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Questions and Answers
What is a morpheme?
What is a morpheme?
What is an example of combining morphemes to create a new word?
What is an example of combining morphemes to create a new word?
What type of mistakes might children make during morpheme acquisition?
What type of mistakes might children make during morpheme acquisition?
In the process of morpheme acquisition, which stage involves the memorization of irregular verbs?
In the process of morpheme acquisition, which stage involves the memorization of irregular verbs?
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How can a change in phonemes affect the meaning of a word?
How can a change in phonemes affect the meaning of a word?
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Which of the following is NOT a method of combining morphemes?
Which of the following is NOT a method of combining morphemes?
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Which combination of morphemes creates an irregular plural?
Which combination of morphemes creates an irregular plural?
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What can result from applying standard grammatical rules to irregular words?
What can result from applying standard grammatical rules to irregular words?
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What happens to an infant's ability to recognize phonemes after about six months?
What happens to an infant's ability to recognize phonemes after about six months?
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Which of the following describes a 'slip of the tongue'?
Which of the following describes a 'slip of the tongue'?
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What characterizes phoneme exchange errors specifically?
What characterizes phoneme exchange errors specifically?
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Why are speech errors considered valuable to psycholinguists?
Why are speech errors considered valuable to psycholinguists?
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What is typically the result of ambiguous sentences in language comprehension?
What is typically the result of ambiguous sentences in language comprehension?
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How do the perceptual magnet effects influence adult phoneme recognition?
How do the perceptual magnet effects influence adult phoneme recognition?
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Which of the following is a characteristic of morpheme exchanges in speech errors?
Which of the following is a characteristic of morpheme exchanges in speech errors?
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What is meant by 'prototypes' in the context of phoneme recognition?
What is meant by 'prototypes' in the context of phoneme recognition?
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What is a characteristic of Broca's aphasia?
What is a characteristic of Broca's aphasia?
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Which definition best describes Wernicke's aphasia?
Which definition best describes Wernicke's aphasia?
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What do morphemes represent in a language?
What do morphemes represent in a language?
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How do Broca's and Wernicke's aphasias illustrate the relationship between grammar and meaning?
How do Broca's and Wernicke's aphasias illustrate the relationship between grammar and meaning?
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Which of the following is considered a morpheme?
Which of the following is considered a morpheme?
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Which of the following statements about grammar frames is true?
Which of the following statements about grammar frames is true?
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What is the more common interpretation of the word 'port' in ambiguous sentences?
What is the more common interpretation of the word 'port' in ambiguous sentences?
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What tool is used to monitor subjects' eye movements in studies of ambiguity?
What tool is used to monitor subjects' eye movements in studies of ambiguity?
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What can be inferred from examples of speech produced by individuals with Wernicke's aphasia?
What can be inferred from examples of speech produced by individuals with Wernicke's aphasia?
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Which of the following examples illustrates a correct grammar frame usage?
Which of the following examples illustrates a correct grammar frame usage?
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Why do readers often look back at the word 'port' in ambiguous sentences?
Why do readers often look back at the word 'port' in ambiguous sentences?
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Which of the following statements about lexical ambiguity is true?
Which of the following statements about lexical ambiguity is true?
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What happens when the sentence about 'served at the dinner party' is read?
What happens when the sentence about 'served at the dinner party' is read?
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How do eye movements contribute to understanding syntactic ambiguity?
How do eye movements contribute to understanding syntactic ambiguity?
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What is meant by the term 'regression' in the context of reading ambiguous texts?
What is meant by the term 'regression' in the context of reading ambiguous texts?
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What is the relationship between word frequency and ambiguity as studied through eye movements?
What is the relationship between word frequency and ambiguity as studied through eye movements?
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What was the main finding of Swinney & Hakes (1976) regarding ambiguous words?
What was the main finding of Swinney & Hakes (1976) regarding ambiguous words?
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In Swinney's 1979 study, what was the purpose of the lexical decision task?
In Swinney's 1979 study, what was the purpose of the lexical decision task?
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What happens approximately 800 milliseconds after encountering the word 'bugs' in the context provided?
What happens approximately 800 milliseconds after encountering the word 'bugs' in the context provided?
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What aspect did Gernsbacher (1993) investigate regarding different readers?
What aspect did Gernsbacher (1993) investigate regarding different readers?
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In Swinney's 1979 study, what was the outcome when the words 'spy' and 'ant' were presented immediately after 'bugs'?
In Swinney's 1979 study, what was the outcome when the words 'spy' and 'ant' were presented immediately after 'bugs'?
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What conclusion can be drawn about poorly performing readers based on Gernsbacher's (1993) findings?
What conclusion can be drawn about poorly performing readers based on Gernsbacher's (1993) findings?
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What was the primary goal of Swinney's 1979 lexical decision task?
What was the primary goal of Swinney's 1979 lexical decision task?
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What does the study by Swinney & Hakes (1976) primarily suggest about ambiguous words?
What does the study by Swinney & Hakes (1976) primarily suggest about ambiguous words?
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What is the primary issue poor readers face according to the content?
What is the primary issue poor readers face according to the content?
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What happens when context comes after the ambiguous word?
What happens when context comes after the ambiguous word?
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According to the content, why is activating multiple meanings beneficial?
According to the content, why is activating multiple meanings beneficial?
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What factor contributes to a person's ability to read poorly?
What factor contributes to a person's ability to read poorly?
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What relationship does short-term memory (STM) capacity have with poor reading?
What relationship does short-term memory (STM) capacity have with poor reading?
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What is a potential tradeoff mentioned regarding word meaning activation?
What is a potential tradeoff mentioned regarding word meaning activation?
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What is implied about guessing meanings in ambiguous situations?
What is implied about guessing meanings in ambiguous situations?
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How does context influence reading comprehension based on the given information?
How does context influence reading comprehension based on the given information?
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Study Notes
Language
- Language is a collection of symbols and the rules to combine them.
- Language is symbolic; sounds and words are symbols for things in the world.
- Language is structured; rules combine symbols to create meaning for others.
- Language is generative; a limited number of words creates an unlimited number of sentences.
- Association Theory (1957) suggests relying on learned associations between words to create sentences.
- This theory is not sufficient as it does not account for the infinite nature of language or the frequent generation of new sentences.
- Grammar Theory (1957) describes rules that generate grammatically correct sentences.
- Learning a grammar frame makes constructing new sentences easy.
- Broca's Aphasia (1861) is the inability to speak in grammatically correct sentences.
- Wernicke's Aphasia (1874) is the inability to speak in meaningful sentences.
- These aphasias stem from damage to distinct brain regions.
- Grammar and meaning are separate language components.
- Morphemes are the smallest units of language having a definable meaning or grammatical function.
- Root words and suffixes are morphemes.
- Morphemes allow us to create new words by modifying or adding meaning.
Morpheme Acquisition
- Grammatical rules govern combining morphemes to form words.
- Word pluralization or past tense formation can occur without explicit instruction.
- Some rules (adding "s" for plural) are simple; others (contractions) are more complex.
- Children sometimes make mistakes, applying rules to irregular words.
Three Stages of Morpheme Acquisition
- No combination of morphemes; root words strung together (e.g., Glass break).
- Memorization of irregular verbs (e.g., The glass broke).
- Learning grammatical rules (e.g., The glass was broken).
Phonemes
- Phonemes are the basic sounds of a language.
- Morphemes and words are built from phonemes.
- Changing one phoneme can change the word's meaning (e.g., "bit" vs. "pit," "bit" vs. "bat").
- A phoneme is not inherently meaningful; a morpheme is.
- English has 37 phonemes.
- There are 24 corresponding to consonant sounds.
- There are 13 corresponding to vowel sounds.
Phoneme Recognition
- Visual and auditory object recognition are similar in that noisy inputs are problematic.
- Context aids in phoneme recognition.
- Warren (1970) experimented on listeners, erasing phonemes within sentences.
- Listeners often perceive a missing phoneme.
- Adults have impaired ability to recognize phonemes not present in their native language. This limits their learning ability in other languages.
- The "perceptual magnet" (Kuhl, 2000) describes acquired prototypes aiding in the recognition of native phonemes.
Speech Errors
- "Slips of the tongue" occur within a given level of language.
- Errors are either between words, morphemes, or phonemes.
Three Types of Exchange Errors
- Word Exchanges
- Morpheme Exchanges
- Phoneme Exchanges
Language Comprehension
- Comprehension is making sense of the words read or heard.
- Ambiguous sentences can impede comprehension.
- Ambiguous words, clauses, or sentences can have various meanings.
- Swinney & Hakes (1976) examined how context affects ambiguous words.
- Readers initially process multiple meanings and then filter based on context.
- Poor readers may have difficulty suppressing inappropriate word meanings.
Levels of Ambiguity
- Phonemic Ambiguity: Different words/phrases sound the same
- Lexical Ambiguity: Words have multiple meanings
- Syntactic Ambiguity: Ambiguity regarding a word’s function in a sentence
- Pragmatic Ambiguity: Sentences interpreted through context
Swinney & Hakes (1976)
- Studied how context alters comprehension of ambiguous words.
- Developed a method exposing subjects to varied passages and having them indicate a particular phoneme.
- Studied the effect of context on resolving lexical ambiguities..
Swinney (1979)
- Studied whether context prevents premature activation of multiple meanings.
- Determined that both meanings of an ambiguous word may be activated briefly but are filtered by context.
Gernsbacher (1993)
- Found that poor readers have difficulty suppressing inappropriate word meanings when encountering ambiguous words.
Language System
- Multiple word meanings can cause confusion. Context helps clarify meaning.
- Context can occur before or after the ambiguous word.
Repair Processes
- Repair occurs when a listener needs to refocus on meaning while hearing/reading.
Miyake, Just, & Carpenter (1994)
- Examined why some readers are better than others.
- Suggested a smaller short-term memory capacity affecting the capacity to resolve ambiguity.
Ambiguities and Word Frequency
- Word frequency affects the speed at which we process ambiguous words.
- When no context is available, we tend to guess the meanings of ambiguous words, favoring the more frequent use of the word.
Eye Movements and Ambiguities
- Eye tracking devices (eye trackers) are used to trace eye movements in response to sentences.
- Regressions, revisits to previously read words, often indicate repair attempts in response to ambiguities or errors.
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