Lexical interface 5 Nov 1, 2017 – DAY 27 Brain & Language LING 4110-4890-5110-7960 NSCI 4110-4891-6110 Harry Howard Tulane University

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Course organization http://www.tulane.edu/~h0Ward/BrLg/ Fun with https://www.facebook.com/BrLg17/

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Quiz stats P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7 P8 P9 P10 P11 tot MIN 4 5 6 AVG 7.7 8.2 8.4 9.1 9.0 8.8 MAX 10

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University The lexical interface 4

Review of prototype theory 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Review of prototype theory meronomy or partonomy hand | finger fingernail typology animal | bird sparrow basic level or prototype: it has special properties that the others lack. ⇒

Dual pathways in vision 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Dual pathways in vision https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-streams_hypothesis#/media/File:Ventral-dorsal_streams.svg

The what / ventral pathway (Palmeri & Gauthier 2004) 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University The what / ventral pathway (Palmeri & Gauthier 2004)

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Lexical semantics 5

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Test by word grouping Group two of these words together (silently!):

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Results

Test by semantic priming 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Test by semantic priming LHD preserves RHD preserves Summation priming: shuttle, ground, space > launch Direct priming: cut > scissors

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Other RH deficits Naming category but not function hat > pants (category: clothing) wool *> suit (function: material) Naming pictures of collective nouns plane, car, truck, train = * Naming goal-oriented categories things you take on a camping trip = few (wrt NBD & LHD)

Time course of retrieval of meaning of ambiguous words 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Time course of retrieval of meaning of ambiguous words Lexical decision priming experiment: Use an ambiguous word as the prime (such as BANK) and display one of its meanings as the probe (MONEY or RIVER) to the right or left visual hemifield: With a very short amount of time to process the prime word (35 ms): LH shows priming for both dominant (MONEY) and subordinate (RIVER) meanings. RH takes more time to activate both meanings (by at least 300 ms). At a longer duration (750 ms): LH shows no facilitation for the subordinate meaning. RH shows sustained facilitation for both meanings.

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Conclusion Burgess and Simpson (1988) hypothesized that this difference between short and long duration of inter-stimulus interval (ISI) may be advantageous for the disambiguation of ambiguous words during normal sentence processing: In normal circumstances, the LH quickly selects an appropriate meaning and deactivates all inappropriate meanings of the word. However, in sentences where the LH makes an error in its selection, the role of the RH may be to supply the alternative meaning.

Two types of semantic processing 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Two types of semantic processing Convergent semantic processing Divergent semantic processing … in linguistic tasks which elicit a limited number of responses. In such tasks, subjects must suppress alternate meanings or select a single best item from many choices. For instance, a subject may be presented with a noun such as ‘hammer’ and be asked to supply a verb, giving the response ‘(to) pound’. … in linguistic tasks which elicit a wide number of responses. In such tasks, subjects must produce alternate meanings or list as many items as possible. For instance, the experiment just mentioned can be continued by asking the subject to supply yet another verb, resulting in a response such as ‘(to) throw’.

Message-level information 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Message-level information Size of priming unit: 6 word sentence > 3 word phrase > 1 word > no prime: LH priming increases incrementally with the number of words. RH shows equal priming. Priming with scrambled vs. syntactically correct sentences: LH shows greater priming from structured sentences. Priming with congruous ('The patient swallowed the medicine') vs. incongruous sentences ('The patient parked the medicine'): LH shows greater priming from the congruent sentence.

Conclusions for message-level info 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Conclusions for message-level info LH can take advantage of message-level information in a sentence: previous context structure congruity RH processes only at the level of intralexical associations, independently of message-level information. (Faust et al.)

Summary of lateralization of word semantics 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Summary of lateralization of word semantics LH RH Quickly selects most familiar or dominant meaning (convergent processing) while suppressing other less closely related meanings. Primes words that share many semantic features > closely associated words. Primes the most frequent meaning of an ambiguous word. Primes function, collectives, goal-oriented classes. Priming is faster with more words. Priming is slower for unstructured sentences. Priming is slower for incongruent sentences. Slowly selects multiple meanings (divergent processing) that are weakly associated. Primes words that share few semantic features > loosely associated words. Primes the less frequent meaning of an ambiguous word. Primes category, but not others. Priming stays same with more words. Priming is same for unstructured sentences. Priming is same for incongruent sentences.

Associations for “pig” in LH/RH terms 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Associations for “pig” in LH/RH terms

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University Final project Improve a Wikipedia article about any of the topics mentioned in class or any other topic broadly related to neurolinguistics. Write a short essay explaining what you did and why you did it. Print the article before you improve it, highlighting any subtractions. Print the article after you improve it, highlighting your additions.

Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University 01-Nov-17 Brain & Language - Harry Howard - Tulane University NEXT TIME Move to morphology/syntax