UMICH Psych 240 Test 3 (Final)

arbitrary property of language

The mapping between sound and meaning is arbitrary. The physical combinations of sounds and symbols does not give it meaning.

Exception to arbitrary property of language

Kiki or Bouba experiment.
Two artifacts were presented: one was sharp

symbolic property of language

Language creates symbols which makes references to things

generative (productive) property of language

Language can produce an infinite amount of ideas seamlessly. Language is novel and understandable

Phoneme

-Distinctive sound unit

Amount of phonemes in different languages

-English has about 40 phonemes
-Some languages have anywhere from 11-40 phonemes
-Different languages have different phonemes (ex. some languages have clicking noises)

Morpheme

-Smallest unit of meaning

Words

-Words are combinations of one or more morphemes
-Words are stored in mental lexicon

Phrases

-groups of words

Sentences

-groups of phrases

Syntax

-a set of rules that determine the grouping and arrangement of words in phrases and of phrases in sentences

Phrase structures

The same words grouped differently can mean different things

Lexical ambiguity

Words have more than one meaning.
Ex. She drove to the bank.
He was bothered by the cold.

Syntactic ambiguity

Words can be grouped into more than one phase structure \-- Depending on the phrase structure

Bottom up language processing

1)Hear Sounds
2)Identify phoneme
3)Identify morpheme & words from phoneme
4)Get meaning from memory (lexical access)
5)Put words into phrases and figure out phrase structure
6)Compute the meaning of the sentence from the structure
7)Figure out how the sentence fits into context

Role of vision in speech perception

-The phoneme you hear depends on visual input
ex. Ba Ba Ba vs. Va Va Va

-In most conversations

The McGurk Effect

If you watch a video of someone saying "fa" overlaid with the audio of them saying "ba"

How is language processing predictive?

-We are constantly predicting what is coming

Cloze probability

Cloze probability: How often does the final world finish that particular sentence?

High cloze probability: less processing required
Low cloze probability: more processing required

ERP & N400

Neural evidence that we do make predictions. After hearing a predictable or unpredictable word

Lexical access

getting information (including meaning) about words from memory

Swinney experiment

Lexical decision task: presented with a sentence and subject had to determine whether a word was a real world. Right after the word "bug"

When is active voice easier than passive voice?

Active voice is easier than passive voice for semantically reversible sentences. This is NOT the case during semantically irreversible sentences.

THIS SUGGESTS AN INTERACTION BETWEEN SYNTAX AND SEMANTICS DURING COMPREHENSION.

ex. The policeman ate the ice cream (irreversible)

Broca's Aphasia

Results from damage to Broca's area

Wernicke's Aphasia

Results from damage to Wenicke's area. Patients can produce language

What is Broca's area responsible for?

Broca's area converts sounds to code for muscle movements.

What is Wernicke's area responsible for?

Wernicke's area processes meaning.

What is the neural pathway for hearing a repeated word?

Primary Auditory Cortex (reviews incoming sounds) then goes to Wernicke's area (which processes meaning) then goes to Broca's area (which converts sounds to code for muscle movement) then to motor cortex

Willingham Reading
-Deep vs. Surface structure

Surface structure: The level of representation which yields the order of the words in the sentence (may not be the most common order) - syntax/order

Deep structure: the underlying meaning of a sentence

Willingham Reading
What makes language production difficult?

Coarticultaion: Making one movement in a way that anticipates future movements or is influenced by a past movement
example: when preparing to say "happy"

Willingham reading
Parsing/Garden path sentences

Parsing: the reader takes note of the sentence elements and their parts of speech
Garden path sentences: a grammatically correct sentence that starts in such a way that a reader's most likely interpretation will be incorrect

According to the Willingham reading

which of the following is true regarding surface and deep structures in language?

The meaning of a sentence can only be mapped to a specific and unique surface structure

Sentences that mean different things but can be constructed in similar ways have the same deep structure

Deep structure is all that is necessary to explain how we interpret language

Different deep structures can be transformed to have similar surface structures

What must be learned in language acquisition

1. Distinguish language sounds from other sounds
2. Then parse into phonemes
3. Once we have words

Problems with language acquisition

1. Same sound can refer to different things
2. Different sounds can refer to the same thing
(no clear divisions between morphemes or words)

Syntax/grammar rules

Must learn how words are combined (Grammar)

Learning language without negative feedback

Adults/parents don't correct children's grammar errors (they only correct the meaning). However

Language development: phonemes

In the first year

Baby Sucking Experiment

A baby is given a pacifier

What is Motherese and how does it aid in language acquisition?

Motherese is a way of speaking to infants which is characterized by high pitch

Holophrastic stage of language acquisition

One word utterances.
-We need context since there is no syntax (arrangement of words and phrases)
-For first 75 words we see overgeneralization and undergeneralization

Overgeneralization

We use one word to refer to more things than correct.
Ex. When a kid calls a squirrel a dog

Undergeneralization

Opposite of overgeneralization

Telegraphic stage

-Two word utterances
-Can convey quite a bit of information

Learning Syntax/Rules stage

We begin to learn syntax and grammar rules in this stage. For instance

U-shaped learning of irregular past tense

After learning a new past tense rule

Nonsense words

Children can apply grammar rules to nonsense words.
Ex. The plural of "wug" is "wugs".

Learning word meanings: parts/wholes

Input gives clues about parts and wholes of words.

Learning word meanings: Bias towards shape

If something is a "biff" children will claim other objects with the same shape are also "biffs"

Gleitman reading - Doer

act

used for active

Gleitman reading - interaction of syntax and semantics

The way the sentence is structured has as much of an impact on processing compared to syntax. Ex. Passive sentences which have non-switchable nouns are as quickly processed compared to active voice sentences.

Gleitman reading - the problem of language learning

Distinguishing speech sounds to meaning is arbitrary

Gleitman reading - the process of language learning

We do not learn from mimicing

Gleitman reading - infants and phonemes

As infants get older

Gleitman reading - one word speaker

Holophrastic stage - infants will usually under or overgeneralize

Gleitman reading - two word speaker

Telegrahic stage - children will use correct word order

Gleitman reading - syntax stage

The stage where people learn the syntax of language - organization of words in phrases and phrases in sentences

Gleitman reading - part/whole cues

We learn the whole then the part: ex. learn face then ear

Gleitman reading - learning basic level words first

Children learn basic level words before higher level

Procedural information

Procedural knowledge is made of production rules: if-then statements

How is procedural information different from declarative?

Declarative: conscious facts (dates

What are the 3 stages of learning?

cognitive

Cognitive stage of learning

-Declarative knowledge
-Committing facts to memory
-Rehearse as you try to perform
-Requires attention \-- cannot do a second task

note: the best teacher may be the person who is best at describing how to do the thing

Associative stage

-Strengthen connections that lead to desired result
-Feedback is important
-Repeat actions which are successful

Automaticity stage

-Performance is fast

Proceduralization

Takes declarative knowledge and turns it into productions

Composition

Combines multiple productions into 1

Multiple systems operating on different timescales

We have a slow learning system and a fast learning system which work in parallel

Slow learning system

-Deals with implicit/procedural memory
-it is unconscious

Fast learning system

-Deals with declarative/explicit memory
-It is conscious

Power law of learning

When you begin learning

Serial reaction time task (SRTT)

A task where subject have to repeat a pattern of button pushing.

Implicit task: the order is random
Explicit task: there is a pattern you should look for

People can be told it's the implicit task when it's really the explicit task and vice versa.

Results: Performance on the implicit test is the same no matter whether the training was implicit or explicit. THE IMPLICIT SYSTEM IS ALWAYS WORKING!

Maze evidence for multiple learning systems

A rat is put into a "maze" and the researchers always put the cheese in the same place \-- the rat learns where the food is.

Question: when the cheese is moved

Motor Program

Putting actions/procedures together into a sequence.

What is the Response chaining theory of motor programming and why is it WRONG? (Superior typing skill)

Response chaining theory: response from one movement triggers the next one

Superior typing skills prove this theory wrong. While typing

Current theory of motor program

We have an idea of a larger motor program:
-doesn't require feedback
-fast
-hierarchical
-composed of subprograms

Signature demo

Helps prove that we have abstract programs. Subjects have to sign their name on a paper (normal size

Finger tapping evidence for hierarchical representation

Finger tapping provides evidence for hierarchical representation.

Given a specific sequence of fingers to tap. We do mental chronometry to see which subprograms to use.

When we switch from index to middle finger (or vice versa

More evidence for hierarchical representation (word sequences)

If you have to prepare a longer sequence

Haberlandt reading - Fitt's law

The time required to hit a target is dependent on the size of the target and the distance from the target. A smaller target makes it harder for the user.

Haberlandt reading: Proprioception

The sense of our body movement in position in space

Haberlandt reading: Neural basis of motor control

1) Cerebellum: coordinates motor movements

Haberlandt reading: Parkinson's disease

Motor disorder of central nervous system which leads to movement issues

Haberlandt reading: motor homonculus

A "map" which shows portions of motor cortex devoted to each body region

Haberlandt reading: reaching neurons in the primary cortex

There are groups of neurons which reach in a specific direction. Selectively sensitive to certain directions of reaching.

Haberlandt reading: population coding

A certain group of neurons is activated for a certain object

Haberlandt reading: the speed accuracy tradeoff

We tend to sacrifice accuracy over speed (for movements)

Haberlandt reading: Degrees of freedom problem

Degrees of freedom: the number of distinct ways a movement can be performed.

There are multiple ways for a human to achieve the same movement? How does the brain choose which sequence?

Haberlandt reading: serial order problem

Response to response chaining and hierarchal representations. Argues response chaining is too slow

What is a problem?

A problem consists of some initial state in which a person begins and a goal state that is to be attained

Well structured problem

A well structured problem is completely specified:
-the starting condition is completely specified
-the goal state is completely specified
-the methods are completely specified
ex. geometry proofs

Ill structured problems

The starting conditions

What are the 4 stages in problem solving?

1) Representation
2) Planning
3) Execution
4) Checking

What is the problem space?

The problem space is the space of all possible states and operators

Whats important about the way a problem is represented?

The way you represent a problem can make it easier or more difficult to solve. However

Monk on the mountain problem

A monk goes up a mountain on day 1 and down the mountain after a couple of days... Is there a spot along the path that the monk will occupy on both trips at precisely the same time of day?

This textual representation makes the problem difficult to solve. However

Isomorphic problems

problems that appear different on the surface- in their wording

Removing constraints: Nine dots

Using no more than 4 lines

Use of analogy in problem solving:

The use of analogies in problem solving is important to applying your knowledge

they're actually the same problem but we don't recognize this