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428 views3 pagesPsycholinguistics Assignment
The document discusses the concept of modularity in human cognitive architecture. It proposes that the human mind contains an innate language module - a system of neural tissue that specifically processes speech. This view is associated with the nativist perspective that language is genetically determined. The document provides arguments that support the existence of a language module, including evidence that nearly all infants achieve full language competence regardless of other cognitive abilities, and cases where language impairment is dissociated from general intelligence. It also discusses different models of language processing, including modular, autonomous, interactive, and highly interactive models.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
428 views3 pagesPsycholinguistics Assignment
The document discusses the concept of modularity in human cognitive architecture. It proposes that the human mind contains an innate language module - a system of neural tissue that specifically processes speech. This view is associated with the nativist perspective that language is genetically determined. The document provides arguments that support the existence of a language module, including evidence that nearly all infants achieve full language competence regardless of other cognitive abilities, and cases where language impairment is dissociated from general intelligence. It also discusses different models of language processing, including modular, autonomous, interactive, and highly interactive models.
Uploaded by
Saman KhanCopyright
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Maheen Rahman
Roll no:46
Subject: Psycholinguistics
Topic: Modularity
Submitted to: Sir Haseeb
Modularity: The notion that human cognitive architecture includes a module for language, i.e.,
an innate system of neural tissue that responds only to speech.
Association with Nativist View: It is especially associated with
the nativist view that language is genetically transmitted.
Arguments in favor of modularity include the fact nearly every
infant manages to achieve full linguistic competence, regardless of
variations in intelligence and in ability to perform other cognitive
functions. There are also forms of impairment where language and
general intelligence seem dissociated:
➢ In specific language impairment, sufferers show signs of normal
cognitive development but their language remains incomplete in
certain important features (particularly inflections and function
words).
➢ . Williams Syndrome presents the opposite symptoms. Sufferers
show signs of cognitive impairment, including low IQs. However,
language is spared; indeed Williams sufferers are often extremely
communicative and their vocabulary and speaking skills may be
above normal at early ages.
➢ . A remarkable case has been identified of a savant named
Christopher who was diagnosed as brain-damaged and has to live
in care but who is able to translate into and out of sixteen
languages.
MODULARITY2 (also AUTONOMY)
A view that each level of language processing operates independently
of the others.
In an autonomous model, each level achieves an output, which it
then passes on to the level above. This enables the processor to
accurately interpret a sequence such as /kA:dn/ at phoneme level
without suffering bias from the fact that the sequence closely resembles
the word GARDEN. The latter consideration only comes into play
when the output of phoneme processing reaches word level. The
advantage of having information encapsulated in this way is that the
processor can focus on one set of criteria at a time.
An alternative view regards language processing as interactive. At
the very least, this implies that information from a particular level can
influence processing at the level immediately above or below: thus, in
the example just given, there would be an interaction between the
phonemic evidence and the knowledge from word level of the
existence of GARDEN.
In a highly interactive model, all levels of processing influence all
others in both a bottom-up and a top-down way. Thus, our
recognition of the word GARDEN might be influenced by the
preceding context: My neighbor’s planting flowers in his-. The advantage
of this kind of model is that all sources of information can be
considered at once in order to resolve ambiguities. The disadvantage is
that decisions become much more complex and thus, in principle,
make heavier demands on working memory.
Discussion of modularity is much influenced by Fodor (1983). He
views the mind as composed of a set of central systems which handle
generalized operations such as attention or memory. These are
supplied with information by input systems which process sensory
information and language. The input systems are modular and each has
specific functions. Fodor characterizes the systems as:
. Domain specific. Input via the ears is processed as simple auditory
input in the case of music or the noise of traffic, but is recoded
phonologically by the speech module if it takes the form of speech.
Mandatory. We cannot help hearing an utterance as an example of
speech.
. Fast. The processes are highly automatic.
. Informationally encapsulated. A module receives information from
other modules and passes it on, but its immediate operation is not
affected by information contained elsewhere. So, while engaged in
processing a spoken word we cannot use context to identify the
word more quickly (this does not preclude the use of contextual
information at a later, post-perceptual stage).
. Localised. Input systems are part of the hard-wiring of the brain; there
is a fixed neural architecture for each.