WK9 L2: Word Learning

• What is the focus of today's lecture in PS210?

  How new words are added to the brain
• What are the learning outcomes of the lecture?

  Understand mechanisms of adding new words
• Which brain area is associated with familiar words?

  Medial Temporal Lobe
• How are familiar words represented in the brain?

  They are distributed across multiple brain areas
• What factors influence the distribution of familiar word representation?

  Relatedness to hand or foot actions
• What supports the quick learning of familiar words?

  The hippocampus
• What is the role of the hippocampus in learning new words?

  It acts as a fast learner
• What is consolidation in the context of memory?

  Offloading memories to the neocortex
• Why is consolidation necessary for new words?

  The hippocampus has limited capacity
• What happens to new word memories over time?

  They are transferred to the neocortex
• When does consolidation occur?

  24/7
• What is the effect of lexical competition in psycholinguistic tasks?

  Slower recognition of words with many competitors
• What does the term "phonologically/orthographic neighbours" refer to?

  Words that sound or look similar
• What is the significance of the word "breash" in the study?

  It competes with "bread" and "break"
• How does sleep affect lexical competition?

  It reduces interference from sensory input
• What is the role of deep sleep in memory consolidation?

  Facilitates memory replay of learned words
• What is targeted memory reactivation?

  Boosting memory replay during deep sleep
• Why do we need two systems for memory?

  To maintain knowledge and learn new things
• How does the hippocampus differ from the neocortex in memory processing?

  Hippocampus is context-specific, neocortex is context-independent

  
• What are the characteristics of the complementary learning system?

  • Hippocampus: Rapid encoding, limited capacity
  • Neocortex: Potentially unlimited storage, more resistant to decay
  • Prevents catastrophic interference
  • Sleep facilitates consolidation of new words
• What are the reasons why sleep facilitates consolidation?

  1. Less incoming sensory input during sleep
  2. Deep sleep enhances memory replay
  3. Targeted memory reactivation boosts consolidation
• What are the implications of having two memory systems?

  • Allows for generalization across experiences
  • Supports flexible memory use
  • Maintains knowledge while learning new things