Exam 4- PSYC 4041

Describe the cohort model for word recognition. What is the uniqueness point? What else makes a word faster or slower to recognize?

Anterior Temporal Sulcus (aSTS)-important for word recognition

S-Sp-Spee-Speed ( cohort model)

uniqueness point- evidence is consistent with only one word

word frequency makes something faster or slower to recognize. We are bias to common words

Describe the N400 ERP component.

sensitive to meaning based predictions about language

the larger the N400= the wrong word (bananas grow on clocks will have an larger N400 than bananas grow on trees)

What has research on the N400 taught us about the relationship between context and word recognition?

Two theories:

N400 has to “wait” until a word is recongized in order to know it

word recognition and meaning processing can overlap in time if N400 occurs before uniqueness point

study by Van den Brink et al (2001).

Looked at how Word recognition and meaning process overlap in time

gave an sentence and you have to fill in the blank with the right context

the brain is able to realize the wrong context such as putting scholars for dollars before anything else

When using a dictionary or “mental lexicon” as a metaphor for semantic memory, what is the symbol grounding problem?

we define words by using words

so its impossible to define a word without knowing other words in advance (circularity)

Describe the key differences between amodal and grounded/embodied theories of semantics.

amodal- independent of input vs output of modality (mode in which something exist), defining words by words

grounded/embodied- no all concepts are defined by other words but because of our sensory experience

if we think of “garlic”-olfactory areas activate

What types of concepts do grounded/embodied theories have the most trouble explaining?

abstracts (can only explain number and time by processing them spatially)

Emotions (but people argue that we contexuliaze it)

another critics:

believe that amodal concepts are needed to explain concepts that ignore sensory difference (even though an Pittbull and Yorkie are different in height, we know they are dogs)

Describe the hub-and-spoke model of semantic memory organization in the brain.

amodal semantic hub is in the anterior temporal lobe (ventral “what” pathway)

What is semantic dementia? How does it support the hub-and-spoke model?

damage to anterior temporal lobe

loss of concepts and connecting words with their meaning gradually

Describe the sensory-functional approach to explaining category-specific deficits in the brain.

What is the evidence against the sensory-functional approach?

Describe the phenomenon of overgeneral categorization in semantic dementia. How is this consistent with the hub-and-spoke model?

overgeneral categorization- , and forgetting most important parts of an animal (like the hump of a camel)

“spokes” able to make generalization about features

What is parsing?

putting words into sentences

What are garden path sentences?

syntactic reanalysis on encountering unexpected word

What is the P600 ERP component, and how does it differ from the N400?

when we hear words that are ungrammatical and confusing

Describe evidence from ERPs and semantic dementia that the processing of syntax and semantics are partially independent.

How did views about the functional significance of Broca’s area change around the 1970s?

linked to symptoms of agrammatism rather than failure of speech production generally

agrammarism- tendency to produce speech mostly using content words with few function words

In particular, be familiar with Caramazza & Zurif’s 1976 study of sentence comprehension in patients with Broca’s aphasia

two pictures and the participant had to point to the one that showed the correct interpretation

showed that impairment in comprehension as well as production but only when syntax is crucial

Describe the recently-proposed distinction between the functions of the anterior and posterior sections of Broca’s area.

lexicalization

lemma

lexeme

How does the lemma-lexeme distinction help account for “tip-of-the-tongue” experiences?

What type of speech errors provide the strongest evidence that the lexeme retrieval can begin before lemma retrieval is complete?

Compare to the last word of the sentence “Banana grow on trees” what would make a big N400

Bananas grow on clocks and bushes bc that isn’t what it grows on

Compared to the last word of the setence, “he enjoyed dipping oreos in a glass of cactus”, the setence “he enjoyed dipping oreos in a glass of mildew” would elicit

a later N400

a earlier N400

a larger N400

an identical N400

mildew sounds closer to milk than cactus

What does it mean to say that reading and writing are cultural inventions?

What is a grapheme?

the smallest meaningful unit of written language

How do graphemes differ across alphabetic, syllabic, and logographic systems of writing?

Alphabet has letters

Syllabic have symbols that denote syllables

Logographic a one word one symbol principle

What makes a writing system more transparent vs more opaque?

opaque-irregular phoneme, graphme (home,comb, roam)

transparent- reliable mapping of spelling to sounds

basically how you can sound something out

What is a lexical decision task?

Describe evidence from lexical decision that individual words are processed in parallel rather than serially

Describe the word superiority effect. What does this phenomenon tell us about the relationship between word and letter recognition in the mind?

Describe the location and characteristics of the visual word form area.

What is pure alexia, and how does it impact reading? What type of brain damage causes it?

What is the difference between peripheral dyslexia and central dyslexia?

Describe the dual-route model for reading visual words aloud. Compare and contrast the phonological and semantic routes.

Which of the two routes is necessary to read non-words or pseudowords? Which is necessary to read opaque words?

Compare and contrast the following types of central dyslexia: surface dyslexia, phonological dyslexia, and deep dyslexia. What types of reading errors are characteristic of each type, and which of route(s) are affected within the dual-route model? Which type is associated with semantic dementia?

Describe the roles of the anterior temporal lobe, the VWFA, the angular/supramarginal gyrus, and Broca’s area in reading aloud.

In what ways does the dual-route model generalize to languages other than English?

Which of these processes has not be linked to Broca’s area:

processing syntax

holding information in working memory

planning for speech production

storing amodal conecpt’s

storing amodal is anterior temporal

Which of these is considered a grapheme (smallest unit that can change written speech) in English?

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