Unit VIII. Psycholinguistics

Task 1. Read and translate the text “Psycholinguistics”:

Psycholinguistics or psychology of language is the study of the psychological and neurobiological factors that enable humans to acquire, use and understand language. Initial forays into psycholinguistics were largely philosophical ventures, mainly due to a lack of cohesive data on how the human brain functioned. Modern research makes use of biology, neuroscience, cognitive science and information theory to study how the brain processes language. There is a number of sub-disciplines; for example, as non-invasive techniques for study neurological working of the brain became widespread, neurolinguistics has become a field of its own.

Psycholinguistics covers cognitive processes that make possible generating a grammatical and meaningful sentence out of vocabulary and grammatical structures, as well as processes that make possible understanding utterances, words, texts, etc. Developmental psycholinguistics studies children’s ability to learn a language.

Theories on language working in human mind attempt to account for how people associate meaning with the sounds (or signs) of language and how syntax is used, i.e. how people manage to put words in the proper order to produce and understand the strings of words which are called sentences. The first is the least controversial and is generally held to be an area in which animal and human communication have something in common.

There are essentially two schools of thought as to how people manage to create syntactic sentences: (1) syntax is an evolutionary product of increased human intelligence over time and social factors that encouraged the development of spoken language; (2) language exists because humans possess an innate ability, an access to what has been called a universal grammar. This point of view says that human ability for syntax is “hard-wired” in the brain.

The first view was prevalent until 1960 and is well represented in mentalistic theories of Jean Piaget and empiricist Rudolf Carnap. The school of behaviorism put forth the point of view that language is behaviour shaped by conditioned response. The second point of view have begun with Noam Chomsky’s highly critical review of Skinner’s book in 1959 on the pages of the journal Language. That review started what has been termed the cognitive revolution in psychology.

Much methodology in psycholinguistics takes the form of behavioral experiments. In these types of studies subjects are presented with some form of linguistic input and asked to perform a task (e.g. make a judgement, reproduce the stimulus, read a visually presented word aloud). Reaction times (usually on the order of milliseconds) and proportion of correct responses are the most often employed measures of performance.

Until the recent advent of non-invasive medical techniques, brain surgery was the preferred way for language researchers to discover how language works in the brain. For example, severing the corpus callosum (the bundle of nerves that connects the two hemispheres of the brain) was at one time a treatment for some forms of epilepsy. Researchers could then study the ways in which the comprehension and production of language were affected by such a drastic surgery. If an illness made brain surgery necessary, language researchers had an opportunity to pursue their research.

Computational modeling, e.g. the DRC model of reading and word recognition proposed by Coltheart and colleagues, is a newer methodology. It refers to the practice of setting up cognitive models in the form of executable computer programmes. Such programs are useful because they require theorists to be explicit in their hypotheses and they can be used to generate accurate predictions for theoretical models that are so complex that they render discursive analysis unreliable.

More recently, eye-tracking has been used to study online language processing. Beginning with Rayner the importance and informativity of eye-movements during reading was established. Since eye movements are closely linked to the current focus of attention, language processing can be studied by monitoring eye movements while a subject is presented with linguistic input (from http://en.wikipedia.org).

Task 2. Translate the words and word combinations into Russian:

1) neurobiological factors; 2) sub-discipline; 3) to understand utterances; 4) the least controversial; 5) universal grammar; 6) empiricist; 7) proportion of correct responses; 8) two hemispheres of the brain; 9) computational modeling; 10) eye movements.

Task 3. In the text “Psycholinguistics” find English equivalents to the following Russian words and phrases:

1) недостаток связующих данных; 2) порождать грамматически правильное, наполненное смыслом предложение; 3) ассоциировать значение со звуками; 4) продукт эволюции; 5) менталистская теория; 6) время реакции; 7) предпочитаемый способ; 8) радикальная хирургия; 9) дискурсивный анализ.

Task 4. In the text “Psycholinguistics” find synonyms to the following words:

1) psychology of language; 2) because of, thanks to; 3) to produce; 4) to study; 5) chain; 6) to do a task; 7) answer; 8) understanding.

Task 5. In the text “Psycholinguistics” find antonyms to the following words:

1) old; 2) impossible; 3) to decrease; 4) theorist; 5) health; 6) non-invasive techniques; 7) useless; 8) implicit; 9) reliable.

Task 6. Match words and their definitions:

1. foray	a. to see or describe a future happening in advance as a result of knowledge, experience, thought, etc.
2. venture	b. a sudden rush into enemy country, usually by a small number of soldiers, in order to damage or seize arms, food, etc.
3. cohesion	c. the act or state of sticking together tightly
4. syntax	d. a course of action, especially in business, of which the result is uncertain and there is a risk of loss or failure as well as a chance of gain and success
5. to predict	e. the rules of grammar which are used for ordering or connecting words to form phrases or sentences

Task 7. Answer the questions:

1) What does psycholinguistics study?

2) Data of what sciences does the psycholinguistics use?

3) What does developmental psycholinguistics examine?

4) What is syntax?

5) What are the schools of thought dealing with syntactic structures in the language?

6) When was the evolutionary view on syntax famous?

7) Who were the followers of evolutionary theory of syntax?

8) Who was the founder of universal grammar approach?

9) What are the methods used in psycholinguistics?

10) How can you describe a computational modeling?

Task 8. Say whether the following statements are true or false, correct the false statements:

1) Initial steps in psycholinguistics were theoretically based.

2) Psycholinguistics is a single science and it does not have any sub-disciplines.

3) The subject of psycholinguistics does not include the process of understanding texts.

4) Human and animal communication have some common features.

5) A revolutionary theory of syntax says that grammar was created through increased human intelligence and social factors.

6) A universal grammar presupposes special syntax structures in the brain.

7) Noam Chomsky criticized R. Carnap’s book.

8) B.F. Skinner was the father of cognitive revolution in psychology.

9) The majority of psycholinguistic methods came from physiology.

10) Nowadays language researchers prefer to use brain surgery in their experiments.

11) Eye tracking is done in connection to understanding of bird languages.

Task 9. Read an abstract and choose the best variants of answers to the questions:

Psycholinguistics is an interdisciplinary science and is studied by people in a variety of fields, such as psychology, cognitive science. There are subdivisions within psycholinguistics that are based on the components making up human language.

Phonetics and phonology are concerned with the study of speech sounds. Within psycholinguistics, research focuses on how the brain processes and understands these sounds.

Morphology is the study of word structures, especially the relationships between related words (such as dog and dogs) and the formation of words based on rules (such as plural formation).

Syntax is the study of the patterns which dictate how words are combined together to form sentences.

Semantics deals with the meaning of words and sentences. Where as syntax is concerned with the formal structure of sentences, semantics deals with the actual meaning of sentences.

Pragmatics is concerned with the role of context in the interpretation of meaning.

The study of word recognition and reading examines the process involved in the extraction of orthographic, morphological, phonological, and semantic information from the patterns in printed text.

Developmental psycholinguistics studies infants’ and children’s ability to learn a language, usually with experimental or at least quantitative methods (as opposed to naturalistic observations such as those made by Jean Piaget in his research on children’s development) (from http://en.wikipedia.org).

Questions:

1) Are there any sub-divisions in psycholinguistics?

1. Yes, they are based on the components that make up language

2. Yes, they are based on the components of animal communication

3. No, there are no sub-divisions in psycholinguistics

2) What are the phonetics and phonology concerned with in linguistics?

1. study of brain processing and understanding of sounds

2. study of intonation in speech

3. study of speech sounds and intonation

3) What discipline examines word formation?

1. syntax

2. morphology

3. semantics

4) Which of the psycholinguistic sub-disciplines study the actual meaning of the sentence?

1. semantics

2. syntax

3. grammar

5) What is pragmatics?

1. it is concerned with the role of author’s intentions in the written text

2. it deals with the role of context in the interpretations of meaning

3. it tackles the problem of intonation in a foreign language

6) What are psychology related areas in psycholinguistics?

1. a study of extraction of actual meaning from different forms of language activities

2. a study of children’s ability to learn foreign languages

3. a study of word recognition and meaning of the text and developmental psycholinguistics

7) Are the methods proposed by Jean Piaget used in developmental psycholinguistics?

1. No, they are not. This science uses experimental and quantitative methods

2. No, they are not. This discipline makes use of naturalistic observations and the method of games

3. Yes, they are used very often

Task 10. Read an abstract and say whether these statements are true or false, correct false statements:

The field of psycholinguistics has been defined by reactions to N. Chomsky, pro and cons. The pro view still holds that human ability to use syntax is qualitatively different from any sort of animal communication. That ability might have resulted from a favourable mutation (extremely unlikely) or (more likely) from an adaptation of skills evolved for other purposes. That is, precise syntax might, indeed, serve group needs; better linguistic expression might produce more cohesion, cooperation, and potential for survival, but precise syntax can only have developed from rudimentary – or no – syntax, which would have had no survival value and, thus, would not have evolved at all. Thus, one looks for other skills, the characteristic of which might have later been useful for syntax. In the terminology of modern evolutionary biology, these skills would be “pre-adapted” for syntax. Just what those skills might have been is the focus of recent research – or, at least, speculation.

The con view still holds that language – including syntax – is an outgrowth of hundreds of thousands years of increasing intelligence and tens of thousands years of human interaction. From that view, syntax in language gradually increased group cohesion and potential for survival. Language is a cultural artifact. This view challenges the “innate” view as scientifically unfalsifiable; it can not be tested; the fact that a particular, conceivable syntactic structure does not exist in any of the world’s finite repertoire of languages is an interesting observation, but it is not proof of a genetic constraint on possible forms nor does it prove that such forms could not exist or could not be learned.

Contemporary theorists, besides N. Chomsky, working in the field of theories of psycholinguistics include George Lakoff, Steven Pinker, and Michael Tomasello (from http://en.wikipedia.org).

Statements:

1) N. Chomsky’s view on appearing of syntax is well-rooted in psycholinguistics.

2) The pro ideas say that human syntax is similar to animal communication.

3) The ability to use syntax was caused by a favourable mutation.

4) According to N. Chomsky, precise syntax could not serve group needs as it was used only in the inner speech.

5) Precise syntax has developed from rudimentary syntax which did not survive.

6) Scientists try to find some “post-adapted” skills that can lead to the use of syntax.

7) The con ideas insist that syntax has an evolutionary character.

8) According to pro view syntax helped to increase group cohesion and potential for survival.

9) The evolutionary view on syntax can be tested and proved in modern laboratories.

10) Contemporary theorists in the field of psycholinguistics are N. Chomsky and L.S. Vygotsky.

Task 11. Read an abstract and put proper words from the brackets into the blanks:

Psycholinguistics as an … (independent, undependent, irdependent) discipline was born in 1953 when there was an inter-university seminar in Indiana … (Johns, University, State) in the USA. It was organized by the US Linguistics and Psychology Committee headed by … (psychologist, psychologysts, psychologists) Charles Osgood and John Carrol and semiotic Thomas Sibeoc. This seminar resulted in … (publishing, publish, publishment) of “Psycholinguistics: A Survey on Theory and Research Problems” which covered main theoretic basis of the new science and … (unimportant, importance, important) branches of experimental research.

Theoretical foundations for the first psycholinguistic … (shool, school, chool) was C. Shennon’s mathematic connection theory, American descriptive linguistics and … (new behaviorism, neo-behaviorism, anew behaviorism) in psychology.

First steps of psycholinguistics were ruled … (by, on, through) behavioral principles. Thus, the object of study was a … (separated, some, separate) word, the subject dealt with connections between words in human verbal … (memorial, memory, member), analysis was based on stimulus-response scheme and associative link between them, … (methodology, maths, member) used associative experiment. The new was not in the area of ideas, which already … (investigate, created, existed) in psychology, but it was in new methodological schemes of analysis of human … (communication, community, communicative) which appeared in information theory and computer science.

Task 12. Read an abstract and put right words into the blanks. Take the words from the given list:

Psycholinguistics of the second … (1) is associated with psychologist J. Miller and linguist N. Chomsky. Their transformational psycholinguistics is mentalistic. It … (2) the process of learning and using formal language structures. It also formulates the laws of language forms of speaker’s … (3). They introduce the notion of superficial and deep levels of utterance generation. Scientists … (4) between communicative and non-communicative behaviour. Specific status of communicative behaviour is defined by the fact that … (5), a person should have pre-language knowledge, some mental … (6) which are cognitive instruments to learn a language. The process of learning a language is … (7) as mastering the abstract grammar structures and rules of their formation. These structures are considered to be … (8) and thus, learning a language is their actualization. … (9) suggested the rules of syntactic structures formation, so called generative grammar. He identified adults’ language ability with the system of generating sentences. N. Chomsky’s psycholinguistics is … (10). It limits psychological processes to realization of language structures in … (11).

Words: anti-psychological, examines, structures, content intentions, speech, generation, to master it, understood, inborn, differentiate, N. Chomsky.

Task 13. Translate an abstract into English:

Психолингвистика как теория речевой деятельности возникла в СССР в середине 60-х годов 20 века на базе деятельностного подхода к психике. Данный подход развивался с середины 1930-х годов в рамках психологической школы Л.С. Выготского и был связан с именами таких психологов, как А.Н. Леонтьев, А.С. Лурия, С.Л. Рубинштейн, М.Я. Басов и др. Основы теории речевой деятельности были сформулированы в работах А.А. Леонтьева. Основная черта теории речевой деятельности – это ее психологическая ориентация, в ней речь трактуется как активная и целенаправленная речевая деятельность. Единицей анализа является элементарное речевое действие и речевая операция. Эта единица должна нести в себе все основные признаки деятельности.

В современной отечественной психолингвистике используются прямые и косвенные методы экспериментального исследования, заимствованные у психологии и оригинальные. Например, метод семантического дифференциала Ч. Осгуда, метод семантического интеграла В.И. Батова и Ю.А. Сорокина, метод интент анализа Т.Н. Ушаковой и др. Наиболее распространенными в настоящее время являются различные методики ассоциативного эксперимента. Наряду с экспериментальными методами в психолингвистике используется наблюдение (и самонаблюдение), формирующие методы (в исследованиях овладения родным и иностранным языком), метод лингвистического эксперимента.

Task 14. Look through the words and correct mistakes:

1) neirobiological factors; 2) informashion theory; 3) nonivasive tehnicues; 4) grammartical stractures; 5) sintactic rules; 6) evolutinative product; 7) univesal gramar; 8) to be reprezented; 9) reaktion taim; 10) hemisferes of the brane.

Task 15. Compose sentences from the given words:

1) Pragmatics … and speakers’ intentions, of meaning, examines, in the interpretation, role of the context.

2) Followers … conditioned response, of syntax, is shaped by, of the evolutionary theory, think that language.

3) The corpus callosum … together, which link the two hemispheres, is the bundle of nerves, of the brain.

4) Positron emission … used to make, is a non-invasive technique, brain imaging, tomography.

5) There is … called aphasia, language deficits, a broad field, that deals with.

Task 16. Match the beginnings of the words with their endings:

a) neuro, wide, inter, relation, psycho, out, re, on.

b) ships, growth, science, linguistics, disciplinary, spread, produce, line.

Task 17. Match scientists’ names with their surnames. Say what these scientists are famous for:

1. Jean	a. Chomsky
2. Rudolf	b. Vygotsky
3. Noam	c. Osgood
4. George	d. Piaget
5. Charles	e. Sibeoc
6. Thomas	f. Carnap
7. Lev Semjonovich	g. Lakoff

Task 18. Read abstracts and translate Russian words in brackets into English:

a) The first view on appearance of syntax claims that (сложные синтаксические функции) such as recursion are beyond even the potential abilities of the most (умных) and social non-humans. Recursion includes the use of (относительных местоимений) to refer back to earlier parts of a sentence. For example, “The girl whose car is blocking my view of the tree that I planted last year is my friend”. The innate view (заявляет) that the ability to use syntax like that would not exist without an innate concept that contains the underpinnings for the (грамматических правил) that produce recursion. Children acquiring a language, thus, have a vast search space to explore among (возможных) human grammars, setting, logic, on the languages spoken or signed in their own (сообщество) of speakers. Such syntax is, (согласно) the second point of view, something that defines language and makes it different from even the most sophisticated forms of animal communication.

b) Tasks in psycholinguistics might include, for example, asking the subject to (конвертировать, перевести) nouns into verbs, e.g. “book” suggests “to write”, “water” suggests “to drink” and so on. Another (эксперимент) might present an active sentence such as “Bob threw the ball to Bill” and a (страдательный эквивалент), “The ball was thrown to Bill by Bob” and then ask the question, “Who threw the ball?” We might (сделать вывод) that active sentences are processed more easily, and faster than passive sentences. (Более интересно) we might also find out that some people are (не могут) to understand passive sentences; we might then make some tentative steps towards (понимание) certain types of language deficits, generally grouped under the (общим термином) aphasia.