Language and Imagery

Describe the different levels in the units of language hierarchy.

For example, what are phonemes, and what are morphemes?

What are we talking about when we describe phonotactic legality in a language?

• Levels in the language hierarchy typically include

  • phonemes (the smallest sound units),

  • morphemes (the smallest meaningful units),

  • words,

  • phrases, and

  • sentences.

• Phonotactic legality refers to the permissible arrangements of phonemes in a given language.

You take a trip to Mexico with your friend for spring break. You do not speak any Spanish, but your friend has taken 3 semesters. While out one night, you comment that everyone in Mexico speaks so quickly, but your friend disagrees.

Considering the fact that you both hear the same individuals talking, why do you perceive the speech so differently?

What factors contribute to your friend’s perception and to your perception?

Differences in perception of speech can arise from various factors, including familiarity with the language, individual cognitive processing abilities, and contextual cues.

Your friend's experience with Spanish allows them to parse and understand the rapid speech more effectively, while your lack of familiarity may cause you to perceive it as fast and difficult to follow.

Other factors include exposure to different dialects, one's adaptability to new linguistic environments, and the influence of social context.

What is Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasia?

Broca's aphasia is characterized by difficulty in speech production and finding words, often resulting in non-fluent, labored speech, while comprehension usually remains relatively intact.

Wernicke's aphasia, on the other hand, involves fluent but nonsensical speech with significant difficulty in understanding language.

Describe a chronometric study of imagery.

What’s the task and the empirical finding?

A chronometric study of imagery involves measuring the time it takes for individuals to respond to verbal or visual stimuli related to mental images.

The empirical finding often demonstrates that tasks requiring mental rotation of imagery take longer with greater degrees of rotation.

What are two examples of connections that psychologists have discovered between visual imagery and visual perception?

Two examples of connections include the finding that visual imagery activates similar brain regions as actual visual perception, and studies showing that people's mental images can influence their perception of real objects.

What is the mental rotation study?

The mental rotation study is an experiment that measures how quickly individuals can rotate mental images of objects in their mind. It demonstrates that the time taken to rotate these images is proportional to the angle of rotation, indicating a close relationship between visual imagery and spatial cognition.

What is the separability of visual imagery and spatial imagery?

The separability of visual imagery and spatial imagery refers to the distinction between the ability to create mental visual representations of objects and the ability to manipulate those representations in space. Research suggests that while they are related, they can be independent cognitive processes.

What is the linguistic relativity hypothesis and does language strongly limits cognition?

The linguistic relativity hypothesis, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, suggests that the structure and vocabulary of a language influence the way its speakers perceive and think about the world.

This hypothesis posits that language can shape cognitive processes, but the extent to which it limits cognition is still debated among linguists and cognitive scientists.