Language processes

Chomsky (1959) – Language Revolution

• Challenged Skinner’s idea that language = learned behavior

• Said language is innate (built-in brain ability) → “Universal Grammar”

Example:
A child says “I goed to the store” even though they’ve never been taught that rule

👉 Key point: kids create grammar rules they’ve never heard

Phonemic Restoration Effect

• Brain fills in missing speech sounds

Example:
“He was sitting on the cough (noise) and didn’t notice”
→ You still hear “sofa” even if part is replaced with noise

👉 Key point: perception is top-down (brain predicts missing info)

McGurk Effect

• Vision changes what you hear

Example:
You hear “ba” but see lips saying “ga” → you perceive “da”

👉 Key point: speech perception is multisensory

Phoneme, Morpheme, Lexical Unit

• Phoneme: smallest sound unit (“b”, “p”)

  • Example: “bat” = /b/ + /a/ + /t/

• Morpheme: smallest meaning unit

  • Example: “cats” = “cat + -s (plural)”

• Lexical unit: whole words stored in mental dictionary

  • Example: “cat”, “running”, “table”

👉 Key point: language is built in layers

Expectations in Language Perception

• Brain predicts meaning using context

Example:
“You drink coffee with sugar and…” → you expect “cream”

👉 Key point: comprehension = prediction, not just hearing

Implicit Association, Semantic Network, Priming, Stereotypes

• Semantic network: words linked in memory

  • Example: dog → cat → animal

• Priming: one word speeds up another

  • Example: “doctor” → faster reaction to “nurse”

• Implicit association: automatic unconscious links

  • Example: associating “dark” with “danger” without thinking

• Stereotypes: learned associations affecting interpretation

  • Example: expecting certain jobs for certain groups

👉 Key point: memory and language are connected automatically

Working Memory & Language Processing

• Working memory helps you hold sentences while understanding them

Example:
“I think the girl that you saw yesterday is my cousin”
→ you must hold parts of the sentence in mind

👉 Key point: complex sentences require working memory

How digit and Sentence span are measured

• Digit span task: repeat numbers forward/backward

• Sentence span: remember last words of sentences

How to increase span

• Chunking (grouping info)

  • 1 9 9 8 → “1998”

• Rehearsal (repeating info)

Working Memory & Syntactic Ambiguity

• Sentences with multiple meanings

Example:
“Visiting relatives can be annoying”

• Meaning 1: relatives who are visiting

• Meaning 2: you visiting relatives

👉 Key point: working memory helps resolve confusion

Specialized Brain Areas for Language

Language is mainly in the left hemisphere

Broca’s Area 🗣

• Location: left frontal lobe

• Function: speech production + grammar

• Damage (Broca’s aphasia):

  • slow, broken speech

  • understand others fairly well

Example:
“Walk… store… yesterday…”

👂 Wernicke’s Area

• Location: left temporal lobe

• Function: language comprehension

• Damage (Wernicke’s aphasia):

  • fluent speech but meaningless

  • poor understanding

Example:
“Blue banana running table sky…”

🔊 Categorical Perception

• Brain groups sounds into categories

Example:
Small sound differences still heard as /b/ vs /p/

👉 Key point: we don’t hear smooth sound changes—we hear categories

✂ Speech Segmentation

• Breaking speech into words

Example:
“Whatdoyouwant” → “what / do / you / want”

👉 Key point: no pauses in speech → brain uses cues

Universal Phonemic Sensitivity

• Babies (0–6 months):

  • can distinguish ALL language sounds in the world

• By ~10–12 months:

  • lose sensitivity to non-native sounds

  • specialize in native language

Example:
Japanese babies can initially hear /r/ vs /l/, but adults often cannot

👉 Key point: language experience shapes perception early