stage in which a child may use an object in a playful and unconventional manner

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deferred imitation

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a child imitates a behavior seen some time before

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senorimotor period

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first of piagets periods of cognitive development, characterized by sensory and motor development and the inability to fully represent objects symbolically

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preoperational period

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the second of piagets periods of cognitive development

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prosodic factors

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factors such as intonation and stress that are superimposed on speech segments

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stress

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the emphasis given to syllables in a sentence

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intonation

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the use of pitch to signify different meanings

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intonational contour

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the pitch pattern of a sentence

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rate

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the speed at which speech is articulated

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homophones

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words that mean something different but are pronounced the same

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suprasegmentals

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prosodic factors are sometimes called this

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phonetics

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study of speech sounds

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articulatory phonetics

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the more specific study of pronunciation of speech sounds

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bilabial

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consonants articulated at the lips [b],[p]

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alveolar

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consonants formed by placing the tounge against the alveolar ridge [d],[t]

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velar

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consonants produced at the back of the mouth when the tounge is placed against the velum at the back of the mouth [g],[k]

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stop consonants

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consonants that obstruct the airflow completely for a period of time, then release it

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fricatives

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produced by obstructing without completely stopping the airflow [f],[s]

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affricate

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produced by a stoplike closure followed by the slow release characteristic of fricatives [first sounds of Judge and CHurch]

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glottis

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the opening between the vocal cords

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voiced speech sound

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speech sound in which the vocal cords are vibrating during the production of a sound [b]

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voiceless sound

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the resulting speech sound when vocal cords are separated and air is not restricted at all [p]

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acoustic phonetics

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the examination of acoustic properties of speech sounds

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sound spectogram

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one of the most common ways of describing the acoustical energy of speech sounds, produced by presenting a sample of speech to a device known as sound spectograph

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sound spectograph

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device which consists of a set of filters that analyze the sound and then project it onto a moving belt of phosphor, producing a spectogram

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formants

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a concentrated band of energy found in the sound spectograms of phonemes

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formant transitions

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the large rises and drops in formant frequency that occur over short durations of time

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steady state

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in between formant transitions, during which fomrant frequency is relatively stable

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parallel transmission

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refers to the fact that different phonemes in the same syllable are encoded into the speech signal simultaneously

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context conditioned variation

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describes the phenomenon that the exact spectographic appearance of a given phone is related to or conditioned by the speech context

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manner of articulation

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the manner in which syllables are produced

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coarticulation

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the phenomenon of producing more than one speech sound at a given time

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auditory level

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level of speech processing at which the signal is represented in terms of frequency, intensity, and temporal attributes, as with any auditory stimulus

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phonetic level

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speech processing level at which we identify individual phones by a combination of acoustic cues, such as formant transitions

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phonological level

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speech process level at which the phonetic segment is converted into a phoneme, and phonological rules are applied to the sound sequence

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lack of invariance

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the fact that there has been no one to one correspondence between acoustic cues and perceptual events

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categorical perception

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the inability to discriminate sounds within a phonemic category

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binaural perception procedure

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procedure in which two or more words are combined

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duplex perception procedure

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experimental technique in which formant transitions are presented to one ear and steady states to the other

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phonetic trading relations

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the notion that different acoustic cues have trade off effects on speech perception

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rate normalization

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the process of taking information about speech rate into consideration when identifying individual speech segments

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speaker normalization

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the process of taking the pitch of the speaker into account when using acoustic cues during speech perception

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phonemic restoration

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a top down process in which the listener uses the context to restore phonemes missing from the speech signal

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mispronunciation detection

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an experimental task in which subjects are presented auditorily with tapes that occasionally include mispronounced words. the subject's task is to detect the mispronunciations

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shadowing

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an experimental task in which the subjects repeat what they hear

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manner of articulation

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the manner in which syllables are produced

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coarticulation

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the phenomenon of producing more than one speech sound at a given time

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auditory level

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level of speech processing at which the signal is represented in terms of frequency, intensity, and temporal attributes, as with any auditory stimulus

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phonetic level

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speech processing level at which we identify individual phones by a combination of acoustic cues, such as formant transitions

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phonological level

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speech process level at which the phonetic segment is converted into a phoneme, and phonological rules are applied to the sound sequence

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lack of invariance

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the fact that there has been no one to one correspondence between acoustic cues and perceptual events

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categorical perception

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the inability to discriminate sounds within a phonemic category

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binaural perception procedure

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procedure in which two or more words are combined

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duplex perception procedure

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experimental technique in which formant transitions are presented to one ear and steady states to the other

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phonetic trading relations

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the notion that different acoustic cues have trade off effects on speech perception

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rate normalization

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the process of taking information about speech rate into consideration when identifying individual speech segments

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speaker normalization

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the process of taking the pitch of the speaker into account when using acoustic cues during speech perception

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phonemic restoration

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a top down process in which the listener uses the context to restore phonemes missing from the speech signal

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mispronunciation detection

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an experimental task in which subjects are presented auditorily with tapes that occasionally include mispronounced words. the subject's task is to detect the mispronunciations

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shadowing

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an experimental task in which the subjects repeat what they hear

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connectionist models

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a model of cognitive/linguistic processes that assumes a vast interconnected network of information nodes in which each node influences and is influenced by a large number of adjacent nodes and parallel processing of information

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internal lexicon

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the representation of words in permanent memory

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lexical access

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the process by which we activate the meanings of words

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tip of the tounge phenomenon

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when we are not quite successful at retrieving a particular word but can remember something about how it sounds

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syntactic category

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part of our knowledge of the parts of speech to which words belong

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agrammatism

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a condition in which patients frequently omit closed class words and inflectional endings while preserving open class words somewhat better

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inflectional morphemes

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when a bound morpheme is added to a free morpheme to express grammatical contrasts in sentences (ex. cat/cats or jume/jumped)

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derivational morphemes

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when bound morphemes, added to free morphemes, create new words (ex. good/goodness)

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reference

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the relationship between words and the world

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referents

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the person, object, or event to which a linguistic expression refers

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truth conditions

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when we understand the meaning of the sentence, we grasp the conditions under which a sentence is said to be true

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mental model

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cognitive structure that represents some aspect of our environment

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synonymy

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when two words or expressions mean the same thing

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coordination

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when two words exist at the same level of a hierarchy

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hypernymy

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the relationship of superordination within a hierarchy (ex. bird is a hypernym of sparrow)

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hyponymy

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opposite of hypernymy (ex. sparrow is a hyponym of bird)

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meronymy

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the parts of an object reffered to by a word (ex. for the word chair both back and legs are meronyms)

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word association test

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a test in which a person is presented with a word and asked to respon with the first word that comes to mind

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taxonomic relations

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relations among words that indicate the position of words in a taxonomy

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attributive relations

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terms that identify attributes of a word (ex. comfortable, wooden, hard, white)

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functional relations

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words such as sitting and rest, which indicate what can be done with a chair

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denotation

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the objective or dictionary meaning of a word

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connotation

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the certain aspects of meaning beyond that which a word explicitly names or describes

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cognitive economy

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concept that since space available for storage of semantic information is limited, then it all should be stored in only one place in the network

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semantic verification task

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task in which a person is presented with a sentence An A is a B and is asked to determine as quickly as possible whether the sentence is true or false

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intersection search

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the process of retrieving information form a semantic network

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category size effect

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the fact that it takes longer to semantically verify a statement of the from and A is a B if B is a larger semantic category

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typicality effect

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items that are more typical of a given subordinate take less time to verify than atypical items in true statements

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basic level terms

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a term that refers to a category in which there are broad similarities among exemplars

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spreading activation

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the process by which one node in a semantic network, when active, activates related nodes

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lemma

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syntactic aspects of word knowledge

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lexeme

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phonological aspects of word knowledge

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logogen

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represents each word in morton's model, specifies the word's various attributes

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cohort model

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a model of auditory word recognition in which listeners are assumed to develop a group of candidates, a word initial cohort, and then determine which member of that cohort corresponds to the presented word

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recognition point

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the point at which a word diverges from other possible words

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word initial cohort

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in auditory word recognition, the initial set of lexical candidates activated by the comprehender

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phoneme monitoring

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task in which subjects listen for a particular phoneme while comprehending a passage and being timed for how long it takes them to monitor the phoneme

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lexical decision task

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task in which a participant sees a string of letters and must rapidly decide whether the string is a word

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semantic priming

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occurs when a word presented earlier activates another, semantically related word

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lexical ambiguity

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form of ambiguity in which a single word may be interpreted to have more than one meaning