Cognitive Processes PSY 334 Chapter 11 – Language Structure

Behaviorist Approaches Watson – utterances are learned behaviors reinforced by environment. Thinking is just subvocal speech or other body movement. Smith et al. used curare to inhibit muscle movements and still were able to think. Evidence that thought is more than language comes from memory studies. Animals are able to think.

Whorfian Hypothesis Linguistic determinism – the claim that language strongly determines thought or perceptions of the world. Do eskimos have more words for snow? Do they perceive snow differently because of it? Rosch’s study of Dani color cognition: Focal vs non-focal colors.

Navajo-Speaking Children Compared Navajo-speaking children with English-speaking Navajo children. Yellow stick, blue rope, yellow rope. Different verb form used for rigid items compared to flexible ones. Navajo-speakers preferred form to color. English-speaking children from Boston preferred form to color Evidence does not support Whorf’s idea.

Language and Thought Developmentally and evolutionarily, thought occurs before language. Language depends on thought, not vice versa. Language is shaped to fit the thoughts it must communicate. Propositions are reflected in phrases. Colors determined by visual system. Subject always precedes object in sentence.

Modularity Position Chomsky, Fodor propose that language and thought are independent of each other. Separate linguistic module processes language – encapsulated. Is language acquired using special processes? Does language work without using general cognitive processes?

Language Acquisition By age 10 children learn all major rules of a natural language, implicitly. Children learn in the same manner all over the world: From birth – increasing vocalizations. 6 mo – babbling – sounds with intonation. 1 yr – first one-word utterances (concrete). 1-1/2 to 2 yrs – two-word utterances, telegraphic speech (no function words).

Language Acquisition (Cont.) Children start out speaking all kinds of utterances imperfectly: Do not distinguish singular and plural. Later, add s to everything, without recognizing irregular forms (foot, feet). Difficulties with transformational word order Difficulty comprehending some forms (John promised Bill to leave.) By 6 yrs, 10,000 words, many special cases.

Irregular Past Tenses Does a child learn a past tense rule or are the past and present tenses learned as an association (kick, kicked)? Sequence of learning answers this question: First, use irregular correctly – sang. Second, over-generalize rule – singed. Third, learn irregular form as an exception and use it correctly again – sang.

Connectionist Models Rumelhart & McClelland used a PDP model to produce this developmental sequence using associations not rules. Pinker’s criticism: Too many irregulars needed during training Production of “membled” for “mailed.” The way a past tense is formed depends on its meaning, not just its base word – ring/rang vs ring/ringed.

Neural Evidence Studying language acquisition may not settle the question. Some people with aphasias are impaired forming irregular past tenses, others regular past tenses (Broca’s area). PET imaging shows activity in Broca’s area only when processing regular past tenses. Only regular verbs may be rule-based.

Language is Not Taught Children are not directly taught language No feedback about their errors. Learning is inductive – infer acceptable utterances from experience. How do they avoid being misled by wrong sentences they hear? Motherese use is uncorrelated with language development. Language develops under adversity too.

Critical Period Do young children learn a second language faster? Controlling for amounts and types of exposure and motivation, older children (11+) learn faster than younger ones. However, mastery of the fine points, speaking without an accent, depends on learning at a younger age. It is better to learn a language before 10.

Language Universals Chomsky – special innate mechanisms underlie the acquisition of language. Competence not performance. Study by seeking universals across languages. Universals -- adjectives appear near the nouns they modify. May be based on cognitive constraints not language mechanisms.

Parameter Setting Variability among natural languages can be accounted for by setting about 100 parameters. Language learning consists of acquiring the settings for these parameters. Also, acquiring vocabulary. Pro-drop parameter: I go to the cinema (does not drop pronoun) Voy al cinema esta noche (drops pronoun).