LCC Flashcards

Flashcards covering key concepts from the LCC lecture notes.

What is FLN (Faculty of Language—Narrow Sense), according to Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch?

The ability to generate infinite expressions from finite elements; possibly the only uniquely human trait related to language.

What is FLB (Faculty of Language—Broad Sense), according to Hauser, Chomsky, and Fitch?

Full language system including sensory-motor and conceptual-intentional systems + recursion.

What is Recursion?

Combining finite elements into infinite expressions.

What is Finite-State Grammar?

Rule system with local dependencies (e.g., ABAB).

What is Phrase-Structure Grammar?

Hierarchical grammar requiring recursive rules (e.g., AⁿBⁿ).

What are Mirror Neurons?

Neurons firing during both action and observation, linked to imitation.

What is Vocal Imitation?

Ability to learn and reproduce novel sounds from others.

What is a Spandrel?

A trait that arises as a side-effect of other evolutionary changes.

What is Merge?

Neural mechanism that builds hierarchical syntactic structures.

What is Broca’s area (BA 44)?

Frontal brain area involved in syntactic processing.

What is Posterior STC?

Temporal brain region linked to semantic-syntactic integration.

What is the Dorsal pathway?

Neural connection supporting grammar and complex sentence structure.

What is the Ventral pathway?

Neural route processing meaning and semantic integration.

What is Externalization?

Turning internal syntax into speech or gesture.

What is Internalization?

Mental construction of syntax and meaning, not necessarily spoken.

What is Merge?

Combining two elements into one syntactic unit.

What is AnBn grammar?

A nested sequence type (e.g., AAABBB) requiring hierarchical processing.

What is Pre-adaptation?

A trait that evolves for one function but later facilitates another (e.g., imitation for language).

What is Cultural transmission?

Learning and passing on language across generations.

What is Iterated learning?

Repeated transmission of behavior, with each learner's output becoming the next learner's input.

What is Sequential learning?

The ability to remember and process items in order—crucial for syntax.

What is Grammaticalization?

Transformation of simple expressions into fixed grammatical structures (e.g., “going to” → “gonna”).

What is Learning bottleneck?

The limited linguistic input available to learners that constrains language transmission.

What is FOXP2?

A gene linked to speech and language, whose mutation disrupts articulation and grammar.

What is Phonetic gesture?

Coordinated movements of speech organs producing specific sounds.

What is the Cognitive niche?

An ecological role centered on reasoning, cooperation, and tool use.

What is Metaphorical abstraction?

Using physical concepts (e.g., motion) to reason about abstract ideas (e.g., time, emotion).

What is a Nonrival good?

A resource (like information) that can be shared without being used up.

What are Intuitive theories?

Built-in ways of understanding the world (like folk physics or psychology).

What is Reciprocal altruism?

Cooperation where individuals help each other over time.

What is Syntax?

The rules for combining words into structured sentences.

What is a Selection footprint?

A genetic trace indicating that a trait has been favored by evolution.

What is Joint Attention (JA)?

Coordinated focus between individuals on an object or event.

What is RJA (Responding to Joint Attention)?

Following others’ gaze or gestures to share attention.

What is IJA (Initiating Joint Attention)?

Using gaze/gesture to get others to share your focus.

What is the Posterior Attention System?

Brain network (parietal + superior temporal) for reflexive attention.

What is the Anterior Attention System?

Frontal network for voluntary, goal-directed attention control.

What are Frontal Eye Fields?

Area in frontal cortex involved in intentional eye movement.

What is the Anterior Cingulate Cortex?

Region monitoring conflict and regulating attention.

What is Social Cognition?

Understanding others’ thoughts, feelings, and intentions.

What is Automaticity?

A process that happens without conscious control or attention.

What is ELAN (Early Left Anterior Negativity)?

ERP signal peaking ~150 ms, linked to early syntactic violations.

What is P600?

ERP component peaking ~600 ms, indicating syntactic reanalysis.

What is N400?

ERP signal reflecting difficulty integrating semantic content.

What is ERP (Event-Related Potential)?

Brain response measured via EEG, time-locked to stimulus.

What is Selective attention?

Focusing on certain stimuli or features at the cost of others.

What is MMN (Mismatch Negativity)?

ERP marker of automatic change detection.

What is Reading saccade?

A rapid eye movement from one word to another.

What is the Phonological loop?

Part of working memory for verbal material; includes storage and rehearsal.

What is Working memory?

system for holding and manipulating information temporarily

What is Nonword repetition?

task testing ability to repeat unfamiliar phoneme sequences

What is the Word length effect?

longer words are harder to recall due to limited rehearsal time

What is Broca’s area?

left frontal brain region linked to speech production and verbal rehearsal

What is SLI (Specific Language Impairment)?

developmental disorder affecting language skills

What is Visuospatial sketchpad?

holds visual and spatial information temporarily

What is Central executive?

attentional system coordinating other components

What is Episodic buffer?

integrates visual, verbal, and long-term information into coherent episodes

What is Word Segmentation

The difficulty of babies to identify where each word starts and ends as there are no gaps or silences in the way languages are spoken

What is a Phoneme?

The smallest sound unit that distinguishes words .

What is a Phonetic unit?

Acoustic variants grouped into phonemes

What is Categorical perception?

Tendency to hear speech sounds as distinct categories

What is Statistical learning?

Detecting frequency and transitional probability patterns

What is Transitional probability?

Likelihood one sound follows another

What is Prosodic cues?

Stress, pitch, and rhythm patterns in speech

What is Neural commitment?

Early tuning of brain networks to native-language patterns

What is ERP (Event-Related Potential)?

Brainwave response to specific stimuli.

What is the N400 ERP component?

Semantic mismatch; peaks at ~400ms; larger for unexpected meanings.

What is the P600 ERP component?

Syntactic reanalysis or repair; peaks around 600ms; linked to grammar violations.

What is Correlational neurolinguistics?

Uses language theories to find which brain areas or signals line up with specific language processes

What is Explanatory neurolinguistics?

Goes further by asking if the brain’s structure actually explains why language works the way it does

What is Integrated Neurolinguistics ?

uses brain data to help choose between competing language theories

What is the LAN/ELAN ERP component?

Early grammar or morphosyntactic violation; ELAN appears ~100–200ms.

What is the MMN ERP component?

Automatic detection of sound differences; used in infant and speech research.

What is the benefit of EEG/ERPs?

High temporal resolution; great for real-time tracking of language processing.

What is EEG (Electroencephalography)?

A method for recording brain electrical activity via scalp electrodes.

What is ERP (Event-Related Potential)?

A brain response time-locked to a specific stimulus, extracted from EEG.

What is fMRI?

Brain imaging that detects changes in blood oxygen to infer activity.

What is TMS?

A technique that temporarily disrupts brain activity using magnetic pulses.

What is the Left inferior frontal gyrus (Broca’s area)?

Frontal region linked to speech and meaning.

What is the Dual-route model?

Theory that reading uses two paths: phonological (assembled) and lexical (addressed).

What is Assembled phonology?

Building pronunciation from letter-sound rules (e.g., Pinyin).

What is Addressed phonology?

Retrieving pronunciation from memory (e.g., Chinese characters).

What is Semantic processing?

Understanding the meaning of words.

What is Lateralization?

Tendency for one brain hemisphere to dominate a function.

What is a Computational model?

A program simulating how learning could happen.

What is a Symbolic model?

Uses logic-like grammar rules and exceptions.

What is a Connectionist model?

Neural network trained on input patterns.

What is a Probabilistic model?

Learns language structures based on statistical likelihood.

What is Primary Linguistic Data (PLD)?

Real input children get when learning language.

What is the Argument from Poverty of the Stimulus (APS)?

Idea that PLD is too limited for learning grammar.

What is a Usage-based model?

Learns language from patterns in input, no innate rules assumed.

What is CHILDES?

A database of child-adult speech used for language acquisition studies.

What is I (Integration)?

Postlexical process of fitting a word into sentence meaning.

What is Regression?

A backward saccade to reprocess earlier text.

What is the Utterance-boundary strategy?

Guess word ends based on phonemes near utterance breaks.

What is the Predictability strategy?

Segment where the next sound is unexpected (low transitional probability).

What is the Word-recognition strategy?

Store and re-identify word-like units across utterances.

What is INCDROP?

Memory-based model using optimization to reduce memory load by minimizing new units.

What is Transitional probability?

the Likelihood of one syllable following another in speech

What is an On-line model?

Segments as input arrives, unlike offline Batch model.