Lexical Semantic Representations

Connectionist Account of Lexical Semantic Representations

Definition of Lexical

  • Word conveying a single meaning (e.g., "cat" only refers to the animal).

Information Storage and Links

  • Phonological, lexical, and semantic information linked in a distributed network.

Example: The Word "Pig"

  1. Visual Representation: Shape & color.

  2. Thematic Associates: Pigs rolling in mud.

  3. Actions: Animals’ causes (e.g., rolling).

  4. Tactile Experience: Perception of weight & texture.

  5. Phonemes: Word form (/p/, /i/, /g/).

Comparison with the Word "Dog"

  • Differentiation based on experience; misnaming likely for children with lesser experience.

Naming Errors

Types of Errors

  1. Overextension: Applying a word too broadly (e.g., calling all four-legged animals “dog”).

  2. Underextension: Applying a word too narrowly (e.g., only referring to their family dog as “dog”).

Reasons for Errors

Traditional Theories

  1. Semantic Feature Hypothesis: Classifying objects by perceptual features (e.g., shape).

  2. Functional Core Hypothesis: Based on actions or functions performed on objects.

Errors in Word Retrieval

  • Reflects organization of knowledge in memory:

    • Children acquire basic-level terms first, then superordinate, followed by subordinate terms.

Types of Word Retrieval Errors

  1. Phonological Errors: (e.g., chicken instead of kitchen).

  2. Semantic Errors: (e.g., key for door).

  3. Phonologically & Semantically Related Errors: (e.g., elevator for escalator).

  4. Indeterminate Response: (e.g., saying “I don’t know”).

  5. Perseverative Response: Repeating the same term for different objects.

  6. Visual Misperception: (e.g., lollipop for balloon).

Most Common Errors

  • Semantic and indeterminate errors predominate due to weak or missing semantic information.