Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
PSYCHOLINGUISTICS - Coggle Diagram
PSYCHOLINGUISTICS
"Learning the meaning of words"
Children have to learn not only the syntax and sounds of their language, but also the meaning of words. This turns out to be more complicated than some people suppose.
For a start, it probably takes some time for children to discover that words can refer to separate things.
At first, they probably think that a word such as milk refers to a whole generalized ritual, something uttered as a mug is placed in front of them.
Later, they discover that words have meanings which can be applied to individual objects and actions.
"Recognizing words"
it is physically impossible to recognize each separate sound, speech is just too fast. Understanding language is an active,not a passive process.
The human mind, it appears, prefers the second method, that of parallel processing, so much so that even unlikely possibilities are probably considered subconsciously.
The mind is an enormously powerful network in which any word which at all resembles the one heard is automatically activated, and that each of these triggers its own neighbours, so that
activation gradually spreads like ripples on a pond.
"Psycholinguistics evidence"
From two main sources :
- observation of spontaneous utterances
- psycholinguistics experiments
-
Which deviate from the norm in some way are the most informative. However, ordinary speech is somewhat messy, in that there are dozens of different factors which have to be taken into account when utterances are analyzed.
-
Devise experiments in which the number of variable factors can be controlled, and the result can be accurately measured.
"The rule-governed nature of child language"
Every child at every stage possesses a grammar with rules of its own even though the system will be simpler than that of an adult.
For example :
- When children first use negatives, they normally use a simple rule put "no" or "not" in front of the sentence.
"Acquiring language"
It used to be thought that animal behaviour could be divided into two types :
- Which was inborn and natural (ex, dogs naturally bark)
- Which was learned and unnatural (ex, dogs may be taught to beg).
Both nature and nurture are important. Innate potentialities lay down the framework, there is wide variation depending on the environment.
"The content-process controversy"
Children who couldn't possibly be acquainted go through similar stages in their development, and also make similar mistakes.
The implications of this coincidence are hotly disputed.
"Understanding syntax"
The process is similar to word recognition, in that people look for outline clues, and then actively reconstruct the probable message from them.
"Speech production"
Speech production involves at least two types of process. On the one hand, words have to be selected. On the other, they have to be integrated into the syntax.