Chapter 11: Language Flashcards
1
Q
Information about an item’s features (“what” it is)
comes from association cortex and is processed in
the perirhinal cortex.
A
what pathway
2
Q
Information about an item’s location (“where” it is) is processed in the more posterior parahippocampal cortex.
A
where pathway
3
Q
The _______________ binds representations of items
with their contextual information.
A
hippocampus
4
Q
- hub in entorhinal/perirhinal
- emotion & memory regulation
- familiarity, recognition
A
Anterior temporal (AT)
5
Q
- hub in parahippocampal
- internally-directed thought
- Recollection (episodic)
- memory for scenes, spatial layouts
A
Posterior medial (PM)
6
Q
How do animals communicate?
A
Animals can communicate using a variety of modalities, serving functions like food sharing, warning, and mating.
7
Q
How to describe human language?
A
- symbolic, using words to represent
abstract or absent concepts - follows grammatical rules and is
generative, producing infinite
expressions from finite elements - enables discussion of past, future, and
hypothetical situations - recursive structure allows embedding
of ideas within ideas - supports creativity, storytelling, and
complex social interaction
8
Q
Why do Nonhuman Primates Not Speak?
A
- Chimpanzees and gorillas have different vocal anatomy that limits speech capacity
- They lack fine motor control over vocal cords, lips, tongue,
and jaw - Limited voluntary control over vocalizations, which are often emotion-driven
- Do not have controlled breathing required for speech
- Produce a small set of calls for specific contexts like threats or social bonding
- Neurological differences in language-related brain regions (details to come)
- Some primates like marmosets show more vocal flexibility, suggesting diverse vocal evolution paths.
9
Q
Can Apes Learn Language?
A
NO!
* Chimpanzees and gorillas have been taught to
use sign language
* They can learn words for objects, actions, and simple abstract concepts
* However, they do not exhibit full syntactic structure or complex grammar
* Utterances are typically short and tied to immediate needs
* Lack displacement — rarely refer to things not present
* Do not produce novel or recursive, hierarchical sentences
10
Q
True or False: Language processing is strongly lateralized in the brain
A
TRUE
11
Q
True or False: Neural basis of language is less understood
than sensory, motor, or memory systems
A
TRUE
12
Q
True or False? Animal communication lacks clear
homology with human language
A
TRUE
13
Q
What are animal studies limited in?
A
Animal studies are limited in modeling language
but offer insight into its evolutionary origins.
14
Q
what did comparative studies show in humans?
A
Comparative studies show expanded cortical
connectivity in humans, especially in the left
perisylvian language system
15
Q
which animals have similar pathways?
A
Chimpanzees and macaques have similar pathways, but they are reduced, with minimal projections into lateral and inferior temporal
cortex.
16
Q
Ojemann mapped language areas in over 100 patients using _____________ stimulation.
A
direct cortical stimulation
17
Q
where is language consistently localized?
A
Language consistently localized to frontal and posterior temporal regions.
18
Q
how is language different from sensory systems?
A
Unlike sensory systems, language shows high individual variability in cortical organization.
19
Q
_____________ is associated with anatomical differences between hemispheres.
A
Language
20
Q
morphological asymmetries are linked to functional ______________.
A
lateralization
21
Q
Planum temporale is typically
larger in the _______ hemisphere
A
left
22
Q
The asymmetry of the Planum temporale is present
prenatally by around?
A
31 weeks gestation
23
Q
what is unclear about the Planum temporale being typically larger in the left hemisphere?
A
Unclear whether these
asymmetries are causes or
consequences of language
evolution
24
Q
Planum temporale size may be related to ___________________.
A
language fluency
25
The ________________ is the brain’s largest fiber
bundle, connecting the hemispheres (∼200
million axons)
corpus callosum
26
a last-resort epilepsy treatment, severs this connection, preventing spread to the other hemisphere
Callosotomy
27
____________ patients offer a unique window
into hemispheric specialization
Split-brain
28
what do split-brain patients allow for?
They allow direct testing of language processing in isolated hemispheres.
29
True or False: When holding an object in their right hand, a
split-brain patient can name it.
TRUE
30
Describe the split-brain patient test of the left hemisphere?
* When holding an object in their right hand, a
split-brain patient can name it.
* Numbers, words, and pictures shown in the
right visual field can be described or repeated.
* These descriptions are not possible when:
– the object is in the left hand
– the stimulus appears in the left visual field
31
Lateralized deficits support the idea that the _______
hemisphere is typically dominant for language.
left
32
* Partial or complete loss of language abilities
despite intact cognition and motor control.
* Most commonly caused by stroke.
* Can affect comprehension, speech production,
reading, writing, and grammar.
Aphasia
33
What does the severity of Aphasia depend on?
Severity and profile depend on lesion location, size, and individual factors
34
what is broca's aphasia also called?
Also called non-fluent or expressive aphasia
35
Characterized by slow, effortful, telegraphic speech and limited vocabulary.
* Deficits also extend to syntax and writing.
* Speech articulation may be impaired.
* Comprehension is generally preserved for simple sentences but impaired for syntactically complex ones.
Broca's Aphasia
36
Most often associated with lesions in the left inferior
frontal lobe, including Broca’s area (e.g., Broca’s patient
Leborgne, “tan”)
Broca's Aphasia
37
What is Wernicke's aphasia also called?
Also called fluent or receptive aphasia
38
How is wernicke's and broca's aphasia different in regards to patients?
broca's area: Patients are aware of their language deficits.
wernicke's area: Patients often unaware of their deficits
39
* Speech is fluent with normal prosody and grammar, but often nonsensical.
* Includes word substitutions, invented words
(neologisms), and paraphasias.
* Severe impairments in comprehension of spoken and written language.
Wernicke’s Aphasia
40
Typically associated with damage to the left superior temporal gyrus and underlying white matter.
Wernicke’s Aphasia
41
* Difficulty repeating words despite relatively preserved comprehension and fluent speech.
* Speech is grammatically correct but may include errors the person cannot self- correct.
* Reflects impaired phonological processing due to disconnection, not cortical damage alone
Conduction Aphasia
42
Caused by damage to the arcuate fasciculus, a white matter tract connecting Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas
Conduction Aphasia
43
What is anomia also called?
word-finding difficulty
44
* Characterized by problems retrieving names for objects, people, or concepts.
* Speech may involve vague descriptions or circumlocution to compensate.
* Object recognition is intact. Deficit is not a perceptual one.
Anomia
45
Often associated with damage to left temporal or parietal regions involved in lexical access.
Anomia
46
Language is predominantly _______-lateralized for most people
left
47
Key regions of language form a network around the
___________.
Sylvian fissure
48
How does the right hemisphere contribute to language?
Right hemisphere contributes to prosody and discourse-level comprehension
49
How do auditory and visual systems contribute to language?
Auditory and visual systems provide input for language comprehension
50
How do motor systems contribute to language?
Motor systems support language production.
51
a mental storehouse for
vocabulary and word knowledge
mental lexicon
52
what does the mental lexicon include?
includes meaning (semantics), syntax, phonology,
orthography, and context of use
53
What are the 3 core functions in comprehension?
1. Access
2. Selection
3. Integration
54
Matching input to stored word representations
Access
55
Choosing the most appropriate word based on
context
Selection
56
Combining words into meaningful syntactic
and semantic structures
Integration
57
what are the 4 organizing principles
1. Morpheme
2. Phoneme
3. Frequency
4. Semantic Relationship
58
The smallest unit of meaning in a language
Morpheme
59
True or False: Words can consist of one or more morphemes.
TRUE
60
What do morphemes help us with?
Helps us efficiently recognize, generate, and modify words
61
what are the 2 types of morphemes?
free morphemes and bound morphemes
62
________ morphemes can stand alone as words (e.g., "dog," "happy").
Free
63
___________ morphemes must be attached to other morphemes to form a word (e.g., "un-" in "undo" or "-s" in "dogs")
Bound
64
The smallest unit of sound in a language.
- Abstract mental representations, not identical to physical speech sounds.
Phoneme
65
True or False: The mental lexicon stores phonemic information for each word.
TRUE
66
what do phonemes help with?
Phonemes help distinguish words that differ only in sound (e.g., “pat” vs. “bat”)
67
True or false: Languages vary in both the number and types of phonemes they use (English has ~44)
TRUE
68
How often it occurs in a language.
Frequency
69
True or False: More frequent words are accessed less quickly and easily
FALSE; More frequent words are accessed more quickly and easily.
70
The mental lexicon encodes frequency information to prioritize ____________.
efficiency
71
True or False: Less frequent words are slower to retrieve and more vulnerable to retrieval failure.
TRUE
72
The mental lexicon is organized by semantic relationships between words
Semantic relationship
73
True or false: Words with similar meanings are stored near each other in semantic space.
TRUE
74
How can words be modeled?
Can be modeled as semantic networks with words connected by meaning or
association
75
what reflects how closely related 2 words are in a semantic relationship?
connection strength
76
what does a semantic relationship facilitate?
Facilitates rapid access to related concepts and supports meaning-making.
77
* Patients produce meaning-related errors (e.g., “table”
for “chair”), often seen in Wernicke’s aphasia.
* Suggests semantically related words are stored near
each other in the lexicon.
Semantic paraphasia
78
* Gradual loss of conceptual knowledge despite
preserved syntax and grammar.
* Impairments in the conceptual system but individuals can still understand and produce syntax
Progressive semantic dementia
79
* Impaired access to words from specific categories
(e.g., animals, tools).
* Supports idea that different semantic categories rely
on distinct neural systems.
Category-specific deficits
80
* Early model proposing directional flow of information across specialized language regions.
* Auditory input sent to Wernicke’s area for semantic
access and word-form retrieval.
* Information travels via the arcuate fasciculus to Broca’s
area for speech planning.
* Broca’s area sends articulation plans to motor cortex for spoken output.
The Wernicke-Lichtheim Model of Language Processing
80
81
who added a conceptual center (“B”) for word
meaning and associations?
Lichtheim
82
in the The Wernicke-Lichtheim Model of Language Processing, damage to specific regions or connections predicts
what?
distinct aphasia types
83
what are some Limitations of the Classic Wernicke-Lichtheim Model?
* The model has long been a clinical standard, but it
oversimplifies language processing.
* Aphasias can result from damage outside the
proposed network.
* The arcuate fasciculus is not the only pathway
linking Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas.
* An alternative route runs through the left inferior
parietal cortex
84
Visual input (e.g., written words) travels from
occipital cortex through the angular gyrus to _____________ area.
Wernicke’s area
85
what are the challenges to classical model of language network?
1. Language regions vary across individuals
2. Clear double dissociations in aphasia are rare
3. Classical “language areas” support multiple cognitive functions
4. Language functions are more distributed than the classical model predicts
5. Neural organization is shaped by the timing of language acquisition
6. The classical model is incomplete — many additional brain regions are
involved
86
Precise localization of language functions varies between individuals, especially in frontal cortex
Individual variability
87
Language deficits are
less spatially circumscribed than the classical model
suggests.
Spatial localization
88
Regions classically labeled as
“language areas” are involved in a variety of non-linguistic functions.
Multifunctionality of brain areas
89
true or false: Noun production activates different
areas than verb production.
TRUE
90
what do lesions to the left anterior temporal lobe impairs what?
impair naming of objects (nouns), but not action-based recognition.
91
Lesions to left premotor cortex impair what?
verb retrieval (averbia), despite intact
general cognition
92
what do frontal areas support?
Frontal areas support syntactic structure without processing meaning.
93
Neighboring regions integrate
syntax with semantics and prior knowledge during sentence comprehension
Expanded network for linguistic processing
94
* Separate brain areas are
activated for each
Language in bilinguals.
* Electrical stimulation and
stroke studies show
partial separation
between languages
Bilingual language representation
95
* When the second language is acquired in infancy, neural organization is more
overlapping.
* Later-acquired languages tend to be represented more separately
Age of acquisition effects
96
how does broca's area tie to memory?
Broca’s area supports long-term memory functions, not just language production.
97
Where language is localized in the brain
Lateralized to the left hemisphere, but variable across individuals and tasks
98
What makes human language unique
Symbolic, structured, generative, recursive, and flexible beyond the here-and-now
99
Why nonhuman primates do not speak
Vocal tract, motor control, and brain structure differences limit speech and syntax
100
What happens when language breaks down
Aphasia types (Broca’s, Wernicke’s, conduction, anomia) reveal structure–function links.
101
How words are represented and accessed
The mental lexicon is organized by morphemes, phonemes, frequency, and meaning networks
102
Language processing involves an extended network beyond classical areas, including sensory regions and surrounding frontal and
temporal cortex.
Distributed and Modality-Specific Model of Language
103
what were the early stages based on modality?
1. Spoken language requires decoding of acoustic input
2. Written language involves visual recognition and orthographic decoding
104
true or false: Spoken and written language share
downstream processing stages
TRUE
105
What is the general flow of the Distributed and Modality-Specific Model of Language?
modality-specific input →
semantic + syntactic analysis → production
106
Describe the Selfridge’s Hierarchical Model of Visual Word Recognition
* Oliver Selfridge proposed a 4-stage bottom-up, feedforward model for
visual pattern recognition.
* Stages represent discrete steps in a serial, hierarchical processing stream.
* Originally designed for general object recognition, but applies to visual word
recognition.
107
what does the Selfridge’s Hierarchical Model of Visual Word Recognition highlight?
Highlights how complex input can be processed through simpler, sequential sub-tasks.
108
what does the Selfridge’s Hierarchical Model of Visual Word Recognition emphasize?
Emphasizes the role of feature detection and serial processing in recognition
109
what is stage 1 of the Selfridge Model?
Stage 1 — Image Demon
* First stage in the model’s
hierarchy.
* Captures the raw visual
input from the retina.
* Provides the initial image
that will be processed by
subsequent stages.
110
what is stage 2 of the Selfridge Model?
Stage 2 — Feature Demons
* Receives input from image
demons.
* Each one is tuned to detect a specific visual feature (e.g.,
lines, curves, angles).
* They respond selectively to the presence of those features in the input.
* Begin to break the image into meaningful visual components.
111
what is stage 3 of the Selfridge Model?
Stage 3 — Cognitive Demons
* Receives input from feature
demons.
* Each represents a specific
higher-level concept (e.g., a
letter or shape).
* Sensitive to particular
combinations of features.
* Respond when their preferred pattern of features
is detected.
112
what is stage 4 of the Selfridge Model?
Stage 4 — Decision Demon
* Receives input from all cognitive demons.
* Selects the cognitive demon with the strongest activation as the final interpretation.
* Outputs a single best guess about the visual input
* Effective for basic pattern recognition.
* Lacks a words representations
* Struggles to account for context- sensitive effects (e.g., word superiority effect).
113
Three-stage model with a distributed, interactive network architecture
McClelland & Rumelhart’s Interactive Activation Model
114
in the McClelland & Rumelhart’s Interactive Activation Model, what are Units organized in layers with?
bidirectional activation
115
What is the bidirectional activation in McClelland & Rumelhart’s Interactive Activation Model?
1. Bottom-up (from features to letters to words)
2. Top-down (from word-level to letter-level)
116
In McClelland & Rumelhart’s Interactive Activation Model, how does information flow?
in parallel, not just serially.
117
what type of connections does the McClelland & Rumelhart’s Interactive Activation Model use?
The model uses both excitatory and inhibitory connections.
118
what does McClelland & Rumelhart’s Interactive Activation Model emphasize?
Emphasizes interactive processing across levels.
119
what is the feature layer of the Interactive Activation Model?
* Includes detectors for basic
visual elements (e.g., lines,
curves, edges).
* These units respond to the
presence of specific visual
features in the input.
* Serves as the initial stage of
processing for both letters
and words.
120
what is the letter layer of the Interactive Activation Model?
* Receives input from feature
detectors.
* Activates individual letter units based on the detected features.
* Letter activation is influenced by both feature input and lateral interactions among letters.
* Plays a key role in identifying
specific letters at specific
positions.
121
what is the word layer of the Interactive Activation Model?
* Contains nodes for individual words in the mental lexicon.
* Activated by letter-level input that matches a word’s spelling pattern.
* Word units also influence one another through lateral interactions.
* Top-down feedback from word layer strengthens matching letter units.
* Captures effects of context and expectancy in reading and lexical processing.
122
What are the challenges to the Neural Basis of Visual Word Recognition?
* Animal models are limited, written language is uniquely
human.
* Neural mechanisms of letter and word recognition are
difficult to study at the single-neuron level.
123
Specialized for recognizing letters and written
words.
- Shows selective activation to alphabetic input across
writing systems.
The Visual Word Form Area (VWFA)
124
where is The Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) located?
Located in the left occipitotemporal cortex, near the fusiform gyrus.
125
What does damage to the Visual Word Form Area (VWFA) cause?
Pure alexia
126
reading loss despite intact
vision and language.
pure alexia
127
Connected to perisylvian language areas, including
Broca’s area.
The Visual Word Form Area (VWFA)
128
What brain area is for early visual processing?
striate cortex
129
What brain area is for visual word recognition?
extra-striate cortex
130
What brain area is for early auditory processing?
primary auditory cortex
131
What brain area is for auditory word recognition?
temporoparietal cortex (angular gyrus) and anterior superior temporal cortex
132
What brain area is for semantic association?
inferior frontal cortex
133
What brain area is for premotor coding?
supplementary motor area and other areas near sylvian fissure.
134
What brain area is for the motor control of speech?
primary motor cortex
135
processes basic acoustic features (e.g., pitch, duration).
Primary auditory cortex (A1)
136
Support phonetic analysis and mapping sounds to word meanings.
STS/STG
137
Processing of real words is more ______-lateralized than pseudowords
left
138
in the Auditory Pathways for Spoken Word Recognition, Acoustic sensitivity ___________, speech intelligibility ___________ as processing moves
outward.
decreases, increases
139
Difficulty with fluent and accurate reading,
despite normal vision and intelligence.
Dyslexia
140
Linked to phonological processing deficits (not just visual word recognition)
Dyslexia
141
Reduced activity in left posterior language areas, especially Wernicke’s
area.
Dyslexia
142
with dyslexia, what supports alternative strategies?
Compensatory activation in left anterior and right hemisphere regions
143
* Parsing analyzes sentence structure by identifying grammatical relationships.
* Key for linking word recognition to sentence
comprehension.
Syntactic Parsing
144
what type of distributed network does syntactic parsing?
Involves a distributed network: different regions support phrase structure, argument structure, and thematic role assignment
145
damage to what areas is linked to syntactic deficits in aphasia?
Damage to anterior STG and Broca’s area
146
____________ is an ERP component peaking ~600 ms after a syntactic anomaly.
- Observed across languages and syntactic violation types
P600
147
What does P600 show a more positive amplitude for?
or ungrammatical vs. well-formed sentences
148
what does P600 reflect?
Reflects syntactic reanalysis and integration attempts.
149
what is P600 modulated by?
Modulated by sentence complexity, working memory, and language proficiency.
150
_________ peaks ~400 ms after semantically meaningful input (e.g., word or picture)
N400
151
What does N400 show a more negative amplitude for?
larger (more negative) for semantically incongruous vs. congruent stimuli
152
what does N400 reflect?
Reflects difficulty integrating meaning into the current context.
153
what is N400 driven by?
N400 is not driven by surprise
— physically deviant but
congruent words elicit
different ERP (P560).
154
explain the N400 Reduction in Aphasia
* Broca’s aphasia patients show
reduced and delayed N400 to
semantic violations.
* Indicates impaired semantic
integration following left-hemisphere
damage.
* Lesions typically in left temporal
cortex.
* N400 patterns differ from those in
right-hemisphere stroke patients and
healthy controls.
155
The Memory–Unification–Control (MUC) Model of Language
Language processing involves cycles of memory retrieval,
unification, and control
156
what are the 3 processing systems in The Memory–Unification–Control (MUC) Model of Language?
memory, unification, control
157
In The Memory–Unification–Control (MUC) Model of Language, what is the memory processing system?
Memory system stores and retrieves linguistic knowledge using the lexicon for word meanings and forms, and episodic memory for context of word use.
158
In The Memory–Unification–Control (MUC) Model of Language, what is the Unification processing system?
Unification system integrates phonological, syntactic, and
semantic information to construct sentence meaning
159
In The Memory–Unification–Control (MUC) Model of Language, what is the Control processing system?
Control system regulates information flow, attention, and coordination with working memory during language processing.
160
true or false: Language comprehension relies on both bottom-up (stimulus-
driven) and top-down (knowledge-driven) processing.
TRUE
161
___________ supports attention and integration across
memory, unification, and control systems.
Working memory
162
_____________ guide comprehension based on context,
goals, and prior knowledge
Control processes
163
what are the major Pathways Supporting Spoken Language?
Two dorsal pathways, and Two ventral pathways
164
connects posterior temporal and
frontal lobes
* Support articulation for speech preparation (premotor cortex) and for syntactic processing
Two dorsal pathways
165
connects posterior temporal lobe
to anterior temporal lobe and frontal operculum
* Support semantic processing and word comprehension
Two ventral pathways
166
what do dorsal and ventral pathways work together to do?
Dorsal and ventral pathways are interconnected and work together to support language
167
what does both spoken and written language rely on?
shared semantic and syntactic
processes
168
how does early stages Spoken and Written Language Processing differ?
each modality requires specialized perceptual analysis.
169
what is the flow of processing in Spoken and Written Language Processing?
modality-specific input → semantic and syntactic analysis → production
170
Language production begins
with generating the intended message. The speaker selects relevant concepts and organizes them into a structured mental representation of what they want to communicate.
Conceptual preparation
171
The speaker selects the appropriate
word to express the intended concept. This involves retrieving the word from the mental lexicon, including its syntactic properties such as grammatical category and argument structure.
Lexical selection
172
After a word is selected, the appropriate morphemes are added
(e.g., tense, number). The word is then encoded into a phonological form, specifying phonemes, syllable structure, and stress patterns.
Morphological and phonological encoding
173
The phonological representation is
transformed into a detailed motor plan. This stage prepares and executes articulatory movements (e.g., lips, tongue) to produce the intended speech sounds
Phonetic encoding
174
The speaker executes the motor plan to produce the intended speech sounds. This involves
coordinating the movements of the articulators to express
the linguistic message aloud.
Articulation
175
what are the steps to Levelt’s Speech Production Model?
1. Conceptual preparation
2. Lexical selection
3. Morphological and phonological encoding
4. Phonetic encoding
5. Articulation
176
Proposes parallel processing in sensory and motor
systems across hierarchical levels of control.
Hickok’s Hierarchical State Feedback Control (HSFC) Model
177
how is Hickok’s Hierarchical State Feedback Control (HSFC) Model similar to Levelt’s Speech Production Model?
Like Levelt’s model, begins with activation of a conceptual representation, followed by word selection.
178
how is Hickok’s Hierarchical State Feedback Control (HSFC) Model different from Levelt’s Speech Production Model?
Diverges from Levelt in splitting the phonological system into motor (left-lateralized) and sensory
(right-lateralized) components
179
what does each component of Hickok’s Hierarchical State Feedback Control (HSFC) Model include?
Each component includes internal and external feedback loops for monitoring and adjusting motor
output in real time
180
what does Hickok’s Hierarchical State Feedback Control (HSFC) Model emphasize?
Emphasizes the role of sensory feedback in dynamically shaping speech production.
181
* Individuals have difficulty planning, coordinating, and executing speech movements, despite no weakness or paralysis of the speech muscles.
* Struggle to coordinate the lips, tongue, and jaw for accurate and fluent production of sounds, words, and sentences.
Apraxia of Speech
182
what can apraxia of speech result from?
Can result from brain damage (e.g., stroke, TBI, neurodegeneration) or be developmental in origin.
