psych midterm 2 - language

language

• a specific form of communication which can be done through spoken language, sign language, or written language

• uses highly structures rules

three constructs of language properties

symbols, structure, and generativity

symbols

• sounds, words, gestures (lexicon)

• lexicon = a group of symbols

• ex. chinese characters, the latin alphabet

structure

• turning symbols into meaningful units

• semantics (meaning) + syntax (grammatical rules)

• ex. diff parts of a sentence being put tgt to make a proper sentence

generativity

• combine symbols to form an infinite amount of novel messages

• putting together a combination of words to make a really unique sentence

why is language not a foolproof method of communication?

receiving information: = surface structure → deep structure

expressing information = deep structure → surface structure

surface = receiving the info

deep = making sense of the info, turning sensation into perception

• the meaning can be slightly modified at this stage

• miscommunication can happen

interpersonal synchrony

• helps w understanding and empathy

• phys cues that communicate/synchronize meaning between multiple ppl

• why miscommunication can happen online

physiological synchronization:

• heart rate, breathing, tone of voice, gestures, etc.

motor mirroring:

• imitation and reaction to facial expressions

neuronal coupling:

• brainwave synchrony

phoneme

• smallest unit unit of sound in a given language

• the fuh i er tr u ck

morpheme

• the smallest unit of meaning (combinations of phonemes)

• the + fire + truck

• s @ end of word = plural

word

a functional unit

how does language develop in infants?

• observation

• imitation

• reinforcement

  • clapping when a baby says a word

• natural readiness to learn language

  • natural language acquisition

  • experience-expectant plasticity

  • experience-dependent plasticity (for additional languages)

critical period of phonemes

1yo: you can’t reliably produce phonemes that you haven’t practiced in this critical period

7yo: you cannot reliably perceive differences in phonemes from other languages

monolinguals

• native english (or wtv ur first language or main language is) speakers

non-immersion speakers

learned english as a second language without living in an english-speaking country

immersion learners

learned english as a second language while living in an english-speaking country

aphasia

• an acquired language disorder

• classified by fluency, comprehension, and repetition

symptoms - trouble..

• speaking clearly

• understanding speech

• writing clearly

• understanding written words

• remembering words

• remembering object names

how do u acquire aphasia

• stroke

• traumatic brain injury (tbi)

• tumor in brain

• brain infection/disease

three classifications of aphasia

fluency

• is speech fluent?

comprehension

• can they comprehend spoken messages?

• can have limits, but mostly like can they answer in line with the questions asked

repetition

• can the person repeat words or phrases?

• “can you say ____ for me?”

broca’s area + aphasia

broca’s area:

• responsible for speech production

• identified by paul broca

• in frontal lobe next to the primary motor cortex (for mouth/hands to move to produce language)

broca’s aphasia

• characterized by non-fluent speech and good comprehension

wernicke’s area + aphasia

wernicke’s area:

• responsible for speech comprehension

• in temporal lobe

wernicke’s aphasia

• characterized by fluent speech and comprehension challenges

lesion studies

• the foundation of classical linguistics

• after broca (and also wernicke) met patients who couldn’t speak properly, they would die shortly after and they would investigate their brain

• found lesions in the broca’s area and above wernicke’s area

• → that must be where speech is produced / understood

arcuate fasciculus

• suggested by geschwind

• a white matter tract (a bunch of axons sending messages) in between the broca’s and wernicke’s area

• if this is injured patients would have difficulty repeating back

  • broca’s and wernicke’s areas are not affected so ppl can still speak fluently and understand

conduction aphasia

• characterized by fluent speech and comprehension, but a challenge with repetition

• wouldn’t be able to count to ten, would skip numbers or say random words

• understands qs and can speak

classical (broca-wernicke-lichtheim-geschwind) model

• classical model of neurolinguistics

• combination of all the areas

• start in the primary language area

• sent to wernicke’s area to get comprehended

• → broca’s area (thru the arcuate fasciculus) to produce the speech

• → to motor cortex to have ur mouth move to speak

• language-related brain regions are left lateralized, or are all in the left hemisphere

new technologies that have allowed for complex modern understandings of neurolinguistics

• mri/fmri

• eCoG

  • eeg but on the surface/cortex of the brain

• eeg

• TMS

  • (don’t need to know)

  • can create a temporary lesion in the brain

  • turns off a brain region temporarily by using magnetic fields and then turned back on when finished

dual stream model (2000s)

dorsal stream:

smo speaks to u → auditory cortex → wernicke’s area & gets processed/made sense of → broca’s + motor cortex → produce speech

ventral stream:

• along temporal lobes

• semantic processing (meaning)

  • understanding the meaning of words

  • wernicke’s = take in the info and connect it to smt that it means

    • how do i make sense of this to turn it into speech

  • semantic = being able to understand what was actually said