Understanding Language

Language

• Language is the primary communication method for expressing thoughts
• Languages utilize words, symbols, and rules for combining words to ensure understanding
• Grammar dictates the rules for combining words in a language
• The smallest unit of sound in a language is called a phoneme (e.g., ah, ee, oo)
• Most languages have 30-50 phonemes, while English has 40
• A morpheme stands as the smallest unit of language that carries meaning
• Examples of morphemes include prefixes like "un-", suffixes like "-ed", or root words like "dog", "run", and "cat"
• Words consist of one or more morphemes
• Syntax refers to the set of grammatical rules that govern the order and combination of words to form sentences
• A sentence represents a comprehensive unit that expresses a concept or idea
• Semantics encompasses rules governing the meaning of words and sentences
• In 1965, Noam Chomsky suggested sentences have superficial and underlying meanings (subtext)
• Surface structure is the string of words, while deep structure is the underlying meaning
• Abstract mental representation underlies meaning, detected using sensation, perception, and cognition
• People effortlessly detect, recognize, and detail approximately 80% of spoken language
• Speech spectrograms can display sound frequency during speech
• A phoneme's sound can vary based on the phonemes that precede or follow it
• Each person has their own unique way of talking, causing inflections

Understanding Language

• People tend not to pause between words when speaking
• Computers struggle with natural concept recognition, but natural language understanding uses bottom-up and top-down processing with context
• Tone of voice and body language aid in extracting deeper meaning from words
• The same three words can convey different meanings based on tone
• Language development continues throughout childhood and into adulthood
• Usually 13,000 words are known by age 6
• Around 80,000 words are typically known by the end of high school
• Grammar rules, word order, and semantics are also known at the end of high school
• Preschool children pick up new languages more easily than college students
• Shorter words tend to be the most common in every language
• Common words often shorten over time, such as television becoming TV, and compact disc to CD and refrigerator to fridge
• About half of what we say uses 150 words

Language Aquisition

• Infants know no language at birth but have the potential to learn any human language
• Children babble during their first year of life using meaningless sounds that resemble speech
• By one year old, children can understand some words, use gestures, and emote appropriately
• After 1 year to 1.5 years, children begin to start using proper names
• Object labels, like "iPod, dadda, momma," come next chronologically
• Simple object names are learned before general nouns like "doggy" before "animal"
• Between one and two years of age, kids shorten words, like "milk" to "ilk"
• They overextend word usage by calling a horse a dog
• Everything reduces to "dis and dat"
• Reaching age two marks the start of the holophrastic stage (one-word stage)
• Two-word combinations begin during the telegraphic stage around the ages of two to three years
• During this stage, kids try different combinations of words to get what they desire
• Children will begin to use a rising tone to indicate a question
• Then three-word sentences start emerging
• "Ed" and "ing" is often added to words (often overextended)
• By age three, sentences and adjectives are used
• By age five, most of the language's grammar has been acquired

Theories of Language Development

• B F Skinner believed rewards and punishments drive language acquisition through operant conditioning: imitate, model, and shape behavior through operant conditioning
• The problem is parents do not correct language sufficiently
• Operant conditioning cannot explain over-extension of words
• Noam Chomsky theorized a built-in universal grammar
• Theory suggests that a language acquisition box is located in Broca's or Wernicke's area of the brain
• Known as the Nativist Theory of Language Acquisition
• Native language understanding is helped by life experiences
• There is a sensitive period for language aquisition/learning
• Impairment occurs if this window is missed
• The window of opportunity ends by 6-7 years old

The Effects of Language

• Language influences our thought
• Differences in language result in different perceptions of the world
• In 1956, Benjamin Whorf claimed language determines how we think (Linguistic Determinism)
• We daydream less than before due to phone use which impacts cognitive development
• There is a linguistic relativity hypothesis related: language determines how we think
• The Inuit Eskimo have many words for different types of snow, allowing differentiation between various types
• This allows them to have different perceptions of reality
• Does the perception of reality force the language, or does the language cause it?
• Hypothesis was tested where scientists visited the Dani tribe in Africa
• The tribe possesses names for only two colors
• When shown the other colors, the tribesmen could differentiate them but could not name them

The Impact of Languages

• Proves Whorf wrong, because the concept determines the existence of the language
• Direct translation is often impossible because concepts do not coincide across languages
• Hebrew example: "and I shall call him Moses because from the water I took him"
• Language still impacts thinking
• Precise word usage makes things easier to remember
• Bilingual speakers see things from other angles because of their language contrasts
• Some people have different personalities with different languages
• However, some thinking is without any language at all
• Examples include how to turn on cold water, throw a ball, play piano, or solve a Rubik's Cube
• Language is not a prerequisite to thinking
• Animals can't talk because of the shape of their mouths
• God gave humans the capacity of speech

Language and Communication

• Animals communicate and think
• There are different levels of the languages depending on how language it defined
• Monkeys are trained to count, think, and transmit culture
• Certain monkeys eat ants, some will slurp, some will remove the ants with a hand, and others will break nuts using tools
• Honeybees use dance to share nectar locations
• Apes are trained to use american sign language
• They can answer questions and create new words
• Baby chimps learn sign language from other signing chimps

Consciousness

• Consciousness involves awareness of external stimuli and one's mental activity
• Knowing what goes on outside of, and inside of you
• Subconsciousness allows parallel processing of info
• All sorts of info sensed and perceived simultaneously
• Consciousness is sequential
• One thing at a time takes focused focus
• A CEO makes decisions but misses small details
• Awareness takes 0.3 seconds after perception
• CEO focuses on problems like our consciousness
• Hard to write 3s and rotate your right foot simultaneously; requires conscious focus
• People fantasize and daydream often throughout day
• Rambam states, our mind must turn to Dvar Torah by turning to just something else

Day Dreaming

• Fantasy and daydreaming are ways to escape reality and find comfort
• daydreaming and fantasies prepares us for events
• Imaginative day dreaming plays for children fosters cognitive development
• Constant phone use negatively affects development because it replaces daydreaming
• Some aspects of existence are always non-conscious
• Brain regulates blood pressure unconsciously
• Some info exists in preconscious
• Ex: What you ate for supper last night
• There are different levels of consciousness

The Levels of Consciousness

• Freud's unconscious level is controversial; aggressive and sexual urges are held outside of the conscious part
• Rav Yisrael Salanter's 3 Major Shortcomings/Biases: Shfichas Damim, Avodah Zarah, and Giluy Arayos. -> the same as the big 3 sins
• Some mental processing occurs without awareness
• Mere Exposure Effect impacts people, which is merely being exposed to something may affect you
• Repeated exposure to bad language desensitizes
• When unconscious read words, then say a word and ask what the paired word is
• Earlier knowledge or suggestion may impact what decisions you make
• Rude words results in someone being rude. Vice versa
• If who were exposed women who dropped papers were less likely to help them

Sleep States

• There are always states of consciousness
• Consciousness can range from being fully awake to being asleep
• Most time is spent in sleep
• Altered state of consciousness if switch from fully awake
• Can result in hallucinations or trance states
• Chazal believes sleeping is 1/60th the level of death
• Brain is active when the physical body sleeps
• The Rambam says 8 hours of sleep is needed
• Gra slept for 2 hours
• The brain is measured by an EEG (electroencephalograph)
• High frequency and low amplitude brainwaves signify an alert person
• Relaxed person with closed eyes will have slightly larger amplitude
• relaxed person with eyes closed will have slightly larger amplitude; 8-12 cycles per second (alpha waves)
• The first two stages are sleep shows amplitude increasing but goes up and then down

The Stages of Sleep

• Theta waves during sleep stage
• Deep sleep (n3 and n4) has very high amplitude and very low frequency (called delta waves)
• Regular, relaxed heartbeat and blood pressure means it’s hard to wake them up
• Returning from 30-45 minutes in stage four, you return back to stage 3 and then REM sleep
• Rapid Eye Movement (REM/Paradoxical Sleep): muscles are paralyzed while heart rate, breathing and blood pressure are increasing in activity
• Eye movements happen every 30 secs for 10 minutes in REM
• Erections during REM happens because happens because blood pressure goes up
• Dreams that are vivid occur during REM
• Can happen but not as vivid when not in REM
• Repeats itself 4-6 times (each is 90 minutes long)
• Stage 3 and 4 are called recuperative which mean body rests and recharges
• Brain Reorganizes (REM/Stage 1-2)
• Age is correlated inversely compared to REM
• Babies get the most sleep (approx.. 16)
• College students sleep for around 9-10 hours
• We accumulate sleep debt
• Two in a row will help catch up sleep debt
• REM rebounds where you’ll get more REM if sleep-deprived
• Stress needs more REM
• Accident risk goes up when body is fatigued and sleep-deprived

Additional Sleep Details

• High accident risk and lower productivity are correlated with sleep deprivation
• Sleep helps us recuperate, grow, and organize/consolidate memories
• Circadian rhythm is our natural biological clock for 24-25 hours
• Natural to be down time in dark
• Routine Helps You Go Asleep
• Lowers if you're sleep deprived since takes <5 minutes for you to sleep
• Insomnia prevents you from falling or remaining waking (10% of US has)
• Dr. Mass 15 minutes incrementally can help too
• Relaxation Training
• Tighten muscles in 5 secs
• Sleep Pills: Melatonin, serotonin and milk help manufacture serotonin
• Nicotine prevents sleep for 5 minutes
• Apnea means you’re choking when you falling back to sleep
• Narcolepsy are where you falls into REM abruptly
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
• Happens but unsure the cause happens
• Used to be 1 in 500/1000; more when parents sleep with kids
• 1 in 1000 dies when put on back
• Nightmares occur for most people at 4%-8%
• Deals through imagery therapy to make the events better; happens during REM sleep or with age
• Blood curdling scream from sleep happens with night terrors
• Happens in stage 4
• Usually with small kids
• Harmless sleep talk/sleepwalking happens during stage 4
• Muscles shut down during REM
• Muscles don’t react during REM Behavior

Dreams

• Dream is a story-like sequences of images usually with REM
• Organized or disorganized dreams
• Where dreams continue over time like Serial Dreams by Rabbi Mendelson
• Activities during the day affect your dreams
• Dreams may contain content from the prior day and are in line with daytime dreams
• 1/10 of men have sexual dreams
• 1/30 women have sexual dreams
• Lucid dreaming where dreaming inside the dream

How to Dream

• There's a way to consolidate thoughts and organize for survival value
• Conscious are fulfilled because wishes were safely wanted it
• Called for unconscious or path conscious
• Latent content is the true meaning of the dream
• Activation/Synthesis (explains how dreams works)
• Hindbrain is the main source of REM so cerebral cortex tried to help them out
• Thought emotions centers and thought areas during sleep
• Emotion during REM is active
• Some people see the dreams as information in which processes information Stress affects your dreams
• Content may affect content of dreams
• Babies sleep is correlated with them having dreams given content or integration

Hypnosis

• Yosef helped Nevuah and can interrupt dreams
• Can improve with training as it is a real and altered perception of how behavior can change
• Very open for the suggestion to change
• Works when sleep state, suggest stimuli
• Ability to regress You can follow instructions in it. Post Amnesia comes with that
• Reduced plan-fulness and increased ability too picture things too happen
• State control means they are different in consciousness
• Can separate ideas (Dissortative is a theory)
• Can separate control from two people for therapist
• Works when people cannot anesthesia stop and manage stress
• Can self-hypnotize too for help

Drugs

• The psychoactive drugs are active when create of consciousness the the brain acts and creates physiological actions
• Marijuana has a great effect if used during adolescence
• Affect the the interactions between transmitter and receptors
• Agonists drugs that help or block neurotransmtuters
• How bad is abuse can affect how people use it it against social norms bad
• Abused is not use there
• Dependence can affect people both psychologically and physically
• Can be broken without it when happens when happens you become immune
• After constant use becomes immune

Drug Types

• Types: Drug use (downers), stimulates in the body opioids (pain) and Hallucinogen
• GABA is an activity depressant
• ADHD are types of depressants
• Makes you relaxed drowsy, and depressed
• Enhances endorphins make you feel then makes you feel inhibit
• Alcohol makes you depressed then
• Talk silly tell tell others
• Damage for hippocampus and cant form memories helps you
• Stimulants Nicotine Nicotine (uppers), dopamine and help with alertness (can’t talk)
• Can lead to all of these issues
• Can tell look system
• Reduces for the headaches
• Stimulates for the nervous systems and stimulates nervous
• MDMA ecstasy

More Drugs

• MDMA (ecstasy) increases energy, enhances drive and other functions so that you can drive other functions and feelings
• Nicotine, Ecstasy, opium (causes sleepiness)
• Opiates trick receptors into exaggerated pain killing, thus causing a high / euphoria.
• Some die from overdose to overcome tolerance
• Hallucinogens is is you contact with world. ketamine, ecstasy ketamine and it causes short term memory.
• Weed alters blood flow creates relaxation, gives senses, detect for weeks causes change of thinking
• Psychological and physical dependence: most teens begin drugs through peer pressure