Topic 1 – Psycholinguistic Inquiry

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

1. Define language.
2. Explain what language users know.
3. Define psycholinguistics.
4. Describe Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasia.
5. Identify brain functions related to language ability.
6. Discuss the importance of animal communication.

Introduction

 Imagine a world without words – it’s hard to do.

 Language is essential to life and often taken for granted.
 Everyday skills like listening, speaking, reading, and writing seem simple but involve
complex processes.
 Example: Answering a child’s question with "apple" involves:
o Quick word retrieval from a large vocabulary.
o Knowing the right word to use.
 Simple expressions like "Thank you" involve encoding feelings and understanding
messages.

Topic Overview

 This topic explores:

1. The focus of psycholinguistics.
2. Definition and conventions of language use.
3. Brain functions and language capacity.
4. The role of animal communication in understanding human language.

1.1 The Focus of Psycholinguistic Inquiry (Simplified)

1.1.1 Language
Activity 1.1

 Question: How does language distinguish humans from animals in communication?

 Examples of Communication (Figure 1.1):
o (a) Bee dances when nectar is found.
o (b) Baby cries when wet.
o (c) Dog barks at strangers.
o (d) Teacher says, "Good morning, class."
 Key Point: Only (d) represents true language use, involving structured and
meaningful interaction.
Characteristics of Human Language (Figure 1.2):

1. Infinite creativity – Ability to create unlimited new sentences.

2. Hierarchical structure – Language is organized in levels (words, phrases,
sentences).
3. Rule-governed – Follows grammatical rules.
4. Concept variety – Can express a wide range of ideas.
5. Displacement – Ability to discuss things beyond the present (past/future events).
6. Arbitrary symbols – Words have no direct connection to their meaning.
Key Takeaways:

 Animal communication is limited compared to human language.

 Non-human primates can learn some vocabulary, but debate continues on whether
they use language like humans.
 Most languages are spoken; speaking usually develops before reading and writing.
 Some languages use signs or gestures, highlighting different forms of human
communication.

1.1.2 Oral, Signed, and Written Languages (Simplified)

 Types of Languages:
o Oral/Aural: Spoken and heard (most common).
o Signed: Uses hand shapes, movements, and spatial placement (e.g., ASL).
o Written: Not all languages have a writing system.
 Key Points:
o Spoken and signed languages are processed similarly in the brain.
o Brain damage affects both spoken and signed languages in comparable ways.
o Writing systems developed later than speech and vary widely (covered in
Topic 3).

1.1.3 What Language Users Know (Simplified)

Language is complex and analyzed at multiple levels. Users need to understand and produce
language successfully.

1. Phonology

 Recognize and produce meaningful sounds (phonemes and allophones).

 Understand phonotactics (rules for sound combinations).
 Interpret prosody (stress and intonation patterns).

2. Lexicon and Semantics

 Maintain a large mental vocabulary (lexicon).

 Understand word meanings (semantics).
 Differentiate between content and function words.

3. Morphology

 Identify and use morphemes (smallest meaningful units).

 Recognize:
o Free morphemes – Can stand alone (e.g., "book").
o Bound morphemes – Attached to other words (e.g., "-s").
o Derivational morphemes – Change word meaning (e.g., "happy" →
"happiness").
o Inflectional morphemes – Indicate tense, number, etc. (e.g., "walk" →
"walked").

4. Syntax

 Form grammatical sentences by combining words correctly.

 Use coordination (joining equal parts) and subordination (adding dependent
clauses).
 Handle ambiguity in sentences.

5. Pragmatics and Discourse

 Interpret oral and written communication in context (discourse).

 Make the right linguistic choices for different functions (pragmatics).

1.1.4 The Psycholinguistic Inquiry (Simplified)

 Psycholinguistics is a relatively new science but has gained importance due to

globalization and language spread (especially English).

Three Major Concerns of Psycholinguistics (Clark & Clark, 1977):

1. Acquisition – How People Learn Language

o Focuses on language development (how children acquire language).
o Includes second language acquisition (SLA).
o Examines the brain’s role in language learning.
2. Comprehension – How People Understand Language
 o Studies how people perceive and understand speech and writing.
o Analyzes:
 Speech signals and word recognition.
 Sentence processing.
 Understanding conversations and texts (discourse).
3. Production – How People Produce Language
o Focuses on how thoughts are translated into speech and writing.
o Studies speech errors and disfluencies to understand hidden processes of
language production.

 Goal of Psycholinguistics:
o Create a comprehensive understanding of:
 How language is perceived and produced.
 How children acquire language abilities.

1.2 The Brain and Language (Simplified)

 The Brain and Language:

o The brain plays a critical role in language processing.
o It consists of two hemispheres (right and left), each divided into four lobes,
controlling different functions.
1.2.1 Lateralisation (Brain Function Separation):

 Lateralisation – Specific brain areas handle functions like language, cognition, and
emotion.
 Left Hemisphere – Known as the language center due to specialized areas for
language processing.
 Significance in Language Learning:
o Lateralisation triggers innate language abilities.
o Ongoing debate about when lateralisation starts and how long it lasts in
children.

1.2.2 Broca's Area (Speech Production):

 Located in the left hemisphere.

 Function: Controls speech and language production.
 Process:
1. Linguistic input is processed and understood.
2. Impulses are sent to Broca’s area.
3. Broca’s area directs the speech mechanism to form the correct response.

1.2.3 Wernicke's Area (Language Comprehension):

 Located in the left hemisphere.

 Function: Responsible for language comprehension.
 Process:
1. Visual or auditory stimuli are processed as electrical impulses.
2. Wernicke’s area interprets these impulses, allowing listening and seeing.
1.2.4 Aphasia (Simplified)

 Aphasia:
o Language disorder caused by damage to Broca’s or Wernicke’s areas.
o Leads to serious language impairments.

Types of Aphasia:

1. Broca’s Aphasia (Speech Production Impairment):

o Symptoms:
 Speech is short and telegraphic.
 Language remains meaningful.
o Cause:
 Impulses cannot pass from Broca’s area to speech mechanisms.
 Understanding is intact, but speech response is impaired.
2. Wernicke’s Aphasia (Comprehension Impairment):
o Symptoms:
 Fluent but nonsensical speech.
 Grammatically correct but lacks meaning.
o Cause:
 Brain cannot process input correctly.
  Results in poor comprehension and nonsensical responses.

1.3 Animal Communication (Simplified)

 Animal Communication Overview:

o Animals use signals to express danger, hunger, and fear.
o Some believe dolphin/whale communication may rival human language.
o Psycholinguists explore if animals can use or acquire language like humans.

Key Questions Psycholinguists Ask:

1. Are humans the only species with language?

2. Can any other species acquire language?
3. Is speech unique to humans?

Significance of Research:

 Despite high intelligence in animals (e.g., dolphins, chimpanzees), they may lack
language ability.
 This suggests language is genetically programmed and distinct from general
intelligence.
 Language may be what makes humans unique.

Next Step:

 Compare human language and animal communication using ten key features
(Aitchison, 1998).
 If an animal naturally exhibits all ten features, it may indicate the ability to “talk.”

Key Features Distinguishing Human Language from Animal Communication

1. Arbitrariness:

 Human: Symbols (e.g., "dog") bear no inherent connection to what they represent.
 Animal: Signals often directly correlate with meaning (e.g., growls signify threat).

2. Semanticity:

 Human: Words consistently represent objects/actions (e.g., "chair" refers to all types
of chairs).
 Animal: Communication often reflects entire situations rather than specific objects.

3. Cultural Transmission:
  Human: Language is passed down through generations by teaching.
 Animal: Most communication is instinctual rather than taught.

4. Spontaneous Usage:

 Human: Speech is freely initiated without external pressure.

 Animal: Spontaneous communication exists but is often limited to specific situations.

5. Turn-Taking:

 Human: Speakers alternate in conversation.

 Animal: Birds and some animals also exhibit turn-taking (e.g., duets).

6. Duality (Double Articulation):

 Human: Basic sounds (phonemes) form meaningful words (e.g., [k][a][t] = "cat").
 Animal: Bird songs also combine notes, but this dual structure is rare.

7. Displacement:

 Human: Can discuss events/objects removed from the present (e.g., "next month").
 Animal: Limited displacement exists (e.g., bee dances indicating nectar location), but
it lacks full temporal and spatial references.

8. Structure Dependence:

 Human: Language relies on patterns and syntax rules (e.g., "He" and "The man" can
occupy the same syntactic position).
 Animal: No evidence suggests animals use structured syntactic patterns.

9. Creativity (Productivity):

 Human: Infinite combinations of words create new expressions.

 Animal: Communication is limited to a fixed set of signals (e.g., cicadas can produce
only four signals).

Conclusion:

 Creativity and structure dependence are the strongest indicators of uniquely human
language.
 While some features (e.g., arbitrariness, displacement) partially exist in animal
communication, none match the full complexity of human language.

Key Takeaways: Animal Communication vs. Human Language

1. Limited Feature Utilization in Animals:

 No animal naturally uses all ten features of human language.

  Birdsong exhibits duality, and bee dances show displacement.
 Semanticity and structure dependence appear absent in animal communication.

2. Creativity as a Defining Element:

 Animal communication is fixed and instinct-driven.

 Even intelligent animals lack the ability to generate infinite new expressions like
humans.

3. Ape Language Studies:

 Apes can handle arbitrary symbols and some displacement/creativity.

 Despite these capabilities, structure and complexity are minimal.
 Apes' communication lacks the depth and spontaneity of even basic human
language.

4. The Uniqueness of Human Language:

 Language in humans is deeply tied to cognition and creativity.

 While animals show glimpses of language features, full linguistic capacity remains
unique to humans.

5. Future Possibilities:

 Although speculative, ongoing research may lead to breakthroughs.

 The possibility of interspecies communication akin to Dr. Doolittle remains uncertain
but intriguing.

Here are 15 multiple-choice questions based on the topic of psycholinguistics, the brain and
language, and animal communication:

1. What is the primary concern of psycholinguistics?

A) The study of animal communication patterns
B) The examination of human language acquisition, comprehension, and production
C) The analysis of cultural differences in communication
D) The design of speech recognition software

2. Which brain area is primarily responsible for speech production?

A) Wernicke’s Area
B) Broca’s Area
C) Occipital Lobe
D) Hippocampus

3. Damage to Broca’s area typically results in:

A) Inability to comprehend speech
B) Fluent but nonsensical speech
C) Short, telegraphic speech that retains meaning
D) Total loss of memory
4. What type of aphasia is characterized by fluent but meaningless speech?
A) Broca’s Aphasia
B) Global Aphasia
C) Conduction Aphasia
D) Wernicke’s Aphasia

5. Which of the following is NOT considered one of the three major concerns of
psycholinguistics?
A) Language Acquisition
B) Speech Comprehension
C) Speech Production
D) Genetic Evolution of Language

6. Lateralisation of brain function indicates that:

A) Both hemispheres perform identical functions
B) The right hemisphere controls all language processing
C) Certain cognitive functions, like language, are handled predominantly by one hemisphere
D) Emotional responses are controlled by the spinal cord

7. What is the primary function of Wernicke’s area?

A) Motor coordination
B) Processing and comprehension of languag
C) Regulating emotions
D) Vision and spatial awareness

8. Which feature of human language allows us to talk about things not present in the
immediate environment?
A) Arbitrariness
B) Displacement
C) Semanticity
D) Duality

9. What distinguishes human language from animal communication in terms of

productivity?
A) Animals can invent new signals constantly
B) Human language can produce and understand an infinite number of novel utterances
C) Animals use more complex grammar
D) Human communication relies only on non-arbitrary symbols

10. Which of the following features is believed to be uniquely human?

A) Duality
B) Arbitrariness
C) Structure Dependence
D) Vocal-Auditory Channel

11. A chimpanzee's ability to learn sign language demonstrates:

A) Complete mastery of human language
B) Partial acquisition of certain language features
C) Lack of intelligence
D) Full displacement and semanticity
12. Which of the following animals demonstrates partial displacement through
communication?
A) Dolphins
B) Bees
C) Dogs
D) Cats

13. The ability to recognize the structured patterns of language, such as syntax, is
known as:
A) Semanticity
B) Cultural Transmission
C) Structure Dependence
D) Turn-taking

14. What is an example of cultural transmission in language?

A) A bird instinctively singing its species' song
B) A child learning a language from their parents
C) A dog barking at strangers
D) A lion’s roar to signal territory

15. Which of the following language features describes using meaningless units like
phonemes to create meaningful words?
A) Arbitrariness
B) Creativity
C) Duality
D) Displacement

Answers:

1. B) The examination of human language acquisition, comprehension, and production

2. B) Broca’s Area
3. C) Short, telegraphic speech that retains meaning
4. D) Wernicke’s Aphasia
5. D) Genetic Evolution of Language
6. C) Certain cognitive functions, like language, are handled predominantly by one
hemisphere
7. B) Processing and comprehension of language
8. B) Displacement
9. B) Human language can produce and understand an infinite number of novel
utterances
10. C) Structure Dependence
11. B) Partial acquisition of certain language features
12. B) Bees
13. C) Structure Dependence
14. B) A child learning a language from their parents
15. C) Duality