PSYC-115 FA5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Speech Recognition, Phoneme, Language Development
12 Jun 2018
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March 6, 2018
Lecture 13: Perspectives: Study of Behavior
Perspectives: Determinism
Application: Operant conditioning: Language development
●Can we talk about operant conditioning in children from an operant conditioning point of
view?
●Speech comprehension and production
○Speech recognition (phonemes/morphemes)
○Understanding the meaning of speech (semantics/syntax)
■Building blocks of language
●Sound units- phonemes (the smallest significant units of sound in a
language)
○Over 600 consonants and 200 vowels
○pat/tap/apt
○Each language has about 40 distinct elements, e.g., English
“l” and “r” vs Japanese combination “r”
○Typical speaker says 15 phonemes per sec (180
words/minute)
○The shape of your tongue and lips determine vowel sounds
○Phoneme categorization - every phoneme doesn’t sound
alike; varies dramatically by how people speak
○The average language has about 40 diff phonemes
●Meaning units- morphemes and words
○Morphemes- the smallest significant units of meaning in a
language and words
■Content morphemes, e.g., bake, leg
■Functional morphemes, e.g., -ed, -s, and, if
■Different neuroanatomical location in the brain
■Meaning- necessary and sufficient set of semantic
features
■Prototype- concepts formed around average or
typical values (a basic semantic category)
●Phrases and sentences
○Phrases and sentences (depends on conformance of
rule-like system, i.e., rules of grammar or syntax)
○Garden paths
*slide 50- for the first few months or so, all children are similar/universal, no real difference; at
abt 10 months they split into their own language development
●Citizens of the World: Patricia K, Kuhl- argues that all kids are the same; up to
about 6 months all the languages have the same phoneme but by 6 months, they
have a statistical learning episode (they are hearing their language and only
processing that); after about 10 months it is exponentially harder to learn a new
language
●Phonetic contrasts
○Category perception
■B-P
■P-K
○Phoneme categorization
○Culture-bound listeners
■Rakelake
■Bala/pala
■Hindi and Salish
■After about 6 months, babies only hear phonemes for their
languages
■By 9 months babies lose the universal phonemes
■Before the age of 6 months, you are a universal hearer; after 6
months you only hear your language
●Word Segmentation
○Sequential probabilities- the likelihood of things following each other
○Prosaic cues (stressed syllables)
■Motherese- stretching vowels so babies can learn what syllables
are stressed and what syllables are not stressed
○Non-adjacent dependencies
●Social learning
●Implications
○Native Language Neural Commitment (NLNC)- sensitive periods
■Promotes future development
■Interference with foreign-language acquisition
■Critical period is between 0-6/8 months
■This is environmental and genetic!!
March 9, 2018
Lecture 14: Nature: Role of the Gene
●Historical analysis:
○The beginning
■The origins of life:
●The Religious Perspective (1700s)
○Special creation- all creatures specially created by God
(from the smallest and simplest to the largest and most
complex)
■Great chain of being- from smallest/simplest (cells)
to most complex (humans then angels)
■Echelle des etres
■Scala naturae- scale of nature
■Ladder of Perfection
○Evidence
■Variation- treat the planet like a canvas; nature and
variation of life is evidence of God’s creation
●Bacteria: microscopic, unicellular,
prokaryotic, asexual
● Protista: primarily unicellular, eukaryotes,
asexual or sexual
● Fungi: multicellular, eukaryotic, sexual and
asexual, don’t photosynthesize
● Planta: invariably multicellular, eukaryotic,
asexual and sexual
● Animalia: multicellular, eukaryotic, sexual
and asexual, oxygen respiration
■Fit- animal’s appearance and behavior were perfect
for the environment in which it lived. This showed
evidence of a perfect design by an omnipotent and
omnipresent creator
○William Paley- argued that God’s existence could be
inferred from the designs seen in biology. He said that if
one were walking and came upon a watch, one would not
assume that it was the product of nature. It must have been
designed by an intelligent being. Likewise, Paley said that
the designs seen in biology must be the result of an
intelligent Designer.
○Created by God (special creation)
○Ascending order (lowest to humans)
○Fixed and immutable
■Fixity- the creation is fixed. No species will die out,
and there will be no new species
Document Summary
Sound units- phonemes (the smallest significant units of sound in a language) Each language has about 40 distinct elements, e. g. , english. Typical speaker says 15 phonemes per sec (180 words/minute) The shape of your tongue and lips determine vowel sounds. Phoneme categorization - every phoneme doesn"t sound alike; varies dramatically by how people speak. The average language has about 40 diff phonemes. Morphemes- the smallest significant units of meaning in a language and words. Functional morphemes, e. g. , -ed, -s, and, if. Meaning- necessary and sufficient set of semantic features. Prototype- concepts formed around average or typical values (a basic semantic category) Phrases and sentences (depends on conformance of rule-like system, i. e. , rules of grammar or syntax) *slide 50- for the first few months or so, all children are similar/universal, no real difference; at abt 10 months they split into their own language development. After about 6 months, babies only hear phonemes for their languages.
