Language and reading lecture 2

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  • Created by: freya_bc
  • Created on: 02-01-17 15:47
What is syntax?
The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. Use of clauses and prhases
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How is the structure of a sentence represented?
a tree diagram- broken down into nodes and connected together by branches
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What is a problem with tree diagrams?
Words can be grouped in different ways and more than one possible interpretation
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What is syntactic ambiguity?
Research on how people process ambiguous sentences to develop theories of syntactic parsing
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Name the two kinds of syntactic ambiguity
global and temporary
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What is global ambiguity?
a sentence when more clues are required to decipher the sentence e.g. the spy saw the cop with binoculars
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What is temporary ambiguity?
Where a disambiguity verb makes a previously ambiguous sentence unambiguous e.g. while Anna dressed the baby threw up
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What can temporary ambiguity be an example of? Why?
Garden path theory- it leads you down one route towards wrong interpretation initially
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Name the 3 well-known theories of parsing
Garden path theory, constraint satisfaction theory and unrestricted race model
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Which theory did Frazier (70s and 80s) contribute?
Garden path theory
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What does garden path theory state?
Only one syntactic structure is initially considered, sentence meaning is not involved in selection of this structure but the simplest is chosen first
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What does garden path theory state happens if the simplest structure is incorrect?
Sentence meaning can influence reanalysis
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What is minimal attachment?
The desire to build a tree diagram with the least number of nodes
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What method is used if minimal attachment cannot produce a tree diagram with a reduced number of nodes/ the amount of nodes in each interpretation are the same?
Late closure
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Fully explain late closure
The ambiguous part of the sentence is attached to the most recent thing that was mentioned e.g. she said he tickled her yesterday so tickled and yesterday not said and tickled
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How can working memory constraints influence late closure?
If following late closure rule of linking ambiguous to the most recently mentioned thing, it is easier on the working memory because otherwise a previous verb node would have to be kept open for the rest of the sentence
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Which theory did van Gompel, Pickering and Trexler (2000) contribute?
Unrestricted race model
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What is the core characteristic of the unrestricted race model?
it combines garden path theory and constraint satisfaction theory
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Which theory of parsing did MacDonald et al., (1994) contribute?
The Constraint Satisfaction Theory
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Describe Constraint Satisfaction Theory
All relevant resources of info are immediately available to the parser. The initial interpretation of a sentence depends on multiple sources of info/constraints
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What are the four constraints that an individual may consider in the parsing process?
Context, plausibility, general world knowledge, and verb bias
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What is the rule for choosing which of the constraints is used?
Whichever fits the best - any structure that receives the most support from the constraints is activated the most and chosen
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True or false: competing sentence structures are activated at different times
False: they are activated immediately
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What is non-literal language?
Intended meaning cannot be derived by direct composition of literal meanings of words as guided by the grammar
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What is figurative language?
When one thing said in order to express another
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What is a metaphor?
Describes a person/object in a literary way by referring to something considered to possess similar characteristics
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Give an example of a metaphor
e.g. my lawyer is a shark- tenacious/ruthless OR my job is a jail- confinement, difficult to escape
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What is idiom?
group of words in fixed order that have a different meaning from each word understood on own. Difficult to translate into another language/need to keep order
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Give an example of an idiom
e.g. kick the bucket- die, spill the beans-tell everything
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What is irony?
expression suggesting different/humorous/angry meaning for words used. Communicate opposite of what is said
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Give an example of irony
Oh what lovely weather
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Name the three theories of figurative language processing
Standard pragmatic view, direct assess view, and graded salience hypothesis
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Explain the standard pragmatic view in relation to irony
Literal meaning accessed first, mismatched context detected, reanalysed to be ironic so processing cost fro ironic lang than if intended literally, extra processing/longer to read
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Explain the direct access view in relation to irony
literal and ironic lang treated the same way. Ironic meaning can be accessed without accessing literal meaning first if context supportive enough- no additional processing cost for ironic vs literal lang
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Explain the graded salience hypothesis in relation to irony
For highly familiar ironies, ironic meaning is accessed straight away because they have their own entry in the mental lexicon. If unfamiliar- literal meaning accessed first, reanalysis as not in lexicon- processing cost for unfamiliar ironies ONLY
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Describe Hagoort et al (04) study into context effects
if word doesnt fit in sentence sudden spike 400ms after when you start reading it- N400m correct dutch trains yellow and crowded - world knowledge violation white train (slight spike), semantic violation- sour (biggest spike)
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What is the Moses Illusion?
example of shallow processing many give answer of two to the question 'how many animals of each kind did Moses take to the ark?' incorrect because none because it was Noah who did the ark
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Who exemplified the Moses Illusion?
Erikson and Matteson (1981)
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Card 2

Front

How is the structure of a sentence represented?

Back

a tree diagram- broken down into nodes and connected together by branches

Card 3

Front

What is a problem with tree diagrams?

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What is syntactic ambiguity?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Name the two kinds of syntactic ambiguity

Back

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