Chapter 9 Psycholinguistics9章心理语言学

1、Chapter 9 PsycholinguisticsWhat do these activities have in common?What kind of process is involved in producing and understanding language? Chapter 9 PsycholinguisticsQuestions What is psycholinguistics? What are the main topics of psycholinguistics?Question 1 What is psycholinguistics?9.1 Introduc

2、tion * Psycholinguistics is the study of the language processing mechanisms. Psycholinguistics deals with the mental processes a person uses in producing and understanding language. It is concerned with the relationship between language and the human mind, for example, how word, sentence, and discou

3、rse meaning are represented and computed in the mind. 9.1 Introduction* As the name suggests, it is a subject which links psychology and linguistics. Psycholinguistics is interdisciplinary in nature and is studied by people in a variety of fields, such as psychology, cognitive science, and linguisti

4、cs. It is an area of study which draws insights from linguistics and psychology and focuses upon the comprehension and production of language. The scope of psycholinguistics The common aim of psycholinguists is to find out the structures and processes which underline a humans ability to speak and un

5、derstand language. Psycholinguists are not necessarily interested in language interaction between people. They are trying above all to probe into what is happening within the individual. The scope of psycholinguistics At its heart, psycholinguistic work consists of two questions. What knowledge of l

6、anguage is needed for us to use language? What processes are involved in the use of language?The “knowledge” question Four broad areas of language knowledge: Semantics deals with the meanings of sentences and words. Syntax involves the grammatical arrangement of words within the sentence. Phonology

7、concerns the system of sounds in a language. Pragmatics entails the social rules involved in language use. It is not ordinarily productive to ask people explicitly what they know about these aspects of language. We infer linguistic knowledge from observable behavior.The “process” question “ordinary

8、use of language”: e.g. understanding a lecture, reading a book, writing a letter, and holding a conversation, etc. “cognitive processes”: processes like perception, memory and thinking. Although we do few things as often or as easily as speaking and listening, we will find that considerable cognitiv

9、e processing is going on during those activities.What cognitive processes are involved in the ordinary use of language?Two possible directions of study in psycholinguistics Language as a way of explaining psycholinguistic theories and processes: language influences memory, perception, attention and

10、learning. The effects of psychological constraints on the use of language: how memory limitations affect language production and comprehension.Question 2 What are the main topics of psycholinguistics?Topics to be covered include General issues of psycholinguistics: language acquisition (how human be

11、ings learn language) language production (how we create and express meaning through language) language comprehension (how we perceive and understand speech and written language) The relationship between language and thought Psycholinguistics is interested in the acquisition of language: how children

12、 acquire their mother tongue. The study of the acquisition of language by children is often called developmental psycholinguistics.9.2 Language Acquisition9.2 Language Acquisition The psycholinguist Steven Pinker makes a strong case for considering the elements of linguistic knowledge to be innate.

13、This is consistent with the Chomskyan concept of universal grammar: the idea that there is a common underlying structure to every language, the knowledge of which we are born with.Many linguists feel that if we can understand the internal mechanism which enables children to learn language so quickly

14、 we shall have penetrated one of the deepest secrets of the mind. Language acquisition refers to the learning and development of a persons language. The learning of a native or first language is called first language acquisition, and the learning of a second or foreign language is called second lang

15、uage acquisition. Overgeneralization/Overextension(the extension of a rule beyond its proper limits) Undergeneralization/Underextension(a child uses a word in a more limited way than adults do )Two basic notions in first language acquisition It is shown by psycholinguistics that childrens use of lan

16、guage is rule-governed. For example, children frequently say tooths and mouses, instead of teeth and mice, and holded, goed, runned and finded, instead of held, went, ran and found. Can you find more examples of overgeneralizations in your English acquisition?Examples of overgeneralization Overgener

17、alization is a frequent phenomenon in language development. It can be found not only in syntactic usage but also in word meanings. moons: all round objects cars: all vehicles dogs: all four-legged animalsExamples of overgeneralization Most psycholinguists believe that the intonational, gestural, and

18、 contextual clues make it clear that children are using single-word sentences, exactly as adults often do in a conversation. Milk(Do you have any milk?/ Id like some milk.)Examples of overgeneralization Children also undergeneralize. When a child uses a word in a more limited way than adults do (e.g

19、. refusing to call a taxi a car), this phenomenon is called undergeneralization or underextension. Shoes only refers to his mothers shoes. Hat only refers to his own hat.Undergeneralization On some occasions, childrens conceptual categories may actually differ from those adults. On other occasions,

20、they may know perfectly well that a cow is not a dog but not know what it is called. On still other occasions, the childs misuse of words may reflect an attempt at humor.Reasons for overgeneralization and undergeneralizationStages of first language acquisition The prelinguistic stage牙牙學語期 The one-wo

21、rd stage 单词期 The two-word stage兩詞期 The multiword stage多語期The prelinguistic stage牙牙學語期 By the age of six months when they are able to sit up, children are heard producing a number of different vowels and consonants. At the babbling（牙牙學語）stage, the sound and syllables that children utter are as yet me

22、aningless.The one-word stage At some point in the late part of the first year or the early part of the second year. Childrens one-word utterances are also called holophrastic 全句字(以一個字表示整句的意思), because they can be used to express a concept or prediction that would be associated with an entire sentenc

23、e in adult speech.The two-word stage兩詞期 In general, the two-word stage begins roughly in the second half of the childs second year. Childrens two-word utterances can express a certain variety of grammatical relations indicated by word order, i.e. “Baby chair”. The multiword stage多語期 Between two and

24、three years old. When a child starts stringing more than two words together, the utterances may be two, three, four, or five word or longer, e.g. Cathy build house.9.3 Language production 1.The definition of language production 2. Stages of language production Language production Language production

25、 refers to the cognitive processes that convert nonverbal communication intentions into verbal action. Language production involves two simultaneous processes 1) the thought process, which is global and holistic, involving a type of thinking in mentalese (心理语言 ) that is not yet speech. 2) the speech

26、 process, which is serial and linear assemblage of the units of language. (William James 1980) Language production According to Levelt (莱维尔特) (1989), language production contains four stages: 1)conceptualizing 2)formulating 3)articulating 4)self-monitoring First, we must conceptualize what we wish t

27、o communicate; Second, we formulate this thought into a linguistic plan; Third, we execute the plan through the muscles in the speech system; Finally, we monitor our speech, accessing whether it is what we intended to say and whether we said it the way we intended to.Conceptualization Where do ideas

28、 come from? In what form do ideas exist before they are put into words? These are difficult questions to answer, partly because we still dont know enough about how language is produced, partly because they deal with mental abstractions so vague that they elude empirical investigation. As to the seco

29、nd question, psycholinguists generally agree that some form of mentalese exists-a representation system which is different from language.ConceptualizingConceptualzing involves conceiving of an intention, selecting the relevant information to be expressed for the realization of this purpose, ordering

30、 this information for expression, the sum total of these mental activities will be called conceptualizing.According to Levelt, conceptualizing is responsible for generating message. Formulating Formulation refers to converting the thought (which is conceptualized in the first stage) into linguistic

31、plan, to generating a framework on which to hang the units of speech. Formulation is the second stage of speech production. This stage consists of three phases: identifying the meaning selecting a syntactic structure generating an intonation contour.Three phases of formulating 1. identifying the mea

32、ning This framework begins with the thought you want to express and the searches for definition that best match the thought, like consulting a dictionary in reverse-defining the meaning and then finding the word to match it. words meaning Three phases of formulating 2.selecting a syntactic structure

33、 This step involves finding the appropriate syntactic structure, three models could be used. 1) tree diagram 2) semantics-based framework 3) the connectionist model 2.selecting a syntactic structure 1)Similar to use tree diagrams to parse sentences with a phrase structure grammar, here we can use tr

34、ee diagram to generate sentences, starting with a sentence-level representation (S), and flesh out the phrases (NP+VP), then the constituents within phrases (N, V, etc.) e.g. S NP VP det N V NP 2) Semantics-based framework: using not tree diagrams but cases, themes, or roles assigned to the main ver

35、bs and nouns in the sentence. We would find the appropriate nouns and verbs that describe the actions, actors and objects in the conceptualization. For instance, the word “stab” would activate agent, patient, and instrument roles.2.selecting a syntactic structure2. selecting a syntactic structure 3)

36、The connectionist model: a sentence to be spoken would be represented by spreading activation through a network of nodes representing phonological, lexical, and morphological levels. Finding the syntactic frame could be using any of these three models. Three phases of formulating 3 Generating an int

37、onation contour kntu Whether you are going to ask a question or make a statement, and the constituents in the utterance that need to be emphasized or stressed have to be tagged at this point. Here is where we layout the stress pattern in the sentence to be produced. e.g. Mike like baby .(to emphasiz

38、e object ) Mike like baby. (to emphasize subject )Formulation Speech errors are made by speakers unintentionally. In formulating speech, we are often influenced by the sound system of language. The scientific study of speech errors, commonly called slips of the tongue or tongue-slips, can provide us

39、eful clues to the processes of language production.Table: major types of slips of the tongueType Examples Shift Thats so shell be ready in case she decide to hits it (decides to hit it).Exchange Fancy getting your model renosed (getting your nose remodeled).Anticipation Bake my bike (take my bike).p

40、erseverationHe pulled a pantrum (tantrum).Addition I didnt explain this clarefully enough (carefully enough).Deletion Ill just get up and mutter intelligibly (unintenlligibly).Substitution At slow speeds its too light (heavy).Blend That child is looking to be spaddled （spanked/paddled).Articulation

41、Articulation of speech sounds is the third and a very important stages of production. Once we have organized our thoughts into a linguistic plan, this information must be sent from the brain to the muscles in the speech system so that they can then execute the required movements and produce the desi

42、red sounds. We depend on vocal organs to produce speech sounds so as to express ourselves. In the production of speech sounds, the lungs, larynx and lips may work at the same time and thus form co-articulation.Self-regulation Self-regulation is the last stage of speech production. To err is human. S

43、o each person would do some self-correction over and over again while conversing. According to some psycholinguists, errors are committed only by non-native speakers. Native speakers often make “mistakes” and correct themselves immediately. Native speakers often use different ways to edit their ling

44、uistic performance. Speech production or written production is not a one-way linear process; it is a parallel, two-way system involving production and self-regulation in the production.9.4 Language Comprehension Understanding language, like producing it, is such an automatic task that it seems to be

45、 a relatively straightforward process. What is apparent from the vast research into the comprehension of spoken and written language is that people do not process linguistic information in a neat, linear fashion; they do not move smoothly from one linguistic level to another. The research shows that

46、 in most situations, listeners and readers use a great deal of information other than the actual language being produced to help them find the meaning of the linguistic symbols they hear or see.1 Sound Comprehension Sound comprehension is not a passive process. It often depends on the context from w

47、hich listeners expect to hear. People understand the meaning as a whole. They do not listen to each word individually. Distinguishing similar sounds, such as /b/ and /p/, /t/ and /d/ in English, is another type of sound comprehension. People often recognize the differences of sounds based on the len

48、gth of producing time. In a word, the successful comprehension of speech sounds is a combination of the innate ability of humans to distinguish minute differences between speech sounds, and the ability to adjust to the acoustic categories of the language they are exposed to.2 Word Comprehension Word

49、 comprehension is a very complex psycholinguistic process and is much more complex than the processing of speech sounds. That is because there are mountains of words in the vocabulary which not only consist of sounds, but also convey meanings. Psycholinguists use parallel distributed processing (PDP

50、) to explain the complex process of word understanding. PDP is a model of cognition developed from neurology, computer science and psychology. It is a way in which people use several seperate and paralell processes at the same time to understand spoken or written language. For example, understanding

51、 a word involves: remember the word; search the meaning of the word; spell word pronounce the word A PDP model of comprehension can be used to explain lexical access. In our mind we have stored many words, some of which are easily accessible, but some of which are not. As a rule, high-frequency word

52、s are rapidly and frequently activated, and low-frequency words take longer time to be incorporated into a system of understanding. Logogens, or lexical detection devices, are like individual neuros in a gigantic neuronal network. When they are activated, they would co-operate with many other logoge

53、ns to create comprehension. The PDP approach is able to explain tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon. In our daily life many of us have had the experience that we knew the word, but could not access the whole word. For many times, we could not only get part of the words vaguely, such as the beginning

54、or the ending of the words. This is called bathtub effect because when we submerge ourselves in a bathtub, we can only see our head and feet. 3 Sentence comprehension Besides decoding sounds and lexical meanings, comprehension also includes untangling the meaning of sentences. The greatest influence

55、 on sentence comprehension is meaning. There are a few factors influencing the comprehension of sentences. The first is that the ambiguity of word meaning leads to difficulties in sentence understanding. The more complex information the word has, the more difficult the sentence is to understand. Amb

56、iguities Lexical ambiguity bank financial institution where you deposit your money slope of land along a river Ambiguities The act of flying planes can be dangerous. Planes that are flying can be dangerous.e.g. They are playing cards. Those people, they are performing the act of playing cards. Those

57、 cards, they are not greeting cards but playing cards. Lexical ambiguityFlying planes can be dangerous.3 Sentence comprehension The second factor is that the linguistic structure of the sentence affects the processing time. Garden-pathing The horse raced past the barn fell. The evidence examined by

58、the witness was forged. The horse that was raced past the barn fell. These are garden-path sentences: they mislead you part-way through. The ambiguity is between main-verb and reduced relative interpretations of the verb raced, examined. If the sentence structure is what readers or hearers expected

59、to read or hear, the processing time is short, and the sentence is easy to understand. If the sentence structure is not what readers or hearers expect, the comprehension is disrupted and sentence comprehension become slow. This is so-called garden-pathing, a natural comprehension of strategy. In und

60、erstanding sentences, the point is whether readers or hearers choose the right path or wrong path. 4 Text comprehension Text comprehension is the largest unit compared with the comprehension of sounds, words and sentences. According to research on text understanding, people tend to comprehend or mem