Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

PSYO 1022 > Langauge (Ch 8) > Flashcards

Langauge (Ch 8) Flashcards

1
Q

Human Language definition

A

Open and symbolic communication system that has rules of grammar and allows its users to express abstract and distant ideas.

Open means that the system is dynamic and free to changes

Symbolic means that there is no real connection between a sound and the meaning or idea associated with it

Over 7000 human languages

All are organizes in a hierarchical structure

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Morphemes

A

Smallest units of meaning in a language

Represented by basic consonant and vowel sounds (phonemes)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Phonemes

A

Basic consonant and vowel sounds

Make up morphemes

Languages vary in number of phonemes, with some having as few as 15 and others having more than 80.

English has about 40, which combined can create up to 100,000 morphemes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Semantics

A

The meaning of words and combinations of words in language

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Syntax

A

The rules for arranging words and symbols in sentences (or parts of sentences)

Eg. “Shirin juggled the balls” or “the balls were juggled by shirin”

Both have the same semantic meaning, but different syntax

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Grammar

A

The entire set of rules for combining symbols and sounds to speak and write a particular language

Includes subject-verb agreement, plurals, and use of possessives.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Hierarchical structure of language

A 
Phonemes
Morphemes
Words
Phrases
Sentence
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Pragmatic

A

The practical aspects of language that are required for effective and appropriate communication in many different situations

Knowing how to take turns in a conversation or how to speak differently to different people

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Protolanguage

A

Aka Pre-language

Rudimentary language used by homo erectus and homo neanderthalensis.

Differs from human language in that it is thought to consist of words without syntax

Homo sapiens were first to use grammatical and syntactical language less than 150,000 years ago

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Difference between Human language and animal communication

A

Human language can represent ideas that are not tied to the present moment or location

Animal communication focuses on immediate events related to mating, survival, and social identity, and usually prompts an immediate response from listener

Evolution of brain and language intertwined (need bigger working memory and ability for abstract thought)

The more complex the group is, the greater the need for its members to communicate.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Wernicke’s area

A

Located in left hemisphere and is associated with language comprehension

Develops before Broca’s area, which can be seen by the fact that children understand speech before they can actually speak

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Broca’s area

A

Area in left hemisphere of brain associated with speech production

Develops after wernicke’s area

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Cooing

A
  • first strange of language development
  • consists of uttering repeated vowel sounds
  • occurs during first 6 months
  • universal: vary very little from hearing to deaf babies or among babies around the world.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Babbling

A
  • overlaps with cooing
  • starts around 5 or 6 months
  • infants experimentation with complex range of phonemes, including consonants and vowels

-before babies brains have been fully shaped by their native language that can make many more sounds than their parents

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

One-word utterances

A
  • begins around 12 months
  • descend from protolanguage
  • children learn words spoken at the ends of sentences first
    • different structures for different languages, so children of different cultures may speak different forms of words first
    • due to recency effect
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Two-word utterances

A
  • starting around 18 months

- eg. “My ball”

17
Q

Sentence phase

A
  • starts around 2.5-3 years old
  • 3rd stage of language development
  • begin speaking in fully grammatical sentences
  • transition occurs very quickly

-girls outperform boys in the acquisition of language skills - especially vocabulary

18
Q

Sensitive Period

A
  • if children are not exposed to language before a certain age, their language skills never fully develop
  • sensitive period ends at age 12 (after neural pruning and wiring have reached their peak, and plasticity of neural connection becomes less flexible)
  • eg. Of Genie, who was diagnosed as mildly retarded and then neglected/hidden by father. At 13.5 years of age, social worker thought she was 6, and only knew 2 or 3 words. Brain scans showed activity in right hemisphere, indicating that left hemisphere requires stimulation during sensitive period.
19
Q

Theories of language acquition

A
  • all humans learn spoken language, even those that are deaf
  • this suggests that we have an innate, genetically based structures in our brains that enable us to learn language
  • different theories emphasize different contributions of nature and nurture
20
Q

Socio-cultural theories of language

A
  • children who hear more total and unique words, and more complex sentences, develops their language faster and more richly than others
  • culture, socio-economic status, birth order, school, peers, television, and parents influence language development
  • children of welfare families heard approximately 32million fewer words in a year than a professional family
  • children of professional families hear more encouragement words than did children from welfare families
21
Q

Child-directed speech

A
  • babies try to imitate speech sounds they hear
  • adults speak in a higher pitch, raise and lower the volume of their voice, use simpler sentence structures, emphasize the here and now, and use emotion to communicate their messages
22
Q

Mirror neurons

A
  • cluster of brain cells that facilitate social learning and imitation
  • also fires when an individual performs some task but also when an individual observes that task
23
Q

Sign language

A
  • use visual input and manual output
  • recruit same left hemisphere language areas used in spoken languages
  • also uses regions of right hemisphere involved in spatial cognition
  • degree of right hemisphere activation in signers is strongly influenced by early life experience, since individuals who learned ASL before puberty show much more right hemisphere involvement than those who learned after puberty
24
Q

Conditioning and Learning Theory

A
  • Skinner believed that language is like any other behaviour - exists because it it reinforced and shaped.
  • proposed that we speak because we have been reinforced to do so, not in order to convey a feeling or idea
  • parents reaction has a reinforcing effect, making the child more likely to say that word (or not)
  • skinner explains language development in terms of shaping, successive approximation, and reinforcement
25
Q

Nativist theory

A
  • theory that we discover language rather than learn it, that language development is native or inborn.
  • brain is structured/wired for language learning
  • Chomsky argues that humans are born with a language acquition device (LAD) - an innate, biologically based capacity to acquire language.
  • Chomsky argues that there is a single universal grammar underlying all human language and that our LAD must have principles of universal grammar that allow a child to learn any language
26
Q

Nature, Nurture, and Language learning

A
  • acquiring language involves natural abilities which are modified by the language learners environment
  • captured by term “innately guided learning”
  • grammar more influenced by nature, whereas vocabulary is more influenced by environment
  • about 25% of vocab, and 40% of grammar are genetically influenced
27
Q

FOXP2 gene

A
  • involved in both understanding and producing speech
  • abnormalities in this genre we discovered in an english family with an inherited form of language disorder
  • variants of the gene are found in all mammals
  • gene was found in Neanderthal DNA suggesting that they may have been capable of some human language
28
Q

Other species learning human language

A
  • chimps do not have vocal apparatus that allows them to speak so are physically incapable
  • apes can be taught to communicate using non-verbal sign language
  • sometimes apes use sign language with eachother
29
Q

Language, culture, and thought

A
  • language creates thought, as much as thought creates language
  • linguistic determinism hypothesis: language determines out way of thinking and our perceptions of the world.
    • if there are no words for certain objects or concepts in ones language it is not possible to think about them.
  • linguist relativism: language influences rather than determines our thinking
30
Q

Linguistic determinism hypothesis

A
  • language determines out way of thinking and our perceptions of the world
  • if there are no words for certain object or concepts in one’ language it is not possible to think about those objects etc
  • eg. Piraha tribe have no words for numbers higher than 2, so cannot learn about concepts such as 10
    • can also only construct independent clauses (challenges concept of universal grammar), and only talk about the here and now meaning they dont have stories of the past
31
Q

Linguistic relativism

A
  • idea that language influences rather than determines our thinking
  • if language differs in the words they use to define categories, one might expect a cognitive advantage with a larger number of categories
  • eg. Russians have categories for light blue vs dark blue, whereas english just has blue

PSYO 1022 (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions