Psycholinguistics - a dead discipline?
? term coined in 1954 (Osgood)
psychology linguisticspsycho-linguistics
? aim,to describe the exact operation of the brain during
the production or processing of language
A paradigm shift in linguistics:
? refutes behaviorism
?proposes the,mentalist” approach
? considers linguistics a subfield of cognitive psychology
1957,publication of,Syntactic structures” by Chomsky
Behaviorism in linguistics
and psychology:
? reduces mental activity and cognition to
implicit,observable behavior
? behavior is explained as a relationship
between input and output (i.e,stimulus
and response)
? studies of speech behavior and the sound
system prevailed
?cf,Skinner,B.F.:,Verbal Behavior” (1957)
Areas of psycholinguistic interest:
? language acquisition (L1 and L2)
? language comprehension
(includes symbol recognition,speech
perception)
? language simulation (NLP,PDP)
? concepts of reality and language
? memory constraints (STM/LTM research)
? knowledge representation
? strategies of learning
Psycholinguistics and related disciplines
“classic” psycholinguistics:
- language acquisition
- language impairment
- aphasia research
- reaction times
- ERP measurements
Psycholinguistics and related disciplines
areas of psycholinguistic research:
? computability of language processing
? neuroscience / neurolinguistics
? cognitive abilities (vision,motor control...)
? conceptualization
? symbolization
Classic psycholinguistics
concerned with:
psychological processes that make acquisition
and use of language possible approaches (cf,
Clark & Clark)
1,language comprehension (spoken and
written)
2,speech production
3,language acquisition
Psycholinguistics - the extended view
concerned with:
language as a cognitive system internalized
within the human mind/brain.
ultimate goal,to characterize this internalized
system -
I language (Chomsky)
Classic approaches in psycholinguistics
1,language comprehension (spoken and
written)
- comprehension at various depth levels
- speech perception
- lexical decoding
- sentence processing
- text processing
Classic approaches in psycholinguistics
2,Speech production
- reoccurring patterns of speech
- typical errors
- response times
- relation of speech to concepts
- speech impairments
Classic approaches in psycholinguistics
3,Language acquisition
- L1 acquisition (developmental
psycholinguistics)
- L2 learning strategy research
- acquisition constraints
Neurological foundations of language
correspondence hypothesis:
particular areas of the neocortex are
responsible for human language faculty
? local results from aphasia research
? temporal results from ERP measurements
aphasia,impairment or loss of language
ability due to brain damage.
Neurological foundations of language
Paul Broca,lateralization of language
- located lesions in left
hemisphere
- related handedness to speech
capability
- plasticity of the brain (i.e,
temporal variability)
- migration of neurons
- time constraints in acquisition
Neurological foundations of language
Carl Wernicke,- separated the auditory
nerve (cranial nerve from
ear to cortex) along the
planum temporale in the left
hemisphere
Language-related areas of the brain
Language-related areas of the brain
Broca aphasics:
? nonfluent
? agrammatical
? morphemeless
? unimpaired
comprehension
Wernicke aphasics:
? fluent (logorrheic)
? impaired meanings
? neologisms
? severely impaired
comprehension
Language-related areas of the brain
? spatial,lateral distribution
- detectable in lesions
- PET,fMRI scans
? temporal,brain plasticity
- performance patterns
- physiological changes during L1
acquisition
- learnability constraints
The paradox of psycholinguistics
L1 acquisition enables children to produce
virtually infinite amounts of linguistic data.
Input includes:
? distorted input (also,deviant input; Chomsky)
can be,mispronounciations,slips of the tongue
? omitted rules
inference of rules out of defective material
? negative evidence
= pointing at errors
typical errors in L1,*go-ed
atypical errors,*I no like syntax.
The paradox of psycholinguistics
phases in L1 acquisition
single-word stage:
? at 12 months,first recognizable words
? until 18 months,vocabulary increase
? 3 words/month (apple,up...)
? no evidence of grammar acquisition
? no inflection (plural-s,past-ed)
The paradox of psycholinguistics
phases in L1 acquisition
after 18 months:
? acquisition of grammar begins
? productive use of inflections
? elementary 2-3 word utterances
after 30 months:
? acquisition of most inflections
? core grammatical constructions
? adultlike,multiword speech
Learnability constraints
critical-period hypothesis (Lenneberg et al.)
?? age constraints in L1/L2 acquisition
? age estimates between 11-18
Learnability constraints
ssdsadsadasdasddasd
Version one,the exercise hypothesis,Early in
life,humans have a superior capacity for
acquiring languages,If the capacity is not
exercised [… ] it will disappear or decline with
maturation,If the capacity is exercised [… ]
language learning abilities will remain intact
throughout life.
Version two,the maturational state hypothesis.
Early in life,humans have a superior capacity for
learning languages,This capacity disappears or
declines with maturation.
J.S,Johnson/ E.L.Newport in Johnson,Mark (ed.) 1996,pp.250.
Explainability of cognitive phenomena
1,Empirism
2,Operationalism
3,Instrumentalism
4,Idealism
5,Realism
linguistics,
psychology,
sociology...
physics,astronomy...
Explainability of cognitive phenomena
1,Empirism
- knowledge as a collection of facts
- universals are not obtainable
- theories are summaries of observations
2,Operationalism
- science is a system of rules
- theories are tools for manipulation
Explainability of cognitive phenomena
3,Instrumentalism
- not the meaning of words is important but
the way we use them
- theories are instruments of experience
- there is no,inner truth”
5,Realism
- laws have a relationship to reality that is relevant
- tool,observation
Chomsky theory,an introduction
? refutes structuralism,taxonomy (Harris,Bloomfield)
? refutes behaviorism (Skinner,Osgood)
? continues tradition of Descartes (Dualism)
? language acquisition is determined by a LAD
(language acquisition device) on the basis of a UG
?the LAD is a mental organ
?theory is primary,data is secondary
?for cognition and language the
computer metaphor applies
Chomsky theory,an introduction
1957,Syntactic Structures”
? set of kernel sentences generate
all possible sentences of a language
kernel ? transformation rules ? final phrases
- a purely syntactic theory
- transformations are algorithmic procedures
- "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."
Chomsky theory,an introduction
1965,Aspects of the theory of syntax”
? so-called Standard Theory (ST)
? involves phonology,semantics
Deep structures ?Surface structures
(semantics) (phonology)
Two subfields emerge,
1,Generative semantics (Katz,Postal)
2,Extended Standard Theory (EST)
(Chomsky,Jackendoff,1972)
Chomsky theory,an introduction
1,Generative semantics,extends transformations
2,EST constrains transformations
? EST led to Revised Extended Standard Theory
(REST) (1973)
-modular
-separates syntax,semantics
-only transformation left,move-?
Chomsky theory,an introduction
Further developments
“Rules and Representations” (1981)
? introduces principles & parameters
? slot ? filler principles
Government and Binding Theory (1981)
Minimalist Program (1993)
Language faculty,problems of research
Quine,
investigation of language equals investigation of mind
Chomsky:
? knowledge is represented in the brain
? proposes the existence of
mental representations = an abstract terminology
for physical properties
? extends notion of "material body" for
entities,principles of unknown character
Language faculty,problems of research
principles,unknown or unobtainable?
mind,a fixed set / endowment with
inherent constraints
Chomsky proposes
1,problems (science may provide a solution)
2.,mysteries” (beyond humans’ intellectual grasp)
Descartes,we are not intelligent enough to
understand to what extent our free choices are
undeterminable
Language faculty,problems of research
1.) Is the application of the scientific method to
the mind revealing?
2.) Is language artificial?
3.) In what way do generalizations distort the view
on language?
Language faculty,problems of research
1.) Is the application of the scientific method to
the mind revealing?
? historical coincidence ? biological endowment
meets aspects of reality in a meaningful way
? tolerance of unexplained phenomena
(attention research,mental rotation etc.)
Language faculty,problems of research
2.) Is language artificial?
Chomsky,question is meaningless even if language
had indeed been created
? has developed basing on endowment and
environment
Language faculty,problems of research
3.) In what way do generalizations distort the view
on language?
Chomsky's demands:
? homogeneous speech community
? speakers with 100% competence
? speech unaffected by exterior (e.g,social) variables
Language faculty,problems of research
3.) In what way do generalizations distort the view
on language?
Counterarguments:
? humans cannot acquire language in a
homogeneous community,inconsistence and
variability are required
? if humans could achieve it,it would be done by
different properties of the mind than those which
interact with reality
Language faculty
language faculty:
discrete from other kinds of knowledge
?linguistic knowledge (= speaker’s competence):
interacts with processes of perception,memory
displays in indefinitely large number of strings
producable and understandable
? syntactic mechanisms are recursive
Chomsky’s Universal Grammar
mind design is modular (Fodor,1997)
The insight into language faculty may not provide
insight into other modules e.g,vision
Chomsky proposes:
? a differentiated version of the modules
? genetically coherent properties which determine
human cognitive systems including language faculty
Chomsky’s Universal Grammar
UG,the study of the common grammatical properties
shared by all natural languages and of the
parameters of variation between the languages.
? parameters,dimensions of variation,
e.g,subject parameter
? theory of UG provides tools to study
any natural language
example,Hawaiian creole (cf,Bickerton)
Chomsky’s Universal Grammar
initial state end state
Universal
Grammar
template
L1 acquisition
Internalized
language
(I-language)
? Language acquisition skills are formal,structural properties
Problems of cognitive research
common set shared in cognitive
community:
- knowledge representation
- language processing
- image understanding
- inference
- learning strategies
- problem solving
Emergence of a discipline
cognitive
approach
experimental
psychology
theoretical
linguistics
computational
simulation
Cognitive approach:
interdisciplinary,
emerges at the
intersection of the
fields
Simon/Newell 1958:,In 10 years most psychological
theories will be formulated as computer programs.”
Views on cognitive functioning
basic assumption:
Cognition,and therefore language,
is information processing
The human mind is a system that receives,stores,
retrieves,transfers and transmits information
(Stillings et al.,1997)
Views on cognitive functioning
The classical view:
language faculty is a mental process
- mind can be described as a Turing machine
- linguistic processing is a manipulation of
symbols
- cf,the "Chinese room" metaphor (Searle)
Views on cognitive functioning
The connectionist view:
- brain employs a computational architecture
suited to natural information processing
- evidence in functional split,cf,split-brain
patients
(McClelland,Rumelhart,Hinton)
The classical cognitive approach
Turing machine,a general-purpose information
processor
components,tape eq,memory
subdivided into cells each
containing one symbol
head,moves tape back/forth
can read/write symbols
The classical cognitive approach
Turing’s proof,
?TM is able to perform all operations a person
working within a logical system can perform
?TM gives therefore a complete account of
what information processing is.
"Any informational simulation process can be
realized by a Turing machine" (Turing/Church
thesis)
Turing machines and cognition
? anything computable can be computed
? can make decision about well-formedness of
artificial languages
? simple steps,primitive building blocks lead to
emergence of complex behavior
reasons of relevance:
1.) provide a complete description of information
processing
2.) may answer cognitively interesting questions
3.) extend finite states into infinite behavior e.g.
novelty of language
The tri-level hypothesis
? mind,shares properties with a TM
? brain,a physical symbol system
? not one single level of description applies
(Marr)
3 levels of description:
1,physical level
2,procedural level
3,computational or implementational level
The tri-level hypothesis
1,the physical level of description
? describes the components of a system
? incomplete,static
?gives factual knowledge,"what”
2,the procedural level of description
? non-physical description of informational
processing steps
? dynamic,incomplete
? no description of interpretation of procedures
? gives procedural knowledge,"how"
The tri-level hypothesis
3,the computational/implementational level of
description
? interpretation of the procedures
? gives interpretational knowledge,"why"
tendencies,reductionism,neuroscience
tries to reduce 3,and 2,to 1.
The cognitive approach
“The mind as an information processing system
can be described using a physical,a procedural
and an implementational vocabulary” (Dawson)
goal,to find the relationships between these
levels of research
physical description,neuroscience,linguistics
procedural description,psychology,linguistics
computational description,computer science
Language comprehension and
the Tri-level hypothesis
1,physical (structural sentence comprehension)
- Clark & Clark
2,procedural (psychological models of text
comprehension - Kintsch & v.Dijk
3,implementational (AI programs for text
analysis) - Minsky,Schank,Charniak
1,Physical (structural sentence comprehension)
Clark & Clark
? comprehension,derivation of meaning from a
(phonological) representation
? meaning,composed from constituents
intermediate constituents (syntactic
units,phrases)
final constituents (words,lexemes)
? forms propositional representations
? prerequisite,parsing of language
2,Procedural (psychological models of text
comprehension - Kintsch & v.Dijk
? subdivides micro- and macroprocesses
? cognitive tasks required:
a.) parser (turns verbal text into intermediate
sematic representation,list of propositions)
b.) coherence generator (builds coherence from
the list)
c.) inferencer (fills in missing propositions)
d.) organizer (determines facts on basis of world
knowledge)
Parser,a mechanism that divides strings of
texts into smaller components.
3,implementational (AI programs for text
analysis) - Minsky,Schank,Charniak
Frames,"A frame is a data structure for
representing a stereotyped situation" (Minsky)
? a format for formalized storage of knowledge
? maps unknown structures onto known
structuresexample,HOUSEsubframe of,building
Is-part of,village,city,suburb
material,wood,stone,concrete
# of windows,integer,>2
# of doors,integer,default 1
Frame:
3,implementational (AI programs for text
analysis) - Minsky,Schank,Charniak
scripts,formalized representations of complex
actions
? list of primitives (stereotype procedures) e.g,
ACT,PTRANS
? "consists of concepts and relations between
concepts" (Schank)
? example,restaurant script
story grammars,
? lists of stereotype rules
Rule 1,story setting + episode
Rule 2,setting (state)
Rule 3,episode event + reaction
Mental Representations
? theoretical postulates
? internal states
Fodor (1997),Representational Theory of Mind (RTM)
? cognitive mechanisms extract information from
outside world
? info is processed,stored,retrieved via an
internalised system of representations
? representations have semantic content
? modern psycholinguistics,
distributed vs,local representation
= words are stored in single units vs,storage patterns
Computable linguistic approaches
Chomsky,Principles and Parameters
strategy,slot ? filler
? set of principles shared by all languages
?parameters function as "switches” to adjust
the principles
Lexicon
|
D-Structure
|
S-Structure
Logical Form Phonological Form
Computable linguistic approaches
Lexicon,set of entries/word forms,syntax information
D-Structure,underlying representation of a sentence,
X-bar theory
S-Structure,natural language sentence generation;
move-α - rule
language processing,not rule processing but setting
of parameter values
?increased power of the lexicon
carry ? NP_Verb_NP
read ? NP_verb
Problem,How is this knowledge formally represented?
Computable linguistic approaches
Internal
linguistic
representation
grammatical
analysis
semantic
analysis
input
world
knowledge
domain
knowledge
knowledge
of language
1,Syntax
2,Lexicon
The connectionist approach
1.) serial processing is too slow (cf,Feldman)
neuron action potential takes 1-3 ms to build up –
humans solve complex tasks in ca,100 ms
?suggests parallel processing
2.) system stability,brain exhibits enormous damage-
resistance
?suggests network-like storage systems
3.) natural language processing – hard for computers,
easy for humans and vice versa
?qualitative difference of brain architecture
4.) connectionist models are,neurally inspired”
?imitate neural functioning
Rumelhart's components of a connectionist system
a.) set of processing units
b.) state of activation defined over the
processing units
c.) output function for each unit,generates output
d.) pattern of connectivity
e.) activation rule for combining inputs to new
activation level
f.) learning rules that modify d.)
g.) system environment
Formats of representation
1.) multimodular model (Paivio):
? two parallel sets,- imagenes
- logogenes
? can be primed (threshold function)
2.) semantic networks (Collins/Quillian)
? types of nodes,- conceptual nodes
- property nodes
? types of relationships,IS-A relationships
HAS-PROP relationships
Logogene model of word recognition (Morton)
visual
analysis
auditory
analysis
reality
input
cognitive
system
visual evidence auditory evidence
logogene
system
response buffer response
semantic
evidence
Logogene model,priming effects
? activation potential of logogenes decreases over
time
? high-frequency words,low thresholds
? low thresholds facilitate recognition
Logogene model,priming effects
? non-words or degraded signal:
activates,nearest match” item
? memory effects:
primacy effect vs,recency effect
Semantic networks (Collins/Quillian)
Book
Merchandise
Pictorial Book Exercise Book Paperback
Is bound
Has pages
Can be read
Can be bought
Is cheap
Is small
For study
Has pictures Has diagrams
Is expensive
Cognitive networks (Hays)
? refined set of nodes/relationships
nodes,events (start,end,duration)
entities (object,notion,form)
properties (shape,mass...)
modalities (static,dynamic)
relationships,paradigmatic (hierarchical)
syntagmatic (parallel)
discoursive (interactive)
attitudinal (positive,negative)
metalinguistic (external)
The stance of neuroscience
Science of mental life will be reduced to neural
functioning (Churchland)
? reductionist approach
? eliminates psychological explanation for language
processing
? emphasis on relevance of neuronal measurements
Neural
structures
Low-level
implemen-
tations
Physical
symbol
systems
Language
of thought
Mental
structures,
language
Neuronal functioning
? diagram of a neuron
Dendrites,short branches projecting from cell body.
Receive messages from other neurons
Cell body (soma),contains the nucleus of the cell
Axon,a long tube which carries information
from cell body to synaptic terminals
Synaptic terminals,secrete transmitter substance
Measurement methods in psycholinguistics
? ERP measurement
? PET scan
? MRI / fMRI scan
? lesions research
continuum:
high-grained spatial resolution
low- grained temporal resolution
low-grained spatial resolution
high- grained temporal resolution
PET
lesions
ERP measurements
ERP,event-related potentials
notice activities in the relevant cortical regions
linguistic phenomena are correlated with activity
example:
after presentation of the
unexpected ending of a
sentence,delay of the
amplitude
PET,positron emission tomography
? weakly radioactive substance used as marker
? regions of high activity involve more blood flow.
? synaptic ends extract more molecules,among
those radioactive molecules
? positron-emitting radioactive molecules
mark location:
positron e+ hits an electron e-
particles annihilate each other
radiation of energy (light etc.)
? detectors (PET cameras),arranged in a
torus (ringlike) structure around the subjects' head
MRI and lesions
? MRI,magneto-resonance imaging
? particles seen as magnetic dipoles e.g,H2 nuclei
? reposition themselves in magnetic fields
? induction of electric currents
lesions
? lead to aphasias
? language-specific
example,Englishspeaking aphasiacs retained
the ability to generate irregular forms
whereas Germanspeaking subjects did better
in regular forms
Comprehension and understanding
Mental Models:
- blueprint /abstraction of aspects of the physical world
- representations in the mind of real or imaginary
situations
- mind constructs "small-scale models" of reality that
it uses to anticipate events
- can be constructed from perception,imagination,or
comprehension of discourse
- underlie visual images,but can also be abstract,
representing situations that cannot be visualised
Mental models and comprehension
mental models theory of text comprehension
(Johnson-Laird et al.),
derives from a theory of deductive inference
mental models of spatially related objects contain
information about relations not explicitly described
Example:
The man is in front of the tree.
The tree is in front of the house.
contains the information
The man is in front of the house.
Mental models and comprehension
Reasoning is a semantic process rather than syntactic
- recipients build mental models of the relevant
situations based on world knowledge
- recipient’s conclusion is,true” within the models
- emphasis on causality of events/situations
fundamental representational assumption:
individuals seek to minimize the load on working
memory by representing explicitly only those cases
that are true
Text comprehension
? understanding a story,requires process of
constructing a mental model consistent with the
constraints of the story
? recall errors provide insight into how the construal is
designed or:
? how reader's world knowledge interacts (cf,
processing model)
2 processes,construction (encoding)
reconstruction (recall)
? both underlie errors
Strategies in text understanding
? relevance of causal knowledge structures:
reader establishes a causal field
contains specific circumstances of the story
?explicit identification of conditions perhaps only
implicitly mentioned
He sat in the waiting room,his cheeks bloated,
After a while,a nurse called him up,Reluctantly,
he followed her next door.
? representation updates world knowledge.
? stored for recall (on specific cues).
Strategies in text understanding
constraints of causality,A causes B
1,temporal constraint (A precedes B)
2,counterfactuality constraint (if A had not happened,
B would not have happened)
3,sufficiency constraint
If B occurs after A,circumstances for A are still
prevailing
? steps of comprehension:
1,identification of clauses corresponding to events
2,identification of causal relations
3,establishment of causal chains
Comprehension processes
experimental evidence,reader constructs chains
? propositions from main causal chains are more likely
to be recalled
? propositions with more causal connections than
others are more likely to be recalled
? basic blocks,the event clauses (propositions)
PDP approach,building blocks are propositions
evolution of reader's mental state as a function of time
?a trajectory in situation-state space = moves from
point to point
A comprehension model
knowledge of causal relations between points,"belief
function” - assigns degree of belief (can be between 0
and 1)
situation identification t1 t2 t3
Mary heard the ice-cream truck 1 1 0
Mary wanted to buy ice-cream 0 1 0
Mary is eating ice-cream 0 0 1
Mary is sleeping 0 0 0
? story comprehension,finding a most probable
trajectory in situation-state space with respect to a
belief function.
Causal chaining
1 3
2 4
5
7
6
1 hear(M,truck)
2 want(M,ice-cream)
3 be(ice-cream,expensive)
4 go(M,money)
5 buy(M,ice-cream)
6 eat(M,ice-cream)
7 sleep(M)
Mary heard the ice-cream truck,Mary wanted to buy ice-cream.
Ice-cream is expensive,Mary goes home for the money,
She buys the ice-cream,John has also chilled drinks,
Mary is eating ice-cream,Mary is sleeping.
surface anaphora, deep” anaphora
Micro- and macrostructures (Kintsch et al.)
? surface structure of a discourse,set of propositions,
ordered by semantic relations
2 levels,
A microstructures – the local level of discourse,
individual propositions (eat(Mary,ice-cream)
B macrostructure – the global discourse structure
- sets global constraints (topic,title)
- establishes the "meaningful whole"
Formation of Microstructures
The Swazi tribe was at war with a neighboring tribe because of a
dispute over cattle,Among the warriors were two men,Kakra and
his younger brother Gum,Kakra was killed in a battle.
Step 1 - identify most important proposition- "was at war"
Step 2 - relate other propositions to this proposition according
to coherence rules (limited by capacity of STM).
Step 3 - try to relate propositions in next sentence to propositions
that are active in STM,(example fails - no terms in
2nd sentence can be directly connected to preceding sentence
Step 4- If step 3 failed,do "reinstatement search"
- reinstates information about the text from LTM into STM
- effort to link new propositions to old ones
- reinstatement slows comprehension
Step 5- If reinstatement fails,start a new coherence graph
- try to make inference to link new material to old material.
Example inference,Kakra & Gum were Swazi warriors.
Spatial cognition and language
Spatial cognition and language
?Try to name the colors of the displayed words
source,http://artsci.wustl.edu/~jprinz/cog25.htm
Spatial cognition and language
Are image and name stored together or separately?
cf,logogene/imagene
? parallel activation of visual and lexical entry
The Imagery debate
? existence of internal representations
rat experiments (Toulmin) – evidence for the
representation of maps
A) propositional representation (Pylyshyn) – mental
"jumping" on a map without time delay
B) analogue representation (Kosslyn et al.) – mental
scanning,mental rotation
Visual recognition process
1,initial sensing of visual information,photosensitive
cells (rods and cones) in retina,
activated by individual photons
? each receptor responds to a tiny portion (minutes of
arc) of the visual field,
? receptors are never activated alike
2,neurons in retina,connected to neurons in the
first visual cortical area
-for shape perception
-different cell types for different tasks (spots,
edges...)
Kosslyn’s proto-model of object recognition
Kosslyn’s proto-model of object recognition
visual buffer attention window
-edge detection -selective input for
-establishes regions contiguous sets of
points
of homogeneous value
Stimulus encoding (Kosslyn)
1,degraded contours
vertices,high-information part of
contours
cf,Biederman p.152 in:
Kosslyn/Osherson (eds.)1995.
Encoding of spatial properties
2,missing parts,more recognition time needed when
parts have been removed
3,disrupted parts,distorted spatial relation among
parts ?violation of viewpoint consistency
On mental rotation (Shepard,Kosslyn,et al.)
direct proportionality between time and angle
? more complex objects /3D objects,longer times
? identical images in different scales,scale difference
proportional to identification times
? activation of motor areas in the brain
? critical angle for letters,120°
Spatial reasoning in language and mind
introspective reports on simple relation tasks using
comparative adjectives:
The Empire State building is higher than the Eiffel tower.
? mental comparison based on spatial descriptions:
Cathy is taller than Linda,Linda is taller than Mary.
?Cathy is taller than Mary.
? spatial descriptions in language,triggering of
mental models - simplified reality,cf.:
The knife is in front of the vase,The vase is on the left of
the glass,The glass is behind the dish.
? represented symmetrically with equal distances
? way descriptions,turns always with 90° angle
Temporal cognition
temporal phenomena considered:
? physical time
? biological time
? time as a philosophical and abstract concept
?“perceived” time
? time in language
physical,Newton’s notion of time
Absolute,true,and mathematical time,of itself,and from its own nature
flows equably without regard to anything external,and by another name is
called duration,relative,apparent,and common time,is some sensible and
external (whether accurate or unequable) measure of duration by the
means of motion,which is commonly used instead of true time; such as an
hour,a day,a month.
Temporal concepts in the sciences
Einstein’s model of the universe:
? time considered as the 4th dimension
? physical processes are reversible
? paradox of time (Prigogine et al.)
biological time,circadian rhythms of living organisms
psychological time,cause-effect relationships
- inferences base on temporal arrangements of
events
-,real time” is mediated (lateral inhibition)
- segmentation of cognitive processing
(cf,slips-of-the-tongue)
Temporal perception and language correlates
Miller/Johnson-Laird:
4 foci of temporal experience
1,short time intervals
2,estimation of duration
3,simultaneousness
4,temporal perspective (placement of events in past,
present,future)
Temporal phenomena in language
categories,grammatical (tense,aspect)
lexical (aktionsarten,temporal adverbs,
temporal conjunctions,temporal
prepositions).
All thoughts are ?tensed,(Higginbotham)
- necessity of representing time in language
space-time metaphor (Langacker)
Western languages,linear paradigm of time
?exotic,languages,cycles,subcycles
Temporality and tenses
S & R
R & E
R - S
( p a s t )
R,S
( p r e s e n t )
S - R
( f u t u r e )
E,R
( s i m p l e )
E,R - S
l e f t
E,R,S
l e a v e s
S - E,R
s h a l l / w i l l l e a v e
E - R
( a n t e r i o r )
E - R - S
h a d l e f t
E - R,S
h a s l e f t
S - E - R
w i l l l e a v e
R - E
( p o s t e r i o r )
R - E - S
w o u l d l e a v e
R - E,S
w i l l l e a v e
S - R - E
w i l l b e g o i n g t o l e a v e
doubts about future
tense as a tense at all:
has modal functions
complexity hypothesis
meaning of tenses:
combination of intrinsic
meaning and contextual
meaning
intrinsic meaning,relation between time of event E and a time of reference R;
contextual meaning,relation between time of reference R and time of speech S
Event structure
t
t
t
1,telic,no expansion
(to explode,to flash)
2,telic,linear
(to start)
3,telic,limited
(to arrive)
Event structure
t4,telic,beginning andend (to read a novel)
5,telic,iterative
(to twiddle)
temporal telicity can be
? parallel to spatial telicity (to arrive)
? independent of spatial telicity (to explode)
t
Conceptual development
representations,building blocks of cognition and
language
concepts,the formats of representation
hierarchy of concept acquisition
1.spontaneous concepts,bottom-up approach,
find abstract,systematic entity
2.scientific concepts,top-down,find concrete
grounds
children lack,scientific” concepts
”concepts which are subject to conscious awareness are
under voluntary control and form part of an organized
system” (Vygotsky)
Conceptualization and language
Jackendoff,Langacker,cognitive behavior is primarily
a conceptualization of space
? language encodes iconic-imaginal modi of cognition
? space concepts are more frequent than time
concepts
? real space is manifested in linguistic phenomena
? space concepts transform into other concepts
through metaphorical extension
(read through a text,work on a thesis)
? base on primary experiences during language
development
Conceptual semantics and cognitive grammar
shared,encoding of spatial concepts and extension
into other conceptual areas
? languages have hierarchical structure based on
metaphors
Conceptual semantics
(Jackendoff et al.)
? insists on autonomy of syntax
and on formal representation
? concepts generated mentally on
basis of a limited set of primitives,
limited principles of combinability
? Jackendoff,concepts are
“finite schemes”
Cognitive grammar
(Langacker)
? meaning is conceptualization
? grammar,lexicon,poles on a
continuum
? semantics,materializes them
in different ways
Cognitive grammar
? model relates language to conceptual world,human
experience
? humans share experiences and biological
endowment
?idea that physical experiences shaped thinking
and language
Lakoff,the universal basis of language and cognition
is the visual conceptualization of space and
movement
? language therefore reflects fundamental stimuli
? presupposes categorization which involves
conceptual distinctions (night,day)
Categorization and construal
categorization,process of putting together a number
of experiences into one conceptual category and
relating it to and distinguishing it from,other
conceptual categories
construal,a cognitive strategy by which the speaker
decides on a particular linguistic alternative in
portraying a given conceptualization
ex,use of passive rather than active ? focusing on
object of action rather than agent
Cognitive basis
force-dynamics,early physical experience of push/
pull/weight/gravity (Talmy)
imaging modes:
1.entities and their spatial relationships among each
other
2.global perspective on a scene
3.focus on scene (figure and ground)
4.scene conceptualized as a field of forces
expression of concepts,mainly through words,also
through grammar (both are poles on a continuum)
expressions base on experience
(gold nugget/gold dust)
special case,? not experience-based names for
abstract entities (cf,quark types)
? term coined in 1954 (Osgood)
psychology linguisticspsycho-linguistics
? aim,to describe the exact operation of the brain during
the production or processing of language
A paradigm shift in linguistics:
? refutes behaviorism
?proposes the,mentalist” approach
? considers linguistics a subfield of cognitive psychology
1957,publication of,Syntactic structures” by Chomsky
Behaviorism in linguistics
and psychology:
? reduces mental activity and cognition to
implicit,observable behavior
? behavior is explained as a relationship
between input and output (i.e,stimulus
and response)
? studies of speech behavior and the sound
system prevailed
?cf,Skinner,B.F.:,Verbal Behavior” (1957)
Areas of psycholinguistic interest:
? language acquisition (L1 and L2)
? language comprehension
(includes symbol recognition,speech
perception)
? language simulation (NLP,PDP)
? concepts of reality and language
? memory constraints (STM/LTM research)
? knowledge representation
? strategies of learning
Psycholinguistics and related disciplines
“classic” psycholinguistics:
- language acquisition
- language impairment
- aphasia research
- reaction times
- ERP measurements
Psycholinguistics and related disciplines
areas of psycholinguistic research:
? computability of language processing
? neuroscience / neurolinguistics
? cognitive abilities (vision,motor control...)
? conceptualization
? symbolization
Classic psycholinguistics
concerned with:
psychological processes that make acquisition
and use of language possible approaches (cf,
Clark & Clark)
1,language comprehension (spoken and
written)
2,speech production
3,language acquisition
Psycholinguistics - the extended view
concerned with:
language as a cognitive system internalized
within the human mind/brain.
ultimate goal,to characterize this internalized
system -
I language (Chomsky)
Classic approaches in psycholinguistics
1,language comprehension (spoken and
written)
- comprehension at various depth levels
- speech perception
- lexical decoding
- sentence processing
- text processing
Classic approaches in psycholinguistics
2,Speech production
- reoccurring patterns of speech
- typical errors
- response times
- relation of speech to concepts
- speech impairments
Classic approaches in psycholinguistics
3,Language acquisition
- L1 acquisition (developmental
psycholinguistics)
- L2 learning strategy research
- acquisition constraints
Neurological foundations of language
correspondence hypothesis:
particular areas of the neocortex are
responsible for human language faculty
? local results from aphasia research
? temporal results from ERP measurements
aphasia,impairment or loss of language
ability due to brain damage.
Neurological foundations of language
Paul Broca,lateralization of language
- located lesions in left
hemisphere
- related handedness to speech
capability
- plasticity of the brain (i.e,
temporal variability)
- migration of neurons
- time constraints in acquisition
Neurological foundations of language
Carl Wernicke,- separated the auditory
nerve (cranial nerve from
ear to cortex) along the
planum temporale in the left
hemisphere
Language-related areas of the brain
Language-related areas of the brain
Broca aphasics:
? nonfluent
? agrammatical
? morphemeless
? unimpaired
comprehension
Wernicke aphasics:
? fluent (logorrheic)
? impaired meanings
? neologisms
? severely impaired
comprehension
Language-related areas of the brain
? spatial,lateral distribution
- detectable in lesions
- PET,fMRI scans
? temporal,brain plasticity
- performance patterns
- physiological changes during L1
acquisition
- learnability constraints
The paradox of psycholinguistics
L1 acquisition enables children to produce
virtually infinite amounts of linguistic data.
Input includes:
? distorted input (also,deviant input; Chomsky)
can be,mispronounciations,slips of the tongue
? omitted rules
inference of rules out of defective material
? negative evidence
= pointing at errors
typical errors in L1,*go-ed
atypical errors,*I no like syntax.
The paradox of psycholinguistics
phases in L1 acquisition
single-word stage:
? at 12 months,first recognizable words
? until 18 months,vocabulary increase
? 3 words/month (apple,up...)
? no evidence of grammar acquisition
? no inflection (plural-s,past-ed)
The paradox of psycholinguistics
phases in L1 acquisition
after 18 months:
? acquisition of grammar begins
? productive use of inflections
? elementary 2-3 word utterances
after 30 months:
? acquisition of most inflections
? core grammatical constructions
? adultlike,multiword speech
Learnability constraints
critical-period hypothesis (Lenneberg et al.)
?? age constraints in L1/L2 acquisition
? age estimates between 11-18
Learnability constraints
ssdsadsadasdasddasd
Version one,the exercise hypothesis,Early in
life,humans have a superior capacity for
acquiring languages,If the capacity is not
exercised [… ] it will disappear or decline with
maturation,If the capacity is exercised [… ]
language learning abilities will remain intact
throughout life.
Version two,the maturational state hypothesis.
Early in life,humans have a superior capacity for
learning languages,This capacity disappears or
declines with maturation.
J.S,Johnson/ E.L.Newport in Johnson,Mark (ed.) 1996,pp.250.
Explainability of cognitive phenomena
1,Empirism
2,Operationalism
3,Instrumentalism
4,Idealism
5,Realism
linguistics,
psychology,
sociology...
physics,astronomy...
Explainability of cognitive phenomena
1,Empirism
- knowledge as a collection of facts
- universals are not obtainable
- theories are summaries of observations
2,Operationalism
- science is a system of rules
- theories are tools for manipulation
Explainability of cognitive phenomena
3,Instrumentalism
- not the meaning of words is important but
the way we use them
- theories are instruments of experience
- there is no,inner truth”
5,Realism
- laws have a relationship to reality that is relevant
- tool,observation
Chomsky theory,an introduction
? refutes structuralism,taxonomy (Harris,Bloomfield)
? refutes behaviorism (Skinner,Osgood)
? continues tradition of Descartes (Dualism)
? language acquisition is determined by a LAD
(language acquisition device) on the basis of a UG
?the LAD is a mental organ
?theory is primary,data is secondary
?for cognition and language the
computer metaphor applies
Chomsky theory,an introduction
1957,Syntactic Structures”
? set of kernel sentences generate
all possible sentences of a language
kernel ? transformation rules ? final phrases
- a purely syntactic theory
- transformations are algorithmic procedures
- "Colorless green ideas sleep furiously."
Chomsky theory,an introduction
1965,Aspects of the theory of syntax”
? so-called Standard Theory (ST)
? involves phonology,semantics
Deep structures ?Surface structures
(semantics) (phonology)
Two subfields emerge,
1,Generative semantics (Katz,Postal)
2,Extended Standard Theory (EST)
(Chomsky,Jackendoff,1972)
Chomsky theory,an introduction
1,Generative semantics,extends transformations
2,EST constrains transformations
? EST led to Revised Extended Standard Theory
(REST) (1973)
-modular
-separates syntax,semantics
-only transformation left,move-?
Chomsky theory,an introduction
Further developments
“Rules and Representations” (1981)
? introduces principles & parameters
? slot ? filler principles
Government and Binding Theory (1981)
Minimalist Program (1993)
Language faculty,problems of research
Quine,
investigation of language equals investigation of mind
Chomsky:
? knowledge is represented in the brain
? proposes the existence of
mental representations = an abstract terminology
for physical properties
? extends notion of "material body" for
entities,principles of unknown character
Language faculty,problems of research
principles,unknown or unobtainable?
mind,a fixed set / endowment with
inherent constraints
Chomsky proposes
1,problems (science may provide a solution)
2.,mysteries” (beyond humans’ intellectual grasp)
Descartes,we are not intelligent enough to
understand to what extent our free choices are
undeterminable
Language faculty,problems of research
1.) Is the application of the scientific method to
the mind revealing?
2.) Is language artificial?
3.) In what way do generalizations distort the view
on language?
Language faculty,problems of research
1.) Is the application of the scientific method to
the mind revealing?
? historical coincidence ? biological endowment
meets aspects of reality in a meaningful way
? tolerance of unexplained phenomena
(attention research,mental rotation etc.)
Language faculty,problems of research
2.) Is language artificial?
Chomsky,question is meaningless even if language
had indeed been created
? has developed basing on endowment and
environment
Language faculty,problems of research
3.) In what way do generalizations distort the view
on language?
Chomsky's demands:
? homogeneous speech community
? speakers with 100% competence
? speech unaffected by exterior (e.g,social) variables
Language faculty,problems of research
3.) In what way do generalizations distort the view
on language?
Counterarguments:
? humans cannot acquire language in a
homogeneous community,inconsistence and
variability are required
? if humans could achieve it,it would be done by
different properties of the mind than those which
interact with reality
Language faculty
language faculty:
discrete from other kinds of knowledge
?linguistic knowledge (= speaker’s competence):
interacts with processes of perception,memory
displays in indefinitely large number of strings
producable and understandable
? syntactic mechanisms are recursive
Chomsky’s Universal Grammar
mind design is modular (Fodor,1997)
The insight into language faculty may not provide
insight into other modules e.g,vision
Chomsky proposes:
? a differentiated version of the modules
? genetically coherent properties which determine
human cognitive systems including language faculty
Chomsky’s Universal Grammar
UG,the study of the common grammatical properties
shared by all natural languages and of the
parameters of variation between the languages.
? parameters,dimensions of variation,
e.g,subject parameter
? theory of UG provides tools to study
any natural language
example,Hawaiian creole (cf,Bickerton)
Chomsky’s Universal Grammar
initial state end state
Universal
Grammar
template
L1 acquisition
Internalized
language
(I-language)
? Language acquisition skills are formal,structural properties
Problems of cognitive research
common set shared in cognitive
community:
- knowledge representation
- language processing
- image understanding
- inference
- learning strategies
- problem solving
Emergence of a discipline
cognitive
approach
experimental
psychology
theoretical
linguistics
computational
simulation
Cognitive approach:
interdisciplinary,
emerges at the
intersection of the
fields
Simon/Newell 1958:,In 10 years most psychological
theories will be formulated as computer programs.”
Views on cognitive functioning
basic assumption:
Cognition,and therefore language,
is information processing
The human mind is a system that receives,stores,
retrieves,transfers and transmits information
(Stillings et al.,1997)
Views on cognitive functioning
The classical view:
language faculty is a mental process
- mind can be described as a Turing machine
- linguistic processing is a manipulation of
symbols
- cf,the "Chinese room" metaphor (Searle)
Views on cognitive functioning
The connectionist view:
- brain employs a computational architecture
suited to natural information processing
- evidence in functional split,cf,split-brain
patients
(McClelland,Rumelhart,Hinton)
The classical cognitive approach
Turing machine,a general-purpose information
processor
components,tape eq,memory
subdivided into cells each
containing one symbol
head,moves tape back/forth
can read/write symbols
The classical cognitive approach
Turing’s proof,
?TM is able to perform all operations a person
working within a logical system can perform
?TM gives therefore a complete account of
what information processing is.
"Any informational simulation process can be
realized by a Turing machine" (Turing/Church
thesis)
Turing machines and cognition
? anything computable can be computed
? can make decision about well-formedness of
artificial languages
? simple steps,primitive building blocks lead to
emergence of complex behavior
reasons of relevance:
1.) provide a complete description of information
processing
2.) may answer cognitively interesting questions
3.) extend finite states into infinite behavior e.g.
novelty of language
The tri-level hypothesis
? mind,shares properties with a TM
? brain,a physical symbol system
? not one single level of description applies
(Marr)
3 levels of description:
1,physical level
2,procedural level
3,computational or implementational level
The tri-level hypothesis
1,the physical level of description
? describes the components of a system
? incomplete,static
?gives factual knowledge,"what”
2,the procedural level of description
? non-physical description of informational
processing steps
? dynamic,incomplete
? no description of interpretation of procedures
? gives procedural knowledge,"how"
The tri-level hypothesis
3,the computational/implementational level of
description
? interpretation of the procedures
? gives interpretational knowledge,"why"
tendencies,reductionism,neuroscience
tries to reduce 3,and 2,to 1.
The cognitive approach
“The mind as an information processing system
can be described using a physical,a procedural
and an implementational vocabulary” (Dawson)
goal,to find the relationships between these
levels of research
physical description,neuroscience,linguistics
procedural description,psychology,linguistics
computational description,computer science
Language comprehension and
the Tri-level hypothesis
1,physical (structural sentence comprehension)
- Clark & Clark
2,procedural (psychological models of text
comprehension - Kintsch & v.Dijk
3,implementational (AI programs for text
analysis) - Minsky,Schank,Charniak
1,Physical (structural sentence comprehension)
Clark & Clark
? comprehension,derivation of meaning from a
(phonological) representation
? meaning,composed from constituents
intermediate constituents (syntactic
units,phrases)
final constituents (words,lexemes)
? forms propositional representations
? prerequisite,parsing of language
2,Procedural (psychological models of text
comprehension - Kintsch & v.Dijk
? subdivides micro- and macroprocesses
? cognitive tasks required:
a.) parser (turns verbal text into intermediate
sematic representation,list of propositions)
b.) coherence generator (builds coherence from
the list)
c.) inferencer (fills in missing propositions)
d.) organizer (determines facts on basis of world
knowledge)
Parser,a mechanism that divides strings of
texts into smaller components.
3,implementational (AI programs for text
analysis) - Minsky,Schank,Charniak
Frames,"A frame is a data structure for
representing a stereotyped situation" (Minsky)
? a format for formalized storage of knowledge
? maps unknown structures onto known
structuresexample,HOUSEsubframe of,building
Is-part of,village,city,suburb
material,wood,stone,concrete
# of windows,integer,>2
# of doors,integer,default 1
Frame:
3,implementational (AI programs for text
analysis) - Minsky,Schank,Charniak
scripts,formalized representations of complex
actions
? list of primitives (stereotype procedures) e.g,
ACT,PTRANS
? "consists of concepts and relations between
concepts" (Schank)
? example,restaurant script
story grammars,
? lists of stereotype rules
Rule 1,story setting + episode
Rule 2,setting (state)
Rule 3,episode event + reaction
Mental Representations
? theoretical postulates
? internal states
Fodor (1997),Representational Theory of Mind (RTM)
? cognitive mechanisms extract information from
outside world
? info is processed,stored,retrieved via an
internalised system of representations
? representations have semantic content
? modern psycholinguistics,
distributed vs,local representation
= words are stored in single units vs,storage patterns
Computable linguistic approaches
Chomsky,Principles and Parameters
strategy,slot ? filler
? set of principles shared by all languages
?parameters function as "switches” to adjust
the principles
Lexicon
|
D-Structure
|
S-Structure
Logical Form Phonological Form
Computable linguistic approaches
Lexicon,set of entries/word forms,syntax information
D-Structure,underlying representation of a sentence,
X-bar theory
S-Structure,natural language sentence generation;
move-α - rule
language processing,not rule processing but setting
of parameter values
?increased power of the lexicon
carry ? NP_Verb_NP
read ? NP_verb
Problem,How is this knowledge formally represented?
Computable linguistic approaches
Internal
linguistic
representation
grammatical
analysis
semantic
analysis
input
world
knowledge
domain
knowledge
knowledge
of language
1,Syntax
2,Lexicon
The connectionist approach
1.) serial processing is too slow (cf,Feldman)
neuron action potential takes 1-3 ms to build up –
humans solve complex tasks in ca,100 ms
?suggests parallel processing
2.) system stability,brain exhibits enormous damage-
resistance
?suggests network-like storage systems
3.) natural language processing – hard for computers,
easy for humans and vice versa
?qualitative difference of brain architecture
4.) connectionist models are,neurally inspired”
?imitate neural functioning
Rumelhart's components of a connectionist system
a.) set of processing units
b.) state of activation defined over the
processing units
c.) output function for each unit,generates output
d.) pattern of connectivity
e.) activation rule for combining inputs to new
activation level
f.) learning rules that modify d.)
g.) system environment
Formats of representation
1.) multimodular model (Paivio):
? two parallel sets,- imagenes
- logogenes
? can be primed (threshold function)
2.) semantic networks (Collins/Quillian)
? types of nodes,- conceptual nodes
- property nodes
? types of relationships,IS-A relationships
HAS-PROP relationships
Logogene model of word recognition (Morton)
visual
analysis
auditory
analysis
reality
input
cognitive
system
visual evidence auditory evidence
logogene
system
response buffer response
semantic
evidence
Logogene model,priming effects
? activation potential of logogenes decreases over
time
? high-frequency words,low thresholds
? low thresholds facilitate recognition
Logogene model,priming effects
? non-words or degraded signal:
activates,nearest match” item
? memory effects:
primacy effect vs,recency effect
Semantic networks (Collins/Quillian)
Book
Merchandise
Pictorial Book Exercise Book Paperback
Is bound
Has pages
Can be read
Can be bought
Is cheap
Is small
For study
Has pictures Has diagrams
Is expensive
Cognitive networks (Hays)
? refined set of nodes/relationships
nodes,events (start,end,duration)
entities (object,notion,form)
properties (shape,mass...)
modalities (static,dynamic)
relationships,paradigmatic (hierarchical)
syntagmatic (parallel)
discoursive (interactive)
attitudinal (positive,negative)
metalinguistic (external)
The stance of neuroscience
Science of mental life will be reduced to neural
functioning (Churchland)
? reductionist approach
? eliminates psychological explanation for language
processing
? emphasis on relevance of neuronal measurements
Neural
structures
Low-level
implemen-
tations
Physical
symbol
systems
Language
of thought
Mental
structures,
language
Neuronal functioning
? diagram of a neuron
Dendrites,short branches projecting from cell body.
Receive messages from other neurons
Cell body (soma),contains the nucleus of the cell
Axon,a long tube which carries information
from cell body to synaptic terminals
Synaptic terminals,secrete transmitter substance
Measurement methods in psycholinguistics
? ERP measurement
? PET scan
? MRI / fMRI scan
? lesions research
continuum:
high-grained spatial resolution
low- grained temporal resolution
low-grained spatial resolution
high- grained temporal resolution
PET
lesions
ERP measurements
ERP,event-related potentials
notice activities in the relevant cortical regions
linguistic phenomena are correlated with activity
example:
after presentation of the
unexpected ending of a
sentence,delay of the
amplitude
PET,positron emission tomography
? weakly radioactive substance used as marker
? regions of high activity involve more blood flow.
? synaptic ends extract more molecules,among
those radioactive molecules
? positron-emitting radioactive molecules
mark location:
positron e+ hits an electron e-
particles annihilate each other
radiation of energy (light etc.)
? detectors (PET cameras),arranged in a
torus (ringlike) structure around the subjects' head
MRI and lesions
? MRI,magneto-resonance imaging
? particles seen as magnetic dipoles e.g,H2 nuclei
? reposition themselves in magnetic fields
? induction of electric currents
lesions
? lead to aphasias
? language-specific
example,Englishspeaking aphasiacs retained
the ability to generate irregular forms
whereas Germanspeaking subjects did better
in regular forms
Comprehension and understanding
Mental Models:
- blueprint /abstraction of aspects of the physical world
- representations in the mind of real or imaginary
situations
- mind constructs "small-scale models" of reality that
it uses to anticipate events
- can be constructed from perception,imagination,or
comprehension of discourse
- underlie visual images,but can also be abstract,
representing situations that cannot be visualised
Mental models and comprehension
mental models theory of text comprehension
(Johnson-Laird et al.),
derives from a theory of deductive inference
mental models of spatially related objects contain
information about relations not explicitly described
Example:
The man is in front of the tree.
The tree is in front of the house.
contains the information
The man is in front of the house.
Mental models and comprehension
Reasoning is a semantic process rather than syntactic
- recipients build mental models of the relevant
situations based on world knowledge
- recipient’s conclusion is,true” within the models
- emphasis on causality of events/situations
fundamental representational assumption:
individuals seek to minimize the load on working
memory by representing explicitly only those cases
that are true
Text comprehension
? understanding a story,requires process of
constructing a mental model consistent with the
constraints of the story
? recall errors provide insight into how the construal is
designed or:
? how reader's world knowledge interacts (cf,
processing model)
2 processes,construction (encoding)
reconstruction (recall)
? both underlie errors
Strategies in text understanding
? relevance of causal knowledge structures:
reader establishes a causal field
contains specific circumstances of the story
?explicit identification of conditions perhaps only
implicitly mentioned
He sat in the waiting room,his cheeks bloated,
After a while,a nurse called him up,Reluctantly,
he followed her next door.
? representation updates world knowledge.
? stored for recall (on specific cues).
Strategies in text understanding
constraints of causality,A causes B
1,temporal constraint (A precedes B)
2,counterfactuality constraint (if A had not happened,
B would not have happened)
3,sufficiency constraint
If B occurs after A,circumstances for A are still
prevailing
? steps of comprehension:
1,identification of clauses corresponding to events
2,identification of causal relations
3,establishment of causal chains
Comprehension processes
experimental evidence,reader constructs chains
? propositions from main causal chains are more likely
to be recalled
? propositions with more causal connections than
others are more likely to be recalled
? basic blocks,the event clauses (propositions)
PDP approach,building blocks are propositions
evolution of reader's mental state as a function of time
?a trajectory in situation-state space = moves from
point to point
A comprehension model
knowledge of causal relations between points,"belief
function” - assigns degree of belief (can be between 0
and 1)
situation identification t1 t2 t3
Mary heard the ice-cream truck 1 1 0
Mary wanted to buy ice-cream 0 1 0
Mary is eating ice-cream 0 0 1
Mary is sleeping 0 0 0
? story comprehension,finding a most probable
trajectory in situation-state space with respect to a
belief function.
Causal chaining
1 3
2 4
5
7
6
1 hear(M,truck)
2 want(M,ice-cream)
3 be(ice-cream,expensive)
4 go(M,money)
5 buy(M,ice-cream)
6 eat(M,ice-cream)
7 sleep(M)
Mary heard the ice-cream truck,Mary wanted to buy ice-cream.
Ice-cream is expensive,Mary goes home for the money,
She buys the ice-cream,John has also chilled drinks,
Mary is eating ice-cream,Mary is sleeping.
surface anaphora, deep” anaphora
Micro- and macrostructures (Kintsch et al.)
? surface structure of a discourse,set of propositions,
ordered by semantic relations
2 levels,
A microstructures – the local level of discourse,
individual propositions (eat(Mary,ice-cream)
B macrostructure – the global discourse structure
- sets global constraints (topic,title)
- establishes the "meaningful whole"
Formation of Microstructures
The Swazi tribe was at war with a neighboring tribe because of a
dispute over cattle,Among the warriors were two men,Kakra and
his younger brother Gum,Kakra was killed in a battle.
Step 1 - identify most important proposition- "was at war"
Step 2 - relate other propositions to this proposition according
to coherence rules (limited by capacity of STM).
Step 3 - try to relate propositions in next sentence to propositions
that are active in STM,(example fails - no terms in
2nd sentence can be directly connected to preceding sentence
Step 4- If step 3 failed,do "reinstatement search"
- reinstates information about the text from LTM into STM
- effort to link new propositions to old ones
- reinstatement slows comprehension
Step 5- If reinstatement fails,start a new coherence graph
- try to make inference to link new material to old material.
Example inference,Kakra & Gum were Swazi warriors.
Spatial cognition and language
Spatial cognition and language
?Try to name the colors of the displayed words
source,http://artsci.wustl.edu/~jprinz/cog25.htm
Spatial cognition and language
Are image and name stored together or separately?
cf,logogene/imagene
? parallel activation of visual and lexical entry
The Imagery debate
? existence of internal representations
rat experiments (Toulmin) – evidence for the
representation of maps
A) propositional representation (Pylyshyn) – mental
"jumping" on a map without time delay
B) analogue representation (Kosslyn et al.) – mental
scanning,mental rotation
Visual recognition process
1,initial sensing of visual information,photosensitive
cells (rods and cones) in retina,
activated by individual photons
? each receptor responds to a tiny portion (minutes of
arc) of the visual field,
? receptors are never activated alike
2,neurons in retina,connected to neurons in the
first visual cortical area
-for shape perception
-different cell types for different tasks (spots,
edges...)
Kosslyn’s proto-model of object recognition
Kosslyn’s proto-model of object recognition
visual buffer attention window
-edge detection -selective input for
-establishes regions contiguous sets of
points
of homogeneous value
Stimulus encoding (Kosslyn)
1,degraded contours
vertices,high-information part of
contours
cf,Biederman p.152 in:
Kosslyn/Osherson (eds.)1995.
Encoding of spatial properties
2,missing parts,more recognition time needed when
parts have been removed
3,disrupted parts,distorted spatial relation among
parts ?violation of viewpoint consistency
On mental rotation (Shepard,Kosslyn,et al.)
direct proportionality between time and angle
? more complex objects /3D objects,longer times
? identical images in different scales,scale difference
proportional to identification times
? activation of motor areas in the brain
? critical angle for letters,120°
Spatial reasoning in language and mind
introspective reports on simple relation tasks using
comparative adjectives:
The Empire State building is higher than the Eiffel tower.
? mental comparison based on spatial descriptions:
Cathy is taller than Linda,Linda is taller than Mary.
?Cathy is taller than Mary.
? spatial descriptions in language,triggering of
mental models - simplified reality,cf.:
The knife is in front of the vase,The vase is on the left of
the glass,The glass is behind the dish.
? represented symmetrically with equal distances
? way descriptions,turns always with 90° angle
Temporal cognition
temporal phenomena considered:
? physical time
? biological time
? time as a philosophical and abstract concept
?“perceived” time
? time in language
physical,Newton’s notion of time
Absolute,true,and mathematical time,of itself,and from its own nature
flows equably without regard to anything external,and by another name is
called duration,relative,apparent,and common time,is some sensible and
external (whether accurate or unequable) measure of duration by the
means of motion,which is commonly used instead of true time; such as an
hour,a day,a month.
Temporal concepts in the sciences
Einstein’s model of the universe:
? time considered as the 4th dimension
? physical processes are reversible
? paradox of time (Prigogine et al.)
biological time,circadian rhythms of living organisms
psychological time,cause-effect relationships
- inferences base on temporal arrangements of
events
-,real time” is mediated (lateral inhibition)
- segmentation of cognitive processing
(cf,slips-of-the-tongue)
Temporal perception and language correlates
Miller/Johnson-Laird:
4 foci of temporal experience
1,short time intervals
2,estimation of duration
3,simultaneousness
4,temporal perspective (placement of events in past,
present,future)
Temporal phenomena in language
categories,grammatical (tense,aspect)
lexical (aktionsarten,temporal adverbs,
temporal conjunctions,temporal
prepositions).
All thoughts are ?tensed,(Higginbotham)
- necessity of representing time in language
space-time metaphor (Langacker)
Western languages,linear paradigm of time
?exotic,languages,cycles,subcycles
Temporality and tenses
S & R
R & E
R - S
( p a s t )
R,S
( p r e s e n t )
S - R
( f u t u r e )
E,R
( s i m p l e )
E,R - S
l e f t
E,R,S
l e a v e s
S - E,R
s h a l l / w i l l l e a v e
E - R
( a n t e r i o r )
E - R - S
h a d l e f t
E - R,S
h a s l e f t
S - E - R
w i l l l e a v e
R - E
( p o s t e r i o r )
R - E - S
w o u l d l e a v e
R - E,S
w i l l l e a v e
S - R - E
w i l l b e g o i n g t o l e a v e
doubts about future
tense as a tense at all:
has modal functions
complexity hypothesis
meaning of tenses:
combination of intrinsic
meaning and contextual
meaning
intrinsic meaning,relation between time of event E and a time of reference R;
contextual meaning,relation between time of reference R and time of speech S
Event structure
t
t
t
1,telic,no expansion
(to explode,to flash)
2,telic,linear
(to start)
3,telic,limited
(to arrive)
Event structure
t4,telic,beginning andend (to read a novel)
5,telic,iterative
(to twiddle)
temporal telicity can be
? parallel to spatial telicity (to arrive)
? independent of spatial telicity (to explode)
t
Conceptual development
representations,building blocks of cognition and
language
concepts,the formats of representation
hierarchy of concept acquisition
1.spontaneous concepts,bottom-up approach,
find abstract,systematic entity
2.scientific concepts,top-down,find concrete
grounds
children lack,scientific” concepts
”concepts which are subject to conscious awareness are
under voluntary control and form part of an organized
system” (Vygotsky)
Conceptualization and language
Jackendoff,Langacker,cognitive behavior is primarily
a conceptualization of space
? language encodes iconic-imaginal modi of cognition
? space concepts are more frequent than time
concepts
? real space is manifested in linguistic phenomena
? space concepts transform into other concepts
through metaphorical extension
(read through a text,work on a thesis)
? base on primary experiences during language
development
Conceptual semantics and cognitive grammar
shared,encoding of spatial concepts and extension
into other conceptual areas
? languages have hierarchical structure based on
metaphors
Conceptual semantics
(Jackendoff et al.)
? insists on autonomy of syntax
and on formal representation
? concepts generated mentally on
basis of a limited set of primitives,
limited principles of combinability
? Jackendoff,concepts are
“finite schemes”
Cognitive grammar
(Langacker)
? meaning is conceptualization
? grammar,lexicon,poles on a
continuum
? semantics,materializes them
in different ways
Cognitive grammar
? model relates language to conceptual world,human
experience
? humans share experiences and biological
endowment
?idea that physical experiences shaped thinking
and language
Lakoff,the universal basis of language and cognition
is the visual conceptualization of space and
movement
? language therefore reflects fundamental stimuli
? presupposes categorization which involves
conceptual distinctions (night,day)
Categorization and construal
categorization,process of putting together a number
of experiences into one conceptual category and
relating it to and distinguishing it from,other
conceptual categories
construal,a cognitive strategy by which the speaker
decides on a particular linguistic alternative in
portraying a given conceptualization
ex,use of passive rather than active ? focusing on
object of action rather than agent
Cognitive basis
force-dynamics,early physical experience of push/
pull/weight/gravity (Talmy)
imaging modes:
1.entities and their spatial relationships among each
other
2.global perspective on a scene
3.focus on scene (figure and ground)
4.scene conceptualized as a field of forces
expression of concepts,mainly through words,also
through grammar (both are poles on a continuum)
expressions base on experience
(gold nugget/gold dust)
special case,? not experience-based names for
abstract entities (cf,quark types)
