Cognitive Psychology Fifth Edition Robert J Sternberg Chapter

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9: Language: Nature and Acquisition

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Psycholinguistics • The study of acquisition, storage, comprehension, and production of language

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Language • Organized way to combine words to communicate • Language is unique to humans • A communication system that is learned instead of biologically inherited

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Four Areas in Psycholinguistics • Linguistics – Emphasis on universals of language • Neurolinguistics – Emphasis on brain changes during language use • Sociolinguistics – Emphasis on relationship between language and society • Computational linguistics – Emphasis on computer models of natural language

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Properties of Language • Communicative • Arbitrarily symbolic • Regularly structured • Structured at multiple levels • Generative • Dynamic

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Communicative Property • Language is used to communicate • Communication has meaning • Individuals can send and receive information

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Arbitrarily Symbolic • No connection between symbol and concept • Words do not have to look or sound like what they describe – Principle of conventionality • Meanings of words are determined by conventions – Principle of contrast • Different words have different meanings

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Generative Property of Language • Using rules of language can create an unlimited number of new utterances

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Dynamic Nature of Language • Allows for new developments with the creation of new words and ideas – Blog • Online diary meant to be read by others – Spam has a new meaning • Weird meat in a can • Unwanted email – Shut Up! Has new meaning • One meaning is to quit talking • Youth. Speak for “Really? ”

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Structure of Language • Phonology • Morphology • Syntax • Semantics • Pragmatics

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 • Phoneme Phonology – Smallest unit of speech – Sounds of language – /s/ /f/ /t/ /l/ /ae/ represent the sounds common in English – Different languages use different sets of phonemes

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Morphology • Study of word structure • Morpheme – The smallest unit that denotes meaning Root words Prefixes Cake Chair Boy Pre- Non- Un- Suffixes -ly -ist -ness

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Morphology • Content Morphemes – Word that conveys the core of the meaning (e. g. , attractive, happy) • Function Morphemes – Add nuances to core meaning (e. g. , unattractive, happiness) • Lexicon – Entire set of morphemes for a language

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Syntax • Rules used to put words together for a sentence • Sentence = Noun Phrase + Verb Phrase • Noun phrase [NP] – Contains a noun and relevant descriptors • Verb phrase [VP] – Contains at least one verb and possibly objects it acts upon

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Semantics • The study of meaning in a language – To best understand semantics, read the following sentences: The honest umbrella is in the garage. The salty craftsman appreciate the quality of the product. Cindy slept badly due to the sniffing dream. – Knowing that the sentences do not make sense is your knowledge of semantics

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Language Comprehension • Three primary approaches – Speech perception – Grammatical structure approach – Discourse macro-level analysis

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Speech Perception • We hear sounds • Put sounds together to form words • Comprehend the phrases of another’s sentences • Understand the ideas being conveyed • Often done with slurred, accented, or incomplete speech input

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Speech Perception • Coarticulation: Phonemes overlap in time so: – Context can interfere with speech signal – Variability in speech signal – No one-to-one correspondence between the acoustic stimuli and the speech sounds we hear • How do we recognize sounds in a way so a stable set of phonemes is perceived?

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Speech Perception is “Ordinary” • Phonetic refinement theory – Analyze auditory signals – Then go to higher level processing using context to help figure out what is heard

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Phoneme Restoration Effect • Warren & Warren (1970) – It was found that the *eel was on the axle – It was found that the *eel was on the shoe – It was found that the *eel was on the orange – It was found that the *eel was on the table • * was a cough but it was heard as the missing phoneme implied by the context

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Speech Perception is “Special” • Evidence of categorical perception – Continuous dimension perceived as discrete • Sudden break between categories • No discrimination within categories Continuous = Actual sounds Discrete = Actual perception

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Categorical Perception • Voice onset time (VOT) – The time between the beginning of the pronunciation of the word and the onset of the vibration of the vocal chords • "ba" your vocal chords vibrate right from the start • "pa" your vocal chords do not vibrate until after a short delay

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Categorical Perception • The sounds "ba" and "pa" differ on the continuous dimension of VOT • Listeners can differentiate between /p/ and /b/; however, performance in distinguishing between different types of /p/ sounds is difficult • Gives support for idea that specialized processes are being used

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Mc. Gurk Effect • Lip movements to one sound “ba” • Soundtrack indicates “da” • What do you hear? • Mc. Gurk & Mac. Donald (1976) found that people make a comprised sound “tha”

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Semantics • Denotation – Definition of the word • Connotation – Additional nuances of word meaning (emotional, social, cultural) • Consider these examples – Bachelor, Spinster – Hungry, Starving

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Syntax • The grammatical arrangement of words into a sentence or phrase • Descriptive grammar – Describe the structures, functions, and relationships of words in language • Prescriptive grammar – The “Correct” way to structure sentences

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Syntactical Priming • Exposure to a particular syntactic structure leads speakers to reproduce the same structure in subsequent speech • Considered a priming phenomena

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Example of Syntactical Priming • If you just heard – The cat is being chased by the dog. • You are more likely to say: The mouse is being chased by the cat. versus The cat is chasing the dog.

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Other Evidence for Power of Syntax • Speech errors – Switch nouns for nouns – Verbs for verbs – Prepositions for prepositions • Sample Error – The butter drawers are in the knife.

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Phrase Structure Grammar • Psycholinguists use phrase structure rules – PS 1 S (sentence) = NP + VP – PS 2 NP (noun phrase) = det + (adj) + N – PS 3 VP (verb phrase) = V +NP – PS 4 N (noun) = boy, dog, man, book – PS 5 V (verb) = ate, broke, kissed – PS 6 adj (adjective) = quiet, red, happy, wormy – PS 7 det (determiner) = a, the

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Syntax & Tree Diagrams • Tree diagrams are used to reveal relationships between and within phrases – The shy girl hid the broken cup. S NP det The adj N shy girl VP V hid NP det adj N the broken cup

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Create Tree Diagrams • The rude girl pushed the boy. • Wild horses ran the plains. • Sally kissed the crying child.

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Chompsky’s Transformational Grammar • Grammar that explains how the underlying propositions can be rearranged to form multiple phrase structures – Deep Structure • The structure of the sentence that conveys the connections between sentences – Surface Structure • The actual phrase structures that may occur from transformations

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Transformational Grammar • Use phrase-structure rules to generate the underlying tree structure (deep structure) • Apply a sequence of transformational rules to the deep structure to generate the surface structure of the sentence • Transformations occur by adding, deleting, or moving constituents

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Problem with Transformational Grammar • When converting the deep structure to surface structure, the number of transformation rules applied should affect how long it takes to process a sentence • Experiments do not consistently show that this is true

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Lexical Functional Grammar – Thematic • Constituent Structure – Similar to phrase structure • Functional Structure – All the information needed for semantic interpretation (subj, obj, past tense information)

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Lexical Functional Grammar – Thematic • Lexical Entries – The forms of the word and the kinds of sentences into which they fit (Thematic Roles) • Underlying semantic structure for “kiss” – kiss: (agent, patient) • Forms of the word : – kiss: agent = subject: patient = object – (be) kiss: agent=object: patient = subject

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Language Acquisition • Universal Stages – Cooing – Babbling – One-word utterances – Two-word utterances – Basic adult structure

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Cooing • Cooing is universal across countries • Eimas (1985) – Japanese and American Infants – Hear /l/ and /r/ sounds – Can distinguish – At age 1, Japanese children can no longer distinguish (no need to in Japanese language) • Lose ability to distinguish sounds not relevant to our language at about 8 months

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Babbling • Babble in phonemes of surrounding language • Repetition of similar/identical syllables first – Ba ba ba – Ma ma ma • End of stage varied babbling using non -repeated phonemes

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 One-word Utterances • Holophrases – Blankie! Shoe! Book! • Telegraphic (18 -24 mo) 2 word stage • Utterances are determined by semantic, not syntactic concerns - the need to communicate

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Children Speech Errors • Overextension errors • Doggie means all animals • Blankie means all soft things • Underextension errors • Ball is used only when ball is under bed • Kitty refers only to family pet

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Nature Support • Language Acquisition Device – Chompsky • Proposes humans are biologically ready to learn language – Special nature of phoneme processing – Ability to detect syntax

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Nurture Support • Environment is necessary during critical • period of language development Case studies of linguistically isolated children – Genie – American sign language proficiency is influenced by what age language is acquired

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 A Bit of Both Nature and Nurture… • Hypothesis Testing View – Children create hypotheses about patterns based on their inherited skills for language acquisition • Imitation Theory – Children imitate parents – Not sufficient to explain how they learn all nuances

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Animal Language Provides • Simpler models • Fewer ethical constraints than humans • Full time subjects over whom we can exert complete control of environment • Comparative analysis • Differentiate between skills that are uniquely human and those that are not

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Grey Parrots: Irene Pepperberg & Alex • What color is corn? – Alex’s answer yellow • What’s the same? – Alex’s answer color

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Grey Parrots: Irene Pepperberg & Alex • Labels for more than 35 objects (e. g. , paper, key, wood, cork, etc. ) • Functional use of No • Phrases such as I want X, Wanna go Y where X and Y are appropriate words • Labels for 7 colors • Can identify number of items up to 6 • Alex can use vocabulary to identify proficiently, request, refuse, categorize, and quantify more than 100 different objects

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Washoe • Gardners (1966) taught sign language to • • chimpanzee named Washoe Always used sign language in Washoe’s presence Washoe was able to use term more appropriately in different contexts First use was more tickling Transferred the sign dog to the sound of barking by an unseen dog

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Washoe • Bodamer, Fouts, & Jensvold (1994) – Studied private signing by chimpanzees – Found private signing is robust • Gardner & Gardner (1989) – Washoe adopted an infant named Loulis – No humans signed in front of infant chimp – Loulis still managed to learn over 50 signs from other chimpanzees – No active teaching, rather Loulis just learned through observation among other signing chimps

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Nim Chimpsky • Terrace (1979) – Skeptical of the reported success of the chimpanzees like Washoe – Compared their behavior to that of pigeons who are taught to peck different colors in a certain order – Believed that apes only used signs to get rewards from trainers

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Nim Chimpsky • Raised Nim in a human-like setting • Nim learned many words like dirty, sleep, • • bite and angry Nim did not learn to combine words to create new meaning on his own After the experiments were over, and Nim was retired, he continued to sign. His mostused signs seemed to be drink, gum, banana, and more

Cognitive Psychology, Fifth Edition, Robert J. Sternberg Chapter 9 Koko • Patterson raising gorilla named Koko since 1972 • Taught Koko sign language • Has a greater vocabulary than Nim • Uses more words per utterances • Patterson & Linden (1981) • • – Koko uses structure, is creative and spontaneous in her language Koko now has a vocabulary of over 1000 signs, and understands even more spoken English Koko invented her own new compound signs (e. g. , finger-bracelet for ring)