Lecture 5: Language and Attention Flashcards
What is RJA?
responding to joint attention
Is RJA exclusive to humans? Explain.
No. It is a passive way of paying attention to another agent and another being doing something, which other primates (i.e. apes) do as well.
What is IJA?
Initiating joint attention
Is IJA exclusive to humans? Explain.
IJA is more exclusive to humans than RJA. IJA requires a deeper understanding of attention and intention of others. Apes have very limited use of IJA.
Describe the connection between frontal and posterior (back of the brain) attention systems and IJA and RJA. Give examples including autistic and blind children.
IJA requires more connection between FRONTAL and POSTERIOR attention systems than RJA.
The FRONTAL attention systems are EXECUTIVE = controlled attention (IJA is localized in the front parts of the brain).
The POSTERIOR systems are responsible for unconscious processing (RJA is localised in the posterior parts of the brain. They are also responsible for receptive joint attention).
Autistic children have poor connection between FRONTAL and POSTERIOR attention systems. They have worse IJA and social cognition and a harder time recognizing emotion in themselves and others. Language acquisition is more difficult for autistic children.
Blind children cannot rely on visual information for RJA. They learn to use other sensual exchanges with people.
What does the social COGNITIVE MODEL state? Explain the experiments with the correct ages of the babies. What are the problems with this model?
The social cognitive model states that social cognition is necessary for the development of joint attention (RJA, IJA).
Social cognition is developed between 9 and 12 months.
9 months olds babies would look in the direction the experimenter turned their head regardless of whether they had their eyes open or closed.
10 months olds or older babies not, as they already understand that if the experimenter has their eyes closed there’s nothing to see there
Problem
9-month-olds (with social cognition) follow head tilt with closed eyes
6-month-olds (with no social cognition) develop RJA
What do you know about the Broadmann areas in the brain?
Broadmann identified 52 areas in the brain of mammals. However, humans appear to have only 43. They miss areas associated with smell or hearing abilities that only animals possess. Broadman areas in human brains are still numbered 1-52, some numbers in the middle are missing.
Is GREY or WHITE matter more relevant for this course? Explain
As the GREY matter in the CEREBRAL CORTEX is responsible for PERCEPTION and COGNITION and the WHITE matter (fat substance) only consists of SYNAPTIC CONNECTIONS, only GREY matter is relevant.
How are the 2 attention components called? What do they do?
- Orienting (selects relevant information)
- Alerting (maintains a state of focus on the selected stimuli)
How do early psycholinguists respond to the question “ Is language processing an automatic or conscious process?”
- Language processing is automatic
- Language is modular, (modular = there are specializations for certain domains). It processes its information first inside itself, and after that this output could be used by other cognitive mechanisms.
- No attention is required
What do you know about the cerebral cortex?
- outer layer of the brain
- 2,5 mm thick
- grey matter
- responsible for cognition
- gurys = “hills”, sulcus = “valley” (for visual clarification google “cross-section fo the brain” or something like that)
What are “saccades”?
Eyes in motion/ rapid shifts
Describe the Serial Model of word processing.
- We process lines word-by-word; no words are skipped, we move onto the next one after we finished processing the current one
- When attention is shifted, that means processing is completed
- EZ model by Rayner et al, 2009)
What is “triangulation”?
Infant, caregiver, object. Triangulation is term used in early language acquisition. Here, joint attention comes into play as the child initiates attention while interacting with the caregiver.
Language processing ‘controlled’ or ‘automatic’ ?. (+modularity of language)
Mental processes are ‘automatic’ when they do not require attentional resources and can run on their own. According to early psycholinguists and cognitive psychologists, language processing is automatic and happens without interference, untouchable, not controllable.
‘controlled’ processes call for voluntary engagement and attention is needed
Language is modular, (modular = there are specializations for certain domains). It processes its information first inside itself, and after that this output could be used by other cognitive mechanisms.
What are the names of the 4 brain lobes?
Temporal lobe (sides), Occipital lobe (back), frontal lobe (front), parietal lobe (middle).
How are the electrodes of an EEG cap labeled?
5 regions: frontal, central, parental, occipital and temporal
C for horizontal line (from ear to ear), Z for vertical line (from forehead to neck).
The electrode right on top in the middle of your head is called “CZ”.
Odd numbers = left side.
Even numbers = right side.
What is the problem with EEG? What is an alternative method to overcome this specific problem?
Poor spatial resolution. fMRI makes 3D measurements of the brain.
What are the 3 different components EEG signals are categorized with?
Polarity ( +/P, -/N )
Latency (how much time after presenting the stimulus do we measure the signal? Measured in milliseconds)
Scalp distribution
Do we have sufficient information after one single EEG measurement?
No; Micro-voltage fluctuation occurs all the time, so we present the same kind of stimulus material over and over again, then we average the brain response
What is ERP?
Event-related potential; electrical signals in the brain responding to stimulus
What is SLI, and how does it connect to attention?
SLI (Specific Language Impairment) is a developmental language disorder. It affects phonological, semantic and syntactic processing.
Besides their language problems, children with SLI develop normally.
SLI also causes a deficit in sustained attention.
In a study, they showed children (some of whom with SLI) a red square of a screen. The children had to react whenever the square became a circle. Children with SLI reacted more slowly and with more errors than the non-SLI group.
How does Parkinson’s disease affect language in a patient?
Patients with Parkinson’s (neuro-degenerative disease that affects attention and memory networks) usually have a hard time focussing on words and retrieving them.
They are also unable to identify phonetic and semantic errors in a sentence.
What do people with dyslexia suffer from?
hard time reading (Visual attention deficit)
