Cognitive Psychology CH 10 - Language

Criterion of Language

• Use of symbols

• Allows for communication

• Hierarchal

• Rule Based

• Infinte Generativity (original sentences)

The Structure of Language

Refers to the organization and rules governing the use of words and sentences, including syntax, semantics, and phonology.

Phonemes/Phonology

The smallest unit of sound in a particular language.

Morpheme/Morphology

A minimal unit of meaning in a language, which can be a word or a part of a word, such as a prefix or suffix.

Words

The basic units of language that convey meaning, consisting of one or more morphemes. Words can stand alone or be combined in various forms to create sentences.

Syntax

The set of rules that governs the structure of sentences in a language, including word order, sentence formation, and the relationships between words.

Semantics

The branch of linguistics that studies meaning in language, including the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences.

Pragmatics

The study of how context influences the interpretation of meaning in language, including how speakers use language in social situations.

Prescriptive Rules

The norms and guidelines that dictate how a language should be used, often contrasting with descriptive rules, which describe how language is actually used by speakers.

Descriptive Rules

The rules that describe how language is actually used by speakers in everyday communication, focusing on patterns and structures observed in natural speech.

Language Comprehension

The process through which individuals understand and interpret spoken or written language, involving decoding linguistic structures and integrating them with context and prior knowledge.

Speech Perception

The ability to identify and interpret speech sounds, enabling the understanding of spoken language. It involves acoustic analysis and the recognition of phonetic elements.

Coarticulation

The phenomenon where speech sounds are influenced by the surrounding sounds, resulting in overlapping articulation. This impacts how phonemes are produced in natural speech.

Phonemic Restoration

The process by which the brain fills in missing phonetic information in speech, based on context and prior knowledge, allowing comprehension despite incomplete auditory input.

Categorical Perception

The classification of continuous changes in speech sounds into distinct categories, allowing listeners to perceive differences in phonemes despite variations in articulation.

Understanding Sentences

We may develop and understanding of sentences by either

• Waiting until we hear the whole sentence then making sense of it

• Working to understand sentences as we hear them

Parsing

Making sense of sentences and figuring out what role each word plays (understanding grammatical parts).

Garden Path Sentences

Sentences that initially lead the reader to an incorrect interpretation, requiring reanalysis to understand the intended meaning (ex. “The horse ran past the barn fell”).

Background

We use background information that we have to make sense of sentences. nko

Overextension

A linguistic phenomenon where a child applies a word too broadly, using it to describe a wider category than intended (e.g., calling all four-legged animals "dog").

Underextension

A linguistic error where a child uses a word too narrowly, applying it only to a specific instance rather than the broader category (e.g., using "dog" only for the family pet).

Fast Mapping

The process by which children quickly learn a new word after hearing it just a few times in context, often connecting it to its meaning.

Word Segmentation

The ability to recognize and identify individual words within a stream of speech, crucial for language comprehension and learning.