Language and Cognition语言与认知

2.2 Language Comprehension
Decoding process
Word recognition


Word recognition is the initial and basic stage of text comprehension. Word determines the sentence meaning and structure. We recognized the ambiguous meaning of a word by its environments. Also we presume a sentence structure by a word. E.g. when we see arrive, we know it does not precede a noun directly. And when we see “放”，we know a noun or preposition phrase will follow. That is to say, we have a presumed meaning and structure at the sight of a word.
(3) Three-word stage


Give doggie paper.
Put truck window. Tractor go floor.
(4) Fluent grammatical conversation stage

Embed one constituent inside another
Access to words


The next step is to select a word that corresponds to the chosen concept. The speaker selects a syntactic word unit which specifies the syntactic class and additional syntactic information (such as vi. /vt.). Selecting a syntactic word unit is a competitive process. Several units may be activated at once because several concepts are more or less suitable to express the message.

E.g. the will be followed by a noun phrase, or a possessive phrase modifying the subject. But people usually assume the simplest one.

The second wife will claim the inheritance belongs to her.
several separate but simultaneous processes
when we try to understand language.



Structural factors in comprehension Minimal attachment theory:（最小配属理论） structural simplicity guides all initial analyses in sentence comprehension. People initially construct the simplest syntactic structure when interpreting a sentence. It would be inefficient for people to assume all the possible structures of a word after they see or hear it.
Race model （竞争模型）:
Pre-lexical route（前词路径）: computes phonological information from the acoustic signal. e.g. stove [stəuv] Lexical route（词汇路径）: the phonological information associated with a word becomes available when the word itself is accessed. e.g. love
2. Psycholinguistics



The study of psychological aspects of language. Psychological states and mental activity with the use of language. Language acquisition, language production & comprehension.
Give doggie paper. Give big doggie paper.

Use more function words. A full range of sentence types: questions, relative clauses, negations, conjunctions, and passives.
Six subjects of research


Language acquisition (First and Second)
Language comprehension


Language production
Disorders
Language and Thought
Neurocognition
E.g. Fat people eat accumulates. I have forgotten the event happened at that time. The cotton clothing is usually made of grows in Mississippi.

Comprehension of text
GARDEN PATH sentences

Garden path sentences refer to the sentences that are initially interpreted with a different structure than they actually have.
2.3 Language Production
Encoding process
Access to words


Words are planned in several processing steps. Each step generates a specific type of representation, and information is transmitted between representations via the spreading of activation. The first step, called conceptualization, is deciding what notion to express. For instance, a speaker can say “a baby”, “Her grandson”, or simply “he” to refer to a small person.
2.1 Language acquisition

Language acquisition refers to children’s acquisition of his mother tongue, that is, how children come to understand and to speak the language of his community.
Word recognition
Cohort model (集群模型) by Marslen-Wilson & Welsh: the first few phonemes of a spoken word activate a set or cohort of word candidates that are consistent with the input. One evidence for cohort theory is that a word without the initial letter is more difficult to recognize than one without the final letter. Interactive model (交互模型): Higher processing levels have a direct, top-down influence on lower levels. Lexical knowledge can affect the perception of phonemes.
(1) Holophrastic stage
Holophrase: single-word sentences 表句词,整句字

One-word stage: objects, actions, motions, routines. e.g. eye, bottle, car, eat, go, yes.



The formal approach: structural patterns, including the study of morphological, syntactic, and lexical structure. The psychological approach: language from the view of general systems ranging from perception, memory, attention, and reasoning. The conceptual approach: how language structures/processes conceptual content.


Resonance model (共振模型):
information in long-term memory is automatically
activated by the presence of material that apparently
bears a rough semantic relation to it.
Chapter Six Language and Cognition1. ຫໍສະໝຸດ hat is Cognition?

Mental processes, information processing
Mental process or faculty of knowing, including awareness, perception, reasoning, and judgment.


Parallel model:（并行模型）
The comprehension is sensitive to a vast range of information, including grammatical,
lexical, and contextual knowledge. We use
(2) Two-word stage



Children announce when objects appear, disappear: Papa away. Point out properties, owners: All dry. / our car Comment: All messy. Reject and request: More cereal.
Comprehension of sentences


Serial model:（串行模型）
The sentence comprehension system continually and sequentially follows the constraints of a language’s grammar with remarkable speed.