Psychology: Language

  1. syntax
    how words combine to form sentences
  2. morphology
    rules which govern how prefixes, suffixes and compounds may combine
  3. phonology
    • rules that govern how sounds combine
    • ex. new words must have familiar phonemes
  4. What is the WADA test used for?
    to ascertain language dominance
  5. commissurotomy
    • surgical separation of the hemispheres
    • leads to split brain condition
  6. effects of an isolated R hemisphere
    good comprehension, limited production
  7. effects of an isolated L hemisphere
    comprehension and production normal (although often "robotic")
  8. Broca's aphasia
    filled with content words, syntactically poor, but can recognize and comprehend language
  9. Wernickle's aphasia
    fluent speech, well formed sentences, semantically poor
  10. What is flawed about "aphasia"
    all brain damage is unique, much more variety
  11. left hand anomia
    patients have no difficultly naming objects behind a screen placed in R hand, but do have difficulty naming objects in L hand
  12. hemispherectomy
    removal of one hemisphere
  13. compounding
    • joining two separate pieces together 
    • i.e. bookshelf, Cognitive Psychology etc.
  14. 3 aspects to reading
    • letter processing
    • word recognition
    • access to meaning
  15. normalization
    • we can read words which look different
    • we cope with variation in font, color and case
  16. position encoding
    we identify letters in terms of positions in word
  17. are letters processed one at a time or all at a time?
    all at a time
  18. when are letters processed letter by letter?
    only in cases on brain damage
  19. Is just bottom up or bottom up and top down processing used to recognize letters?
    • bottom up and top down
    • word information influences recognition of words, knowledge of words should facilitate processing of letters
  20. frequency effects in word recognition
    more frequently used words are processed more quickly and accurately than less frequent words
  21. how do other words influence our selection of words from long term memory?
    words that are spelled similarly make recognition harder
  22. neighbor density
    number of words similar to another word
  23. high neighbor density leads to
    more difficulty recalling a word (slower reaction times in lexical decision tests)
  24. theory of word theory
    • words are recognized on the basis of information from letters
    • interactive activation model
  25. What does the interactive activation model reveal about word recognition?
    • letters receive top-down activation from words (word superiority effect)
    • similarly spelled words are activated and compete for selection
  26. 4 steps of interactive activation model
    • 1. basic visual features are activated
    • 2. activation spreads to letter nodes
    • 3. activation spreads to word nodes
    • 4. activation spreads back to letter levels
  27. Is determining meaning bottom up only or bottom up and top down?
    • bottom up only (initially)
    • meaning is retrieved solely from letter info; all meanings retrieved
  28. definitional theory of word meaning
    • words are represented in our minds as in dictionaries 
    • each word can be recognized as a bundle of basic concepts
  29. prototype theory of meaning
    • concepts are held together by "family resemblance structure"
    • some items fit the description better than others
  30. prototype
    quintessential theory of concept
  31. folk types
    • why objects are the way they are 
    • ex. a lawn mover couldn't be made out of ice
  32. What is lateralization?
    • language is dominated by the left hemisphere
    • as proved by the WADA test, commissurotomy and hemispherectomy
  33. Results of Onifer & Swinney experiment?
    access to meaning is initially bottom up processing and then it becomes both with more time
  34. How is letter recognition tested?
    With letter detection
  35. How does the word superiority effect apply to letter recognition?
    Letters are easier to detect in words
  36. Is definitional or prototype theory correct?
    Both are incorporated in access to meaning!
Author
alipeace11
ID
242987
Card Set
Psychology: Language
Description
psychology language
Updated