Introduction to Psychology of Language

The time it takes for someone to press a button after reading a word or phrase, revealing how long it takes to process the information.

This term refers to a region in a sentence that clarifies ambiguity, helping the reader understand the meaning.

A device that tracks eye movements, revealing information about reading patterns and comprehension.

The range of characters we can see at any given time while reading.

A technique that involves listening to spoken instructions or descriptions while viewing objects, revealing how we make predictions during language comprehension.

The process of taking information from the environment (like sounds) and understanding it. It involves breaking down the information into smaller parts (like sounds and words) and then making sense of it by relating it to what we already know.

The process of creating and expressing language. It involves planning what to say, choosing the right words, and then speaking or writing it out.

The mental representation of the message we want to convey. It includes the ideas, thoughts, and emotions that we want to share.

The part of the brain responsible for putting together the words and sentences we want to say. It makes sure the grammar is correct and the message makes sense.

The part of the brain that determines how the words we want to say will sound. It converts the words into the sounds we make.

The part of the brain that controls the muscles involved in speaking, allowing us to produce the sounds we want to make.

The process of receiving and making sense of information from the environment, which is often processed in a linear order (one step after another).

A task where participants recall as many words as possible from a previously learned set.

A type of word recall where participants are given no cues or hints.

A type of word recall where participants are given cues or hints to help them remember.

A task where participants decide if a presented item is a real word or not.

A type of lexical decision where the stimulus is presented in printed form.

A type of lexical decision where the stimulus is presented in spoken form.

The number of similar-looking words in a language. A higher density means slower reaction times.

The ease of creating a mental image of a word. Words that are easier to visualize are processed faster.

The regularity of a word's spelling. More regular spellings are processed faster.

A technique where a target word is gradually revealed by removing a mask that covers it. This helps measure how quickly participants identify the word.

Different sounds that represent the same phoneme. For example, the aspirated /p/ in 'pat' and the unaspirated /p/ in 'spot' are allophones of the same phoneme.

The smallest unit of sound that can change the meaning of a word. For example, /b/ and /p/ are phonemes in English because they distinguish words like 'bad' and 'pad'.

A unit of pronunciation that consists of a vowel sound and any surrounding consonants. Syllables can be single sounds (like the vowel /a/) or combinations of sounds (like /baed/).

The part of a syllable that comes before the vowel. In the syllable /baed/, the onset is /b/.

The part of a syllable that comes after the vowel. In the syllable /baed/, the coda is /d/.

The core of a syllable, usually a vowel. In the syllable /baed/, the nucleus is /ae/.

The collection of all words a person knows, including their pronunciations, meanings, and grammatical functions.

The study of the structure of words, including how they are formed and how they relate to other words.

The study of how words are organized into sentences and how those sentences convey meaning.

A cognitive task where participants are presented with words and non-words and asked to decide as quickly as possible if each stimulus is a real word.

The study of how the mental lexicon is structured and organized, including how it changes with age, in bilinguals, and other factors.

The process of translating written words into their spoken form.

Pronounceable letter strings that are not actual words. Example: 'breat'

A method used to analyze speech recordings to pinpoint the exact moment a participant begins saying a word.

A pathway in the brain that uses stored knowledge of a word's pronunciation directly from the mental lexicon, bypassing the need for individual letter-to-sound conversion.

A pathway in the brain that converts individual letters of a word into corresponding sounds (graphemes to phonemes), assembling them into a pronounceable word.

The process of converting a written letter into its corresponding sound.

A cognitive task where participants are presented with pictures and asked to name the objects they depict as quickly as possible.