11. Lang & Cognition

• Language


  A system of communication used by humans, typically consisting of a set of sounds, gestures, and symbols with agreed-upon meanings. It enables individuals to express thoughts, ideas, emotions, and information, and it facilitates social interaction, knowledge transmission, and cultural expression.
• Language


  A cognitive system that enables individuals to perceive, comprehend, and produce linguistic structures. It encompasses grammar, vocabulary, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, allowing for the creation and interpretation of meaningful messages.

  
• Language plays a vital role in cognitive processes such as perception, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Language


  • A way we use to talk to each other
  • We can talk by saying words or using gestures like waving or nodding
  • Language helps us to arrange words in a specific way so others can understand us
  • It uses symbols to talk about things that aren't here right now
• Language


  • Must be learnable by children
  • Must be able to be spoken and understood readily by adults
  • Must capture ideas that people normally communicate
  • Must enable communication among groups of people in a social and cultural context

  
• Semanticity


  Language expressions, like words or sentences, carry meaning. Besides, there's also non-verbal communication like coughing to convey a message.
• Arbitrariness


  In language, the connection between the sounds we make and their meanings is random. To understand and speak language, we need to learn and remember these connections. Language allows for flexibility, letting us use new terms when old ones become outdated.
• Displacement


  Language allows us to talk about things beyond the present moment. We can discuss the past or imagine the future, giving us the ability to refer to events or situations not happening right now.
• Generativity (Productivity)


  Language is creative; speakers can come up with new sentences and ideas. This means we can invent new ways of expressing ourselves and communicating with others.
• Language is a fundamental aspect of cognition, influencing various cognitive processes.
• Cognitive psychologists study how language is processed, understood, and produced in the mind.

  
• Language provides a means for thought expression, problem-solving, and communication.
• Components of Language


  • Lexicon
  • Grammar
  • Phoneme
  • Morpheme
  • Semantics
  • Syntax
• Language is more generative-Generativity means that language speakers can create new sentences to express ideas they've never encountered before.
• Language Development Stages


  • Crying
  • Cooing
  • Babbling
  • One word utterances
  • Two word utterances
  • Sentence Phase
  • Complex sentences; has conversations
• Language Processing Stages


  • Perception of spoken or written words
  • Comprehension of the meaning of words and sentences
  • Production of language through speaking or writing
• Theories of Language Acquisition


  • Behaviorist Theory
  • Nativist Theory
  • Interactionist (Functional) Theory

  
• Language plays a crucial role in memory processes: Verbal information is often easier to remember than non-verbal information, and language provides organizational structures that aid memory retrieval.
• Language facilitates problem-solving by providing a means for representing problems and solutions, allowing individuals to verbalize and analyze problem-solving strategies, and enabling collaboration and communication.
• Language influences decision-making processes: The way options are described can significantly impact decisions, language provides a medium for weighing pros and cons and evaluating risks, and metacognitive language can influence decision-making strategies and outcomes.
• Cognitive processes such as attention, perception, and memory play vital roles in understanding spoken and written language. Comprehension involves the integration of linguistic input with prior knowledge and context.

  
• Generating spoken or written language involves complex cognitive processes, including planning, lexical retrieval, syntactic encoding, and articulation. Cognition influences the selection of words, sentence structures, and communicative strategies based on communicative goals and contextual factors.
• Cognitive abilities such as learning, memory, and problem-solving are essential for language acquisition. Children's ability to acquire language involves cognitive processes such as pattern recognition, hypothesis testing, and generalization.

  
• Semantic processing, syntactic processing, and pragmatic understanding rely on cognitive mechanisms to enable individuals to encode, store, retrieve, and manipulate linguistic information.
• Language Acquisition Device (LAD)


  A hypothetical mental structure that enables children to acquire language rapidly, allowing them to generate language based on innate linguistic knowledge rather than mere imitation.

  
• Universal Grammar


  A framework proposed by Chomsky, suggesting that humans are born with an innate linguistic capacity that provides a foundation for language acquisition. It includes innate linguistic rules and structures common to all languages.

  
• Chomsky's theories on language acquisition have sparked debates and criticisms within the field of linguistics, with critics arguing about the extent of innateness in language acquisition and the nature of Universal Grammar.

  
• Broca's Area is associated with language production and speech fluency, while Wernicke's Area is involved in language comprehension and understanding. The Arcuate Fasciculus is a neural pathway connecting these two areas.
• Studying language disorders such as aphasia, dyslexia, and specific language impairment provides insights into the relationship between language and cognition, helping researchers understand the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying language processing.

  
• Language disorders such as Specific Language Impairment and Developmental Dyslexia have neurobiological underpinnings, as revealed by neuroimaging studies showing differences in brain structure and function compared to typically developing individuals.

  
• Broca's Aphasia is a condition where understanding language remains intact, but speaking coherently is impaired due to disruption in the Broca's Speech Area, which is part of the brain's vocal motor control.
• Language is a fundamental aspect of cognition, influencing perception, memory, problem-solving, and decision-making processes. Cognitive psychology explores how language is processed, acquired, and utilized in the mind, enhancing our understanding of human thought and behavior.