Language comprehension Flashcards
1
Q
Dual route model of reading
A
- Most models are based on participants reading English, and don´t generalize well to other systems.
- Written English is orthographically deep, which means that the pronunciation might vary from word to word and there´s not one way a symbol
- There are several ways to figure out how a word is pronounced
- Three routes
2
Q
Segmentation problem
A
- Refers to detection of distinct words in what is a continuous string of speech sounds.
- Children use cues such as stress patterns, they do it by using strong syllables (syllables with whole vocals) as onset markers.
- They are also able to recognise words with phonotactic constraints, which describe the language specific sound groupings in a language. Permissible patterns of sound in a language.
- In English “rk” is a sound grouping that tends to mark the end of a words, however words don´t start with -rk.
- In that way one gets an onset pattern, onset is the start phoneme of a word, and rime follows the onset.
- Dark, onset: da, rime: rk
- Through early exposure to our native language, we develop tacit knowledge about which sounds can be grouped together in our language.
Knowledge about speech structure and syntax can also play a role in speech segmentation.
3
Q
Categorical perception
A
- How we perceive stimuli that´s on a sensory continuum as falling into district categories.
- This counteracts the invariance problem (how there will be variation in how a speech sound is produced based on the context, what letters follow it or came before it)
- Means that we are more sensitive to differences in speech sounds across categories than within
- Applies more to consonant sounds
- Vocals are treated as continuous
- Categorical Perception demonstrated by Liberman et al: by using a speech synth a continuum of sound was created, e.g. Between the b sound and the p sound. The midpoints on the continuum are ambiguous, but people would still hear either b or p.
4
Q
The McGurk effect
A
- Visual cues can affect how we hear something.
- With the McGurk effect, an experiment was done where the participants were presented conflicting visual and auditory cues.
- The recording had a voice repeating “Ba” which the participants listened to while watching a video with a person mouthing “Ga”. The participants ended up blending the visual and auditory cues and reported hearing “Da”.
- The McGurk effect is a perceptual illusion that illustrates how visual and auditory processing affect each other in speech perception.
5
Q
Lexical access
A
- The process by which we access stored knowledge about words/how easily we access them
- Word recognition is a process of lexical access.
- Frequency effects, priming effects, syntactic context, lexical ambiguity
Frequency effects:
- We have a vocabulary between 50k-100k - Low frequency words: words used rarely - High frequency words: words used frequently - The higher the frequency, the easier it is to access - Frequency effects apply to open-class words: nouns, verbs and adjectives - Closed-class words (articles, conjunctions, prepositions) don´t produce effect - Eye tracking shows that people fixate on low frequency words 40 ms longer
Priming effects:
- Exposure to semantically related words speeds up processing for that category. - E.g. If one is presented with the word HOSPITAL and the target word is NURSE. - Repetition priming: finding that repeated exposure to a word leads to faster responses in a lexical decision task.
Syntactic context:
- Participants recognise words faster when they the appropriate syntactic context is given. - Syntactic priming.
Lexical ambiguity
- If a word has several meanings, it will be slower to process - Homographs: words with the same spelling, but more than one meaning and pronunciation Context does not affect initial access to multiple meaning
6
Q
Frequency effects
A
- We have a vocabulary between 50k-100k
- Low frequency words: words used rarely
- High frequency words: words used frequently
- The higher the frequency, the easier it is to access
- Frequency effects apply to open-class words: nouns, verbs and adjectives
- Closed-class words (articles, conjunctions, prepositions) don´t produce effect
Eye tracking shows that people fixate on low frequency words 40 ms longer
7
Q
Priming effects
A
- Exposure to semantically related words speeds up processing for that category.
- E.g. If one is presented with the word HOSPITAL and the target word is NURSE.
Repetition priming: finding that repeated exposure to a word leads to faster responses in a lexical decision task.
- E.g. If one is presented with the word HOSPITAL and the target word is NURSE.
8
Q
Syntactic context
A
- Participants recognise words faster when they the appropriate syntactic context is given.
- Syntactic priming.
9
Q
Lexical ambiguity
A
- If a word has several meanings, it will be slower to process
- Homographs: words with the same spelling, but more than one meaning and pronunciation
Context does not affect initial access to multiple meaning
- Homographs: words with the same spelling, but more than one meaning and pronunciation
10
Q
Orthographically deep
A
Means that the pronunciation might vary from word to word and there´s not one way a symbol sounds
11
Q
Route 1: grapheme-to-phoneme conversion GPC
A
This allows someone to sound out the words just by reading the letters without having access to the lexicon.
- Route allows us to sound out words based on letter-sound correspondences
- Used when reading a new word and can be used on words that follow print-sound rules.
- Will generate errors in languages with deep orthography.
12
Q
Route 2: lexical /direct route
A
- Allows reading via word recognition.
- The word is recognised by orthographic features, found in lexicon and accessed via semantic system, afterwards the sound properties are accessed.
13
Q
Route 3: bypasses semantic system
A
- This route bypasses the semantic system.
- Accounts for occasions when a word is read correctly, without having access to its meaning.
- Accounts for non-semantic reading which is a pattern of deficit in some types of acquired dyslexia.
Non-semantic reading: pattern of a reading deficit where a patient can read an irregular word (which cannot be sounded out) and yet cannot access its meaning
14
Q
Speech perception challenge
A
- The same sound can be different at the beginning and the end of a word.
15
Q
Invariance problem
A
Invariance: certain speech sounds are perceived as being the same despite their unique features.
Factors: co-articulation, speech rate, feeling, speaker, pitch
Reflects the variation in the production of speech sounds across speech contexts.
