psycholinguistics 10/12/04

Dr. Jenny Kuo 1

Psychol ogi cal Mechani sms
The informat ion processing syst em
Cent ral issues in language processing
Development of t he processing syst em
A gener al model of
i nf or mat i on pr ocessi ng
Sensor y st or e
rich in informat ion
short in life (visual 1s; audit ory 4s)
1 4 1 4 9 6 8 3 2 0 9 0 2 9 9 4 0
Wor ki ng ( shor t t er m)
memor y
Small processing capacit y
Chunking
Relat ively short life (maybe up t o 30
minut es)
Per manent ( l ong t er m)
memor y
Episodic memory: memory of specific
event s, linked t o a t ime and a place
Semant ic memory: knowledge not
linked t o a t ime and a place
psycholinguistics 10/12/04
Dr. Jenny Kuo 2
Language pr ocessi ng
WORKI NG MEMORY
st ore in t he audit ory sensory st ore for
2-4 seconds.
Pat t ern recogni t i on
Organize sounds syllables
words constituents
PERMANENT MEMORY
Semant ic memory
Episodic memory
Ser i al and par al l el pr ocessi ng
Serial processinga group of processes
t akes place one at a t ime
Parallel processingt wo or mor e of t he
processes t ake place simult aneously
Parallel dist ribut ed processing ( PDP)
simult aneously process a large amount of
inf ormat ion
Top-down and Bot t om-up
Pr ocesses
Bottom-up processingproceeds from
t he lowest level t o t he highest level
Top-down processinginformat ion at
t he highest levels may influence
processing at t he lower levels
Aut omat i c and cont r ol l ed
pr ocesses
AUTOMATI C PROCESS
Do not require much
processing capacity
Unrelat ed t o t he age of
the individual and the
st rat egy employed
Biologically built or
consequence of
pract ice
CONTROLLED PROCESS
Require extra processing
resources
more sensit ive t o
development and strategy
effects
Modul ar i t y
I ndependence of t he language
processing syst em, t aken as a whole,
from t he general cognit ive syst em
Linguist ic subsyst ems, such as
semant ics and synt ax operat e
independent ly rat her t han
int eract ively.
psycholinguistics 10/12/04
Dr. Jenny Kuo 3
Def i ni ng pr oper t i es
( Fodor 1983)
Aut omat ic: f ast , comput at ionally ef f icient ,
obligat ory
Domain-specif ic: only deal wit h one kind of
inf ormat ion
I nformat ionally encapsulat ed: t here are only
very limit ed ways of get t ing inf ormat ion int o
and out of each module
Neurologically dist inct : a module is realized
in brain by a dist inct neural subnet work
I s l anguage a modul e?
Automatic: native speakers process their language
fast and efficient ly.
Domain- specific: language processors can only
process language, not ot her kinds of sounds or
st ruct ures?
I nformationally encapsulated: beliefs dont affect
language st ruct ure, or vice versa?
Neurologically distinct: there are people who show
double disassociations between language and
int elligence, e.g.,
specific language impairment affects only language,
not other cognitive skills
Williams Syndrome results in mental retardation
while language skills are act ually enhanced.
Exampl es of l anguage
pr ocessi ng
I was afraid of Alis powerful punch,
especially since it had already laid out
many t ougher men who had bragged
t hey could handle t hat much alcohol.
(from Clark & Clark, 1977, p.81)

Devel opment of t he
pr ocessi ng syst em
1. Percept ual processing
I nfant s prefer human faces and
human voices
I nfant s can dist inguish phonet ic
cont rast s in all t he languages of t he
world.
Habituation / dishabit uat ion
Wor ki ng memor y
There is no subst ant ial increase in
overall working memory capacit y wit h
development at least from 6 years t o
adult hood.
Sensor i mot or devel opment
Obj ect permanence (18- 24months)
4 mont hs or younger out of sight , out of mind.
8 mont hs search for obj ect s part ially covered.
Pret end play: use an obj ect in playful and
unconventional manner.
Deferred imitation: imitate a behavior seen
somet ime before.
Transit ion from sensorimotor to preoperational period