Psychology 2134A/B Lecture Notes - Abdominoplasty, Phoneme
16 Jan 2012
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Document Summary
The modularity hypothesis proposes that mental operations are divided into separate modules. Each of these is domain-specific: this means they process specific types of information only. For instance they are specific to language, or even a specific aspect of language (e. g. , syntax). Modularity also proposes information encapsulation: each module only processes data in a fashion that is bottom-up, or one-directional. It takes inputs and processes them, and then passes them along to other modules. Information does not flow in the opposite direction (i. e. , there is no feedback). Finally, it proposes localization of function: each module is isolated to a specific brain region so that the brain can be divided into discrete processing centres each subserving a different function. Applied to language, this theory proposes that language is processed: using separate mechanisms than other cognitive abilities. The modularity theory proposes that processing can be divided into:
