Language, mind + the brain (Topic 7)

linguistic relativity

the weaker form of Sapir-Whorf's hypothesis that suggests language can influence the way we think

linguistic determinism

the strong form of Sapir-Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think and interpret the world

brain localisation

Specific language functions and processing tasks controlled by distinct regions of the brain

lateralisation

Different functions are specialised in different hemispheres of the brain

e.g. language processing is primarily associated with the left hemisphere

disfluencies

Common interruptions or breaks in the smooth flow of speech

Broca's Area

A region of the left side of the brain involved in language production, particularly planning and organising speech, helping put thoughts into words and construct speech

Wernicke's Area

A region of the left side of the brain that helps you process language, understand what words and sentences mean

priming

Explores relationships between words and concepts in the brain

gating techniques

Measures how much acoustic information is required before the a person can correctly identify a word

top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

bottom-up processing

information processing guided by physical representations of language, such as sounds

lexical retrieval

The process of retrieving words from memory and articulating the correct phonological form

metrical segmentation strategy

The way that speakers segment sound waves into meaningful linguistic signals with reference to key aspects of the individual language e.g. stress in English

lexical ambiguity

Describes how homonyms and polysemous words have multiple possible senses and must be understood with the greater context

bilingual advantages

metalinguistic awareness, metacognitive skills

theory of mind

The capacity of individuals to recognise and respond to the fact that other people have minds and thoughts that are different from their own

aphasia

Difficulties in producing fluent, meaningful speech associated with injury to the left hemisphere of the brain

garden-path sentence

A sentence that is temporarily ambiguous, causing you to initially interpret it one way, then realise that interpretation is wrong

Useful for studying sentence processing because they show that when we read or hear a sentence, we don't necessarily wait until the entire sentence is available before interpreting it. We make rapid grammatical predictions, and sometimes those predictions turn out to be wrong.