Psychology of Language Notes PDF

PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change 2nd Exam Word Recognition Word superiority effect Spoken vs. Written Word Reicher (1969) Single letter on the screen and then covers it up with a “mask.“ Then- what letter did you see? Or word (letter string) is put up on the screen,...

PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change 2nd Exam Word Recognition Word superiority effect Spoken vs. Written Word Reicher (1969) Single letter on the screen and then covers it up with a “mask.“ Then- what letter did you see? Or word (letter string) is put up on the screen, then covered up Then- what letter did you see? not worried about the accuracy- whats interesting is how long it took to make the decision (reaction time) Word Superiority Effect Results Words vs. non-words Faster response to words Words vs. letters Faster response to letters within words (compared to isolated) This is the word superiority effect (both ideas) Why the word superiority effect? Top-down processing! Pronounceability in letter strings Ex. “GLORB” vs “XHLM” in English Probability Letters in Words How likely is it that letter combinations appear in a word High vs. Low Frequency Words Occurs more easily & frequently in common vs. rare words Spoken vs. Written Words Spoken Recognizing speech signal Segmenting speech Map speech sounds onto words Written Processing arbitrary symbols (learned via their sounds) Mapping those symbols onto meaning “Activating” word in mental lexicon (dictionary) Levels of Written Language Processing Features  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Graphemes (ex: letters) Putting features together to form symbols we recognize (symbol used in a language) Hand-written vs typewritten/digital Morphemes and/or words, concepts Array of features & graphemes combined to form recognized words Activation of other related concepts (pronunciation, spelling, meaning) Orthography Writing is quite recent in human history around 3000-3500 B.C. Orthography Study of how symbols combined to extract meaning (study of language systems) Grapheme Written language symbol Can represent phoneme, syllable, or whole words Ancient Orthographic Systems Pictographic Systems Ideogram Pictures represent more abstract meaning Cuneiform Even more abstract symbols Hieroglyphics Combine symbols with some phonological aspects Modern Orthographic Systems Logographic Systems (ex. Chinese- Mandarin and Cantonese) Symbols mapped to units of meaning (One word or Morpheme) Logographs = Character symbols Characters contain both meaning and pronunciation information Radicals-meaning; top or left of character Sounds- found at bottom or right of character Syllabic Systems (ex. Korean and Japanese) Characters= Syllables Ex. Japanse Kanji- logographic characters (borrowed from Chinese) Kana- syllabic symbols Alphabetic Systems Letters= Phonemes Ex. English, French, Turkish, Russian Morphology Morpheme (study of these and how they are put together) smallest meaningful unit  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Morphological Rules Indicate how morphemes combined to form words and attached to add/change meaning Regular words- follow morphological rules (ex. dog-> dogs) Irregular words- do not follow rules (ex. child-> children) Types of Morphemes Free Independent “unit” (ex. cat, dog) (meaningful by themselves) Bound Attached to another morpheme to derive meaning (prefixes & suffixes) Derivational- change part of speech (ex. verb + ly = adverb) Inflectional- adds meaning (ex. tense “-ed”, “-ing” or plural “”-s”, “-es”) Eye movements & reading words Data useful for studying how we read words (and sentences) Types of Eye movements Saccades- quick movements (bidirectional) Regressions- backward (10-15% for adults) (backtracking what you previously read) Fixations- brief “starte” (225-250ms) Perceptual Span Size of area of “coverage” during fixation Span extends from Left of Fixation- 3-4 letter spaces Right of Fixation- 14-15 spaces The Mental Lexicon Mental Lexicon The organization of word knowledge in our memory (mental “dictionary”, but a very rich dictionary) Part of our Semantic Long-term Memory Lexical Access Activating (accessing) this knowledge Studying the Mental Lexicon & Lexical Access Lexical Decision Task (LDT) Present participants with single letter strings non-words strings (ex. himpola, mulvow, sard, glorb) words (ex. dog, pleasant, coin, crock) Task- “Word” or “Not Word” judgement via button press measure response time (milliseconds) General Results Faster response times for words vs. non-words Semantic also priming helps (prime-sky target-blue faster compared to target-chair)  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Semantic Priming LDT using pairs of letter strings, presented separately first letter string (prime) second letter string (target) Response times are faster to target when semantically related to prime Priming- difference from faster to slower response times “Distance” between concepts is critical** closely vs. not closely semantically related Word Association Tasks What words come to mind when given a specific word Ex. dog-> bone, cat, tail, fur, mailman Semantic Verification Tasks Say “yes“ if true or “no” if false to statements (a pickle has fingernails T or F) (a dog has a tail T or F) Unrelated and very related items verified quickly Slower verification for “complex” connections Define our mental lexicon as semantic network Consider Cognitive aspects of its organization Neural architecture Hierarchical Network Models Collins & Quillian (1969) Spreading Activation Models Collins & Loftus (1975) Bock & Levelt (1994 Models of Mental Lexicon Define our mental lexicon as a semantic network Consider cognitive aspects of its organization neural achitecture Hierarchical Network model Collins & Quillan (originated hierarchical structure) Spreading Activation Models Collins & Loftus Bock & Levelt Hierarchical Network Model Network of Concepts Connected bu semantic links Faster processing time, shorter distance in network Cognitive economy Most efficient to store most general properties higher up in hierarchy  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change This model uses hierarchical nature- largest categories at the top and smaller towards the bottom Hierarchical Model: Issues “A bear is an animal” vs “A bear is a mammal” Response for 1st sentence is faster than 2nd if it’s really a hierarchy, it should be the opposite people should say a bear is a mammal faster than animal but opposite is true (so mind is not always hierarchical, not that simple) Typicality Effect Items which are more typical/common (i.e. prototypes) take less time to verify than items that are more atypical (rare) robin vs. ostrich But they are (theoretically) on the same level of hierarchy Spreading Activation Models Spreading Activation Activation of one concept (node) spreads out to nearby nodes linked to it (activate one thing activates similar ideas in your mind) like dropping a rock into a pool of water Based on word association & semantic priming task data “Distance” between nodes matters (further away concepts are in our mind the longer it will take to go from point A to point B) Collins & Loftus (1975) Recognizes diversity & complexity of information and representation) in a semantic network) (no hierarchical structure, based on relationship to one another) But no consideration of phonological and syntactic aspects of words (what about sounds and syntactic units) Bock & Levelt (1994) More connectionist modeling based Adds syntactic and phonological information Three Layers Conceptual- concepts Lemma- syntactic Lexeme- sound/phonological (these models all discuss organization, but not how to get thigns out of the mental lexicon) Factors Affecting Lexical Access Ambiguity lexical semantic Neighborhood Density  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Ambiguity Lexical Ambiguity The same spelling, but different meaning Homographs Ex. bow (arrow; bending) content (happy, something within something) Resolution Pronounced differently (usually) Semantic Ambiguity One word, pronounced the same; multiple meanings Ex. bank (money, place on a river) Resolution Needs context Processed differently within the two hemispheres of the brain Neighborhood Density Effects Neighborhood the number of words similar a given property Orthographic (letters), Phonological (phoneme); Semantic (meaning) can have more than one shared property The density of the neighbor hood is the most important part Dense neighborhoods- more words similar to each other (tightly compact apartments) Space neighborhoods- fewer words similar to each other (new subdivision on other side of town, small area with few neighbors) Neighborhood Density Effects Depending on the property of the neighborhood, can impact recognition and/or production of words (density could make things easier or harder) can be helpful (facilitate) can be hurtful (inhibit) Lexical Access Models: Serial Search Model (foster, 1976) Written & Spoken Word Recognition via bottom-up processing & serial search Orthographical and Phonological Bins (with word files) organized by Similarity in their beginnings (initial letters, initial sounds) Word frequency More common words at top of the bin (high frequency, low at the bottom) When looking for different words, depending on the task, could do it orthographically or phonologically, but high frequency words are at the top of bins. More you have to dig when there are more similar words. Other properties of the word attached once word is “found” Also review logogen (written or spoken) and cohort model (auditory only)- models for how we access informaiton  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Models of Reading Dual Route model (primarily based on clinical data) argues that when we are reading we can use one of two ways to do this Lexical (direct) route & Non-Lexical (phonological) route Phonological route Useful when encountering a regular word (words that sound like how they are spelled) When we read we likely build this system first (sounding out words) Read aloud the pronounceable letter strings-> ID word Rule system Lexical route Useful when encountering an irregular word (direct shot to memory) Ex. colonel; pint (not spelled how it’s pronounced) You perceive word form-> access of mental lexicon-> ID word & it’s meaning Memory system Connectionist models IAC Model- one route (rather than two from dual) Connectionist Model for Written Word Recognition using parallel processing inhibitory & excitatory links Three levels words (output) full letters features of letters (input) Modulation of “weights” & connections via experience/exposure AI emphasis on learning Dyslexia Evidence Developmental dyslexia childhood dyslexia supported by connectionist models fewer connections between layers can stimulate dyslexia issues more difficulty with irregular words vs. regular words (not a memory issue) Acquired dyslexia- due to brain damage or some kind of trauma phonological dyslexia (lacks the ability to sound things out) (according to dual route model- phonological route is affected direct route is intact) cannot read nonwords, can read irregular & common regular words phonological route disrupted; direct route intact surface dyslexia can read nonwords; cannot read irregular words Direct route disrupted; phonological route intact (relies on sounding words out)  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Sentence Processing: Individual Differences Key aspect of sentence processing is ability across two main cognitive domains: Working Memory (WM) Executive functions cognitive control The Modal Model of Memory Incoming information-> sensory buffers-> encoding->short-term (working memory)-> consolidation-> long term memory (back to retrieval from short term memory) etc. Short term memory is what you would be currently thinking about (parking your car- that is not short term) Short term-> working memory Active maintenance (status) of info in short-term storage includes operations and processes used to work with info Virtually all mental activities require WM Some tasks demand more WM resources than others Individual differences in WM capacity predict many cognitive abilities Baddeley’s Model of WM 4 collections of processes that make up our working memory Visuospatial Sketchpad Visual & spacial material ex. remembering layout, location of a building Phonological Loop specialized for verbal material, lists ex. list of words, numbers, etc. Episodic Buffer combines information of different modalities together into a memory “episode”/unit Link between information from LTM and central executive Central Executive controls attention manages activities of all other WM processes Working Memory & Reading Span Reading Span Task One way to test verbal WM capacity Task-read several sentences at a time and “hold” the final word of the sentence in memory Asked to recall the final word of each sentence Reading span Limit Test continues with more sentences added per grouping until fails to correctly name all final words (compare lower limit people to higher limit people) High-memory spans vs. low memory spans indicate sentence processing capacity  Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Executive Functions General ability, often referred to as Cognitive Control, made up of many complex cognitive processes Goal Planning & Strategizing (execution of it too!) Awareness of consequences of actions Inhibition (of thought and action) Abstract thinking Etc. Executive Functions in the Brain It’s all about the frontal lobes Particularly the more anterior portions (prefrontal lobes) Patients with frontal lobe damage Difficulty inhibiting behaviors and thoughts, planning and changing strategies, etc. Executive Functions and Language Processing Often need to process and decide between multiple items and/or multiple representations (words, syntax, semantics, etc.) Patients with damage to left inferior (left, lower) frontal gyrus (LIFG) Difficulty resolving between multiple representations (ambiguity) Ambiguous words “Garden path” sentences (patients with damage here have difficulty with the above terms) Syntax The structure of sentences and the rules Phrase Structure Rules Syntactic rules specifying correct sequences of the parts of a sentence for a language where is noun in relation to verb? Tree Diagrams Diagram hierarchical relationships among sentence elements Syntactic Processing Incrementally Building meaning “on the fly” Whether listening (spoken), reading (written), or viewing (gestural) to language Syntactic Parsing Syntactic structure building during comprehension Reader/listener determines each word’s syntactic role (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) as it is processes (arrives) How do we do this? By throwing people a “loop” that forces them to illustrate how we go about doing this Syntactic Ambiguity Syntactic Ambiguity Sentences that can be interpreted in multiple ways  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Can assign some words to multiple roles Different roles change interpretation (i.e., meaning) Garden Path Sentences Sentence that are difficult to understand due to temporary confusion (i.e., ambiguity) Led down a “garden path,” to an initial confused interpretation must re-interpret the sentence and its meaning Resolving Ambiguity General process: 1. As info arrives, construct all possible syntactic structures a. Phrase Markers- Mental representations of current structure 2. Entertain one structure quickly a. Go back, if incorrect 3. Hold in WM until enough information to finalize decision Garden Path Theory Serial processing model Single representation of sentence (at one time) Taxes working memory to do more Two parsing strategies (heuristics) for Ambiguity Resolution (always parsing on the fly) heuristics (short-cuts that help us resolve things; but do not alway work) Minimal attachment Attach the new item to the phrase marker with the fewest possible nodes Initially chose the least complex structure (reducing complexity of structure) Late closure Attach the new items to the current constituent Initially choose to attach it to the latest phrase marker (adding it one after the other) Ex. Tom wanted to see the book Mary bought yesterday Both MA and LC are used for minimizing/simplifying things Syntactic Reanalysis Need to reanalyze and reevaluate the meaning (sometimes) Parse it out again! Constraint-Based Approach Not just syntax is involved in sentence comprehension Parallel processing of Multiple sources of information Syntax, Semantics, and Context against garden path theory (serial), says that we do multiple things at a time Multiple interpretations of the same sentence Probabilistic- choose the most likely one first (top-down processing, what is likely to be the case based on previous knowledge) Garden Path Sentences work when they lead you to most likely interpretation first  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Working memory and our cognitive abilities are capable! “Good Enough” Processing Model “Fine-grained” analysis does not always occur “Good enough” representations often created 💋 Superficial, “quick and dirty” interpretations (short & sweet ) Evidence Sentence comprehension on garden path or ambiguous sentences can be misinterpreted or not fully resolved (ex. Mary and John saved $10) Sometimes done even after reanalyzing sentence....but it’s good enough Real life mistakes do occur Sometimes, correct our mistake; sometimes, don’t and move on We get some sort of meaning out of it that’s “good enough” and then move on Allows for individual differences in ability Syntax vs. Semantic Processing of Sentences Semantic processing less understood than syntactic processing Thematic roles Semantic roles assigned via incrementally too! Four most common Agent- The nurse examined the patient (doer of action) Patient- The patient pushed the nurse (changed by action) Instrument- The nurse injected the patient with the syringe (used for action) Location- The nurse examined the patient in the hallway (place of action) Brain Evidence: Syntax vs. Semantics Event-related Potentials (ERPs) Use EEG to record the data- net/cap put on ones scalp, and electrodes record electrical activity inside your brain (has to be loud enough- larger groups of neurons) good at time lag- when are neurons responding to something Averaged, specific signals (responses) to specific stimuli (events) ERPs for Semantics & Syntax Cloze Probability Likelihood of completing a sentence with a specific word Ex: I take my coffee with cream and ___ (sugar- ~100%) N400- Semantic processing (number is the important part) Semantic Anomaly Brain Signal occurring around 400ms after end of a sentence More likely (expected) word ending-> smaller signal Less likely (unexpected) word ending-> larger signal Ex. Cats won’t eat (great, cool) Cats won’t bake (huh?-bigger signal) P600- Syntactic processing Syntactic Error Brain signal occurring around 600ms after end of a sentence  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change More likely (expected) ending-> smaller signal Less likely (unexpected) ending-> larger signal Ex. The cat’s won’t eat vs. the cat’s won’t eating Do the sentences meet expectations or do they break expectations? Language Development Modal Model of Memory Explicit (declarative), Implicit (non-declarative) memory (how to do things, don’t have explicit ability to describe) Important subtype explicit- semantic memory (contains mental lexicon, general knowledge) The Cerebral Cortex Occipital Visual processing Parietal Spatial Processing Somatosensory Temporal Auditory Processing Memory Processing Frontal Motor Processing Executive Functions Principles Guiding Processing Pathways Hierarchical Organization Complexity increases with each “level” Parallel Processing Top-down and bottom-up processing simultaneously Visual Areas and Pathways V1 responds to orientations of edges of shapes Occipital lobe Primary Visual Area (V1) V2, V4, etc. Pathways Dorsal/”where” (where is it) Location & Motion Ventral/”what” (what am i seeing) Recognition (ID “Object”) Important for orthographic information (also signing) Auditory Areas and Pathways Temporal Lobe Primary Auditory Area (A1)  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Belt & Parabelt Pathways (parallel) Dorsal/“where” Localization (where is the sound coming from?) Ventral/”what” Recognition (Sound ID) Motor Area and Pathways Frontal Lobe Primary Motor Area (M1) Motor movement “command center” (executing movements) Secondary (supplementary) Motor Area Initiation of motor plans (sequence in which things are done) Premotor Area Integrates sensory information from parietal lobe, etc. Language Acquisition Approaches Generative (nativist) Approach Emphasis on innate mechanisms Already born with ability and general rules of language With innate mechanisms and rules, can generate new forms an infinite varieties Poverty of Stimulus Argument Children likely not exposed to all the information and possible examples from native language(s) Yet, still demonstrate full abilities and learning So, something needs to be there (from birth) to permit learning it Universal Grammar (Chompsky) Language Acquisition Devise (LAD) Hypothetical brain module containing universal set of grammar rules that guides language development Universal Grammar- knowledge of language necessary for children to acquire it (within first few years) Via experience, the “discover” the rules that apply to their native language(s) Issue with this concept Vague on the details of it and how children’s experience triggers it (how is this occurring- no real model explaining this) Social Interactionist Approach Language only acquired through interaction with others Zone of Proximal Development Level a child can almost, but not fully, perform a task themselves But can do so with the assistance of someone who has the skill  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Scaffolding Building knowledge and skills by progression Through stages of increasing difficulty Providing assistance and support during stages Encourages independent learning and growth building skills step by step (educational systems use this approach- big paper broken down into smaller steps) Statistical Learning Approach Usage-Based Framework Children use general cognitive mechanisms and processes Pattern detection and categorization Gradually build understanding of the grammar through statistical learning and rules of thumb (i.e., heuristics) strategies Evidence Infant “statisticians” findings (more on this later...) Connectionist Models Exhibits typical learning and patterns shown by children Ex: overgeneralization and over regularization Cognitive and Computational Model Studying an Infanct’s Language Learning Observational Methods Historical and contemporary usage Ex. Piaget and cognitive developmental stages Observation via in-person or video recorded sessions measure coded behaviors Transcripts of Interactions with Children Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES) Large database established in 1984; submissions ongoing Part of TalkBank large language database project Preference Paradigms High Amplitude Sucking Preference Paradigm Typically testing form birth to 4 month Measure frequency (rate) of sucking Higher rate-more interest Lower rate- less interest (habituation) Initial Conditioning Phase New sound for every change to higher Learn to increase rate for interesting, preferred sounds Condition so that increases sucking is tied to new sounds  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Testing Phase Play sounds until rate declines, then play different one Measure if rate increases (it’s a new, different sound) Get measures of interest for different sounds Head Turning Preference Paradigm (slightly older infants) Criteria high interest- longer duration of head turn toward sounds low interest/habituation-shorter duration Familiarization Phase Given stimuli to listen only Test Phase Compare responses to families vs. unfamiliar Switch Task (even older infants) Same head turn criteria for high vs. low interest/habituation Habituation Phase Pairing of image with phonetically correct spoken nonword Test Phase Habitual stimuli, but new pair of same image to different nonword (switched) See if the switch garners interest or if it is not deemed to be new or interesting to the infant Standardized Assessments Used by researchers and speech-language pathologists Many test for language disorders Some test for language comprehension development Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) (PPVT-5) (vocabulary test) Ages 2+ Hear word with one correct image, along three distractors MacAurthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) Ages 8-30 months; additional measures for 30-37 months Wide range of language skills Ex. letter and number knowledge, vocab, comprehension Larger language battery Test for Auditory Comprehesion of Language (TACL-4) Test of Expressive Language (TEXL) is companion assessment Combined, these test for oral language ability oral expressions rather than testing for just single word recognition Developmental Milestones Newborns show preference for books read to them in utero Likely that newborns born ready to perceive speech Around end of 1st year, transition between babbling and true words  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Transition to Speech Idiomorphs Often invent their own words to refer to objects or events Ba ba; ta ta; wa wa; ra ra Often are simplifications of adult speech or relate to object’s sound (onomatopeia) (“cho-cho”) Holophrases Single-word utterances used to express more than the meaning (often action too) “Water” could mean “I want water” Early Phonological Processes “Fis” Phenomenon sometimes child can perceive, but not produce, a phoneme rabbit-> wabbit, brother-> bruwver, birthday-> birfday Early Lexical Development Early Words Many early words for things in immediate environment More bias towards objects which are more action based Ex. ball, dog vs. tree Fast Mapping Process by which children rapidly acquire new words Learning a word after hearing it only once or a few times Not fully understood how this occurs Homonyms Homonyms (homophones) Same word form, different meaning Ex. bark of a tree, bark of a dog Homonym Advantage Children learn new word faster when it sounds like a familiar word How are they learning? Infants as “statisticians” Role of Adult Speech Infant directed speech Original word game Infant “Statisticians” Perceptual Narrowing At birth infants perceive all possible speech categories and phonetic differences By 1st year, they only perceive native language(s) categories and differences How do they do this? (pattern recognition) Transitional Probability (TP) Likelihood a particular event will occur next, given the current event At 8 months, infants can use TP to segment speech signal (tested using HTP) Distributional Learning Track frequency and location of various sounds in speech stream (segmenting speech to derive meaning) (organization helps extract meaning)  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Aids infants in organizing perceptual categories (phonemes, words, etc.) Infant Directed Speech Manner of speaking to infants, attracts their attention, helps them learn langugage Nearly universal phenomenon Higher pitch and exaggerated speech sounds (aids child's ability to pull patterns out of speech) Prosodic Bootstrapping Infants use prosody (intonation and stress patterns) in speech to aid in inferring phrase and word boundaries Original Word Game Child pointing-> parent labeling-> child attempt to repeat-> parent correcting (if necessary) Adult pointing & naming-> child attempt to repeat-> parent correcting (if necessary) Parents have decisions on how to proceed Basic level terms; Subordinate terms, Specify part or whole object? Levels of Categorization Basic-level categorization We have a “natural” level of categorization for objects ex. animal Levels Superordinate Most general, abstract (not always clear by itself) Basic Most common (“just right”) Single words (often) ex. dog Subordinate Most specific ex. golden retriever Role of Language Input Large differences in amount of speech (“richness of language”) children exposed Children in lower SES households, typically have lower vocab exposure Correlation between quantity of language “input” and children’s vocab size Individual Differences on Language Acquisition Referential Strategy Referring to aspects of immediate environment Mainly nouns, some verbs adjectives Begin with words, then sentences Expressive Strategy Emphasizing social interaction More diverse vocabulary, more likely to utter sentencessooner  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change More interested in conversational aspects of language Begins with sentences, then analyze individual words (if the children hear sentences rather than individual words this ability to form sentences will come faster) Cognitive Constrains on Early Learning Whole Object Bias New label attached to label entire object vs just a part Ex. “dog” for animal and its tail too Taxonomic Bias Label assumed to be part of taxonomic category rather one instance Ex. “dog” for all similar animals Mutual Exclusivity Bias After knowing one name/label of an object, children are less likely to use second label for same object Ex. “dog” vs. “canine” Lexical Development Patterns Overextensions Including too many words in their categories Ex. Anything on head as a “hat” Ex. Anything forbidden as “hot” or “bad” Underextensions Word usage in a much more constrictive way Ex. shoes only referring to a specific pair Regular vs Irregular Words Overregularizations Occurs as children acquire language rules Ex. exaggerating past tense rule (“I runned,” “you eated”) Process Uses correct term (exposure)-> overregularization (overapplication of learned rules)-> correct term again (new rule established) Syntax & Symantics Sentences have more than one level of structure Deep structure Underlying structure which conveys the meaning of a sentence (what does it mean) Surface Structure The phrasing, wording, arrangement of a sentence (how its phrased) Ex. Dory chased the ball. The ball was chased by Dory. Same deep structure; different surface structures A sentence must be derived via a two-part process (produce) Generate underlying deep structure (semantic component) Generate surface structure (syntactic component) Comprehension: Surface-> deep (informs)  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Bootstraping Prosodic Bootstrapping Syntactic Bootstrapping Use of syntactic information to infer word meaning Lexical (or semantic) Bootstrapping Use of word meanings to infer syntactic structure Knowledge of content words guide understanding of function words One is very difficult without the other (lexical & syntactic) Measureance of Syntactic Growth Mean length of morpheme utterances (MLU) Conservative index of child’s ability to combine morphemes into more complex ideas/utterances More useful than age as an index of language growth Use MLU to get stage like growth plot for children’’s language acquisition/abilities MLU Broken down into 5 stages- useful indicator to track growth Language Development in the Brain Year 1 Statistical learning drives language development (ex. TP) Primary auditory and association areas Year 2-3 Development of syntax Heavy reliance on individual word meanings Auditory Ventral pathway (what sounds am I hearing- utterance wise) Year 7-9 “Complex” syntax development Auditory Dorsal pathways Learning to Read and Write Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Reading Reading Readiness Child’s prep/skills acquired before formal reading instruction Readiness is a good predictor of future reading performance Vary widely due to individual differences and environment Cultural Impact Age of formal introduction to reading differs between countries US and UK- 5 years or earlier France and Japan- around 6 years Sweeden- around 7 years First experiences with reading Availability of books, time with parents/guardians being read to, etc. Print Awareness Understanding that print/written word is form of communication/language Exposure to presence of reading materials, talking about pictures in books, coloring  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Reading Stages Jeane Chall (US and alphabet focused) Children’s reading progression consists of 6 stages, across lifespan!! (not just child) Three Developmental Phases Learning to Read Reading to Learn Reading Independently don’t need to know stages but general stages that make up the 6 stages Linnen Ehri (explains early development in children) (Alphabetic- US centric perspective) Four Stages of Learning to Read Words 1. Pre-alphabetic Phase a. Recognize words as whole visual objects 2. Partial Alphabetic Reading Phase a. Recognition of some letters, and other cues to help ID words 3. Full Alphabetic Phase a. Understand sounds of words (known and unknown) from letters 4. Consolidated Alphabetic Phase a. Recognize groups of letters occurring across many words Fundamental Keys to Learning to Read Linking phonology, orthography, and memory for word meaning Some systems introduce reading by first teaching an introductory system that’s more phonologically transparent Some laguages have more complex graphemes Ex. Arabis and Hebrew taught system only representing some of the phonemes in their words (simplified version of language) Mandarin Chinese- taught a system pinyin Japan Kanji- taught a system called furigana Key point: Start out simpler version, once child has that down, build up to the more complex versions Reading Instruction For English instruction, ongoing debate about best practice Phonics Method Instruct on the spelling-to-sound correspondence rules single-unit, then building can argue that this model builds phonological route first in dual route model Many children’s nursery rhymes and games promote phonological awareness ex. Pig Latin (builds awareness of sounds) Whole Language Method Emphasis on knowledge through direct experience of reading by sight (not by sound) Meaning is emphasized over identification of individual words Taught to guess meaning by surrounding context Argues that direct route would be build first in dual route model  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Learning to write Handwriting (penmanship) typically taught around the same time as formal reading instruction Phases of Writing Development Scribbling- 15 months Patterns & Lines- 2.5 years Objects & People- 3 years Letters- 3 years Print vs. Cursive Instruction Writing not just about motor skills, it’s about writing as communication of thoughts Scripts- describe routines (ex. going to the park) to Narratives- events in different time (past, present, future); later- imaginary events to Abstract thoughts and insight into another’s mind Reading Proficiency Factors List of factors--outline slides Predictors of lower reading proficiency Health Problems During Childhood Hearing & vision problems Exposure to environmental toxins (ex. lead) Genetics (plays a role, but is not the only factor) One factor in incidence of developmental dyslexia (now specific learning disorder, via DSM-V) Large variations in variation in symptoms and genetic origins Frequent comorbidity with other learning disorders Dysgraphia (AKA agraphia)- writing and oral spelling disability Dyscalculia (AKA acalculia)- mathematics disability Poverty A very strong predictor is family income Children from very low-income homes have poorest long-term outcomes Often leads to few reading and writing resources Children from impoverished backgrounds can develop high reading proficiency School implemented reading programs that emphasize reading time in and outside the classroom plus engaging parents in homework Economics plays a rule (low socioeconomic status predicts lower proficiency) but does not mean that you don’t have the ability (interventions help) Reading Models: The eye and the mind Just & Carpenter’s Model Eye movement directly linked to reader processing Immediacy hypothesis Fixation on word- mind is processing that word “completely” Once eyes move off a word- processing of that word ends Serial processing model Reading occurs fixation-by-fixation Only words within fixation are being processed  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Evidence for Fixation time on words related to word frequency (time you spend looking at a word has relation to word frequency) Evidence against Fixation time influenced by characteristics of preceding word(s) Readers can begin to process words before they fully fixate Model is not accurate predicting which words fixed on and which skipped (can pay attention to things around what we are looking at-slightly) (skip some words when we fixate) (attention shifts before your eyes do) E-Z Reader Model Most parsimonious (simple) model, with best explanation for widest range of eye movements behavior during reading Three types of processing determine “where” and “when” (predicts eye movements and fixations) (they are sequential) Word identification (accessing and recognizing the word, then you start to plan ahead) Fixation on word, with initial processing and lexical access of that word Saccade planning occurs after lexical access is successful Visual attention shifts in direction of next saccade Low frequency words take longer to access (then move to planning) Saccade Planning 1. Saccade can be canceled or length of it can be modified (once you figure out this stage then the brain decides where to proceed) (do we need to move at all or should we move) 2. Final planning based on stage 1 At this point, modifying it or canceling it is not possible Saccade Production (execution of movement) Explains why some words skipped during executed saccade Higher frequency words and short words that follow fixated word also accessed during a fixation If lexical access occurs, then during saccade planning (stage 1) the saccade length can be extended  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Those with high self esteem find setbacks as motivation, low self esteem people see these things as hinderances Self-Esteem and social comparison from media A large change undergoing recently is our vast access to information about others Research confirms that self-esteem typically is lower for those who frequent social media This is likely the case as the content you see generally is handpicked from those who post it, leading to an embellished life to which you may unfairly make comparisons to Self-Esteem and coping Individuals who have higher self-esteem tend to cope with negative experiences better There are a few ways this is proposed to be the case Individuals high in self-esteem may still perceive themselves as generally capable, even if they have negative experiences, compensating with other areas they are good at things High self-esteem is protective against stress as these individuals perceive a greater ability to recover from stress Those high in self-esteem tend to disagree with negative comments on their ability as it does not fit with their internal beliefs (able to shrug off negative things) Self-complexity: Individuals hold many roles and as such have many aspects of the self that have their own level of self-esteem Those higher on complexity (has more components/roles) are more resistant to negative feedback in one area as they believe that is only one small part of their overall self-concept If you have only a few areas or one area is a big deal, then negative evaluations of those areas can be devastating Self-esteem and protecting “ego” Ego in the sense of one’s own self image Low self-esteem individuals tend to be very weary of experiences that can hurt their ego as they assume that the worst outcome will occur; this is called defensive pessimism Defensive pessimism is inherently a way to protect one’s self; if you avoid negative experiences (or expect the worse) then you are less likely to experience a negative outcome (or be surprised by one, when it does occur) People that have this are protective of negative emotions This can be effective too, and those who expect things to go wrong but cannot avoid an experience may also try harder to avoid that negative outcome Self-esteem variability Self-esteem is not consistent, it varies based on many factors The degree to which this varies, known as self-esteem variability, varies between individuals Self-esteem variability is not tied to your base level of self-esteem, however it may influence how your self-esteem relates to different outcomes Self-esteem protects us from negative experiences Social Identity How we present ourselves inherently is tied to our self-identity, but not inherently the same thing  PSYCHOLOGY NOTES Applied Behavior Analysis and Change Identity (or social identity) is the general concept of ourself that we present It is relatively consistent (we tend to present ourselves the same way), meaning it has some continuity It differentiates us from others, meaning it creates contrast We actively create our identity through our actions and goals Although our identity is out of our hands in some way, we can shape it to some degree We can vary greatly in how much we subscribe to our own identity Identity change and crisis As time goes on, our identity inherently changes both through our own choices and things that happen to us This tends to come with a degree of fear or anxiety as this change entails an aspect of uncertainty Identity crisis come during a time of change Identity deficit Some people, also have issues really subscribing to any identity and as such feel aimless When someone does not have an idea of who they are, they can’t really decide what “a person like me” would do This could be not really knowing who you are, or not knowing where you fit in Identity conflict We have many roles that we play and as such our identity is multi-faceted, however not all of these roles always “fit together” For example, I may have the identity of being a hard worker, but I also have an identity that really casts doubt on the culture of “grinding” or I believe in the importance of work-life balance These two identities both inform my behavior in different ways that inherently do not match Identity crises (deficit and conflict) tend to occur during two key life phases Adolescents due to the formative nature, this is often the time when identity is really becoming reinforced and more nuanced Middle-aged, this is believed to be the case as individuals tend to have enough of their life to reflect upon and can begin to make judgements about where they are at life and where they ought to be Resolving crises Much of the work requires deeper thought, learning, and introspection A choice must be made as to what values, predispositions and interests really speak to us Our decisions then must turn into action in order to reinforce and “live” our identity Over time, these identities will become reinforced and stronger, unless another crises emerges